The never-ending "Wish List" of must-have features for Schol Bus Video Camera systems is not unique to the school bus surveillance camera markets.
Most potential customers of Police Patrol Wagon Suspect, Prisoner & Inmate in-Custody Transport Camera systems or Non-Emergency Medical Transport In-Vehicle Surveillance systems are also trying to get as many features as possible into one product.
My crash course in Product Development and how Salespeople think and affect product development was eye-opening.
Sales, is a profession like no other. There are few skills as valuable to a company that produces a marketable product as skilled people to sell that product. Likewise, there is no profession other than politics that is filled with so many who will lie, cheat and steal to get what they want.
The Free Market is driven by Capitalism, in which the best value for the customer usually receives their business.
The value being subjective, it is then the task of the salespeople offering that product to demonstrate the product's inherent value or at least provide the potential customer with reasons their widget is better than any other widget out there.
Most purchases are driven by emotions; love, fear, security, and status, so salespersons learn quickly how to close a sale by offering what the customer wants or needs and if the customer does not know what that is, then by convincing them that is what they want or need.
The realm of Design and Development of these new product features is often the result of an important customer requesting this feature of the salesperson trying to sell a system to them. When the customer requests a feature the product does not have, the salesperson immediately questions his management as to why their product does not have this important feature and that the ability of that salesperson to sell their product is not greatly diminished because it lacks this required feature.
Often they are so consumed with how to achieve a task for the function they never stop to think ability the actual Field application
Often development and design of these features lack foresight on how they may be used in the field.
Real-Time VLS (Vehicle Location System)
For example, even those seeking an affordable School Bus Camera System often ask if our Streaming Cellular based solutions also offer VLS (Vehicle Location Systems) or active tracking and geo-fence alerts. That is a reasonable question, and while I tell the potential customer yes, they can do that, I also advise them of the potential issues when they incorporate many different valuable technologies into a single solution.
Example #1; Imagine if someone wanted to hijack your Police Patrol High-Value Prisoner & Inmate in-Custody Transport Camera equipped vehicle; even if they do not know you have a VLS (Vehicle Location System) system, they would see the cameras and once they realize they are being recorded they would likely disable the DVR that stores the video files.
Should they do that, you have now lost all GPS tracking functions in your Police Patrol High-Value Prisoner & Inmate in-Custody Transport Camera-equipped vehicle. All the time and effort to ensure you can find these vehicles will be rendered useless because you tied the VLS function to the Vehicle Video Camera as a package feature.
Example #2; Imagine if someone wanted to hijack your Elderly Day Care Shuttle & Assisted Living Transportation Vehicle Video Camera equipped vehicle, they would see the cameras recording the passenger and driver areas and quickly disable it, not wanting the camera to record them committing a crime. Even if they are unaware the VLS system is integrated into the Medicaid Paratransit Video Camera Surveillance System their act of disabling the camera DVR will by default, disable all GPS tracking and VLS on that vehicle.
Example #3; What if the driver of your Head Start Pre-K Pre-School Nursery School Child Safety Bus Camera Recorder-equipped vehicle suffers a heart attack, ignores communication, and the vehicle does not arrive at the school?
Normally, if the vehicle has VLS, you would get to a computer or smartphone, enter your login info and the map would show the vehicle's location where the injured, disabled drive er and the children are located for medical assistance and transport.
What if this driver, for whatever reason that day, decided they wanted to go off route to take care of a personal matter and disconnected the in-vehicle camera system? The result would be no GPS active DVR, so no VLS could be possible. This is something I have had to learn the hard way. In my 35+ years of work with digital recording devices on vehicles ai have detected several hundred cases of driver tampering with the devices over the years.
On many occasions, when there was an incident on Before & After Care School Child Day Care Pickup In-vehicle Shuttle Safety Cameras equipped minibusses that rose to criminal violations where a judge requested the School Bus Video Camera system evidence, there was none to provide the judge with because the drivers in almost all cases had deliberately disabled the system or through apathetic neglect, they had never maintained the system function after installing it.
Most treat an onboard Vehicle Video Camera Reopcrder like a fire extinguisher.
They are required in many cases to have them, but they are not required to maintain them. At least the fire extinguisher has a dial showing pressure and a service schedule, but the in-vehicle video camera recorder has neither, so once installed, they seldom receive any attention until something really bad happens; then they hope and pray they worked.
Hopes, and prayers, after years of total system neglect, are not effective tools to manage risk.
Vehicle Video Surveillance Camera Recorders require attention and periodic maintenance to maintain their functionality.
However, if you used a 3rd party VLS tracking system, where the drivers are not even aware of the system located in the vehicle, you would have the ability to track and locate your vehicle even if they disable the DVR. Integrating additional functions into the DVR makes them vulnerable to failure if the DVR is disabled.
I’m not sure any of our competitors actually care enough about their customers to actually warn them that getting the most expensive versions of their product with all the bells and whistles is not the best solution in light of hi-jacking situations and that recommending they not buy your higher-priced product and invest in a third-party GPS / VLS solution is actually a much more prudent, logical, strategic and valuable suggestion to make your customers happy and give the best value possible for their investment.
Real-Time “Panic Button”
Another feature that seems like a great idea until you consider how it might be used in an actual emergency is the “Panic Button” feature on a Live Streaming Cellular system.
For a “Panic Button” to function, you must have a cellular connection as the panic button activation must be transmitted to a central location for display or can be sent to phones via text or e-mail, depending on the brand and system configuration.
Many ask if our live streaming Wheelchair Equipped Special Needs Bus Camera system has a “Panic button” with them in case of an emergency.
That is a reasonable question and while I tell the potential customer yes they do have that feature, I also advise them of the potential issues when they incorporate many different valuable technologies into a single solution.
Example #1; Imagine if someone wanted to hijack your Students With Disabilities & Special Needs Transportation Video Camera equipped vehicle; even if they do not know you have a “Panic Button” built into the School Bus Stop Arm Camera system, they would see the cameras and once they realize they are being recorded they would likely disable the DVR that stores the video files.
Should they do that you have now lost all cellular DVR functions in your school bus camera-equipped vehicle.
Example #2; Imagine if someone wanted to hijack your Medicaid Paratransit Shuttle Service Video Camera equipped vehicle, they would see the cameras recording the passenger and driver areas and quickly disable it, not wanting the camera to record them committing a crime. Even if they are unaware, the Panic Button is part of that system and would be disabled because it has cameras they do not want to be recorded on.
Example #3; Should your Senior Day Care Transport Camera vehicle have battery problems, the same system that records video and requires the battery to be working would now affect the ability of your driver to use the Panic button to call for help.
Example #4; Should your Alternative School & Juvenile Detention Bus Security Camera equipped vehicle have an incident where an angry student destroys a camera that is monitoring them, should they short the camera power cable, the entire DVR will short-blowing the protective fuse. When that happens, all DVR functions, including GPS Tracking, Video, and Panic buttons, will be disabled. A much wiser solution is the third-party VLS Vehicle Tracking system to isolate it from the video camera system in case of vandalism to the video camera. The same problem would occur in an Armored Car or VIP Transport Video Camera Systems application if the vehicle is assaulted. The video camera DVR will likely be destroyed to eliminate evidence again, making the Panic button feature and GPS VLS location system useless.
However, if you used a 3rd party VLS tracking system, many have a “Panic Button” feature that can be hidden and activated even when the Elderly Day Care Shuttle & Assisted Living Transportation Vehicle Video Camera system may have been disabled.
It is important to provide a potential customer with potential unintended consequences as it is to provide them with the benefits of each of these features. Only the customer can determine what is in their best interest as value is subjective and what is important to the salespeople promoting a system is not always the best value for a customer seeking a Private Service Contractor Charter Transport Compliance Bus Camera System.
Real-Time “RFID Tags”
Another feature that seems like a great idea until you consider how it might be used in an actual emergency is the “RFID Tags” (Radio Frequency Identification Tags) feature on a Live Streaming Cellular system. These are magnetic ID tags provided to the passengers of vehicles so they can be logged on and off the vehicles for a myriad of reasons should others such as management or parents, seek the location of said individuals.
For “RFID Tags” to function, there must be a cellular connection to transmit the location and status information to phones via text or e-mail, depending on the brand and system configuration.
Many ask if our live streaming system has “RFID tags” available.
That is a reasonable question, and while I tell the potential customer yes they do have that feature, I also advise them of the potential issues when they incorporate many different valuable technologies into a single solution.
Example #1; Department of Corrections HVIT Prisoner Custody Transport camera systems in vehicles recording the movements, pickups and delivery relocations of HVIT (High-Value Inmate Transport) may wish to use RFID Tags. However, if they do not assign the right inmate the right tag, then rely on the tags for identification, they could end up transporting the wrong inmate, which has happened on occasion, causing serious problems for those in charge of these transports.
A similar problem occurs commonly in Student Charter Contractor School Bus Camera systems using RFID tags when students swap RFID tags either by mistake or intentionally. The end result is the parent or administrator seeking the location and status of the student in question is provided the wrong information because the RFID tags is a portable item that can be given to persons other than those it was assigned to.
The only thing worse than not knowing the location of a loved one is the false send of security provided from a device that is accidentally incorrect or intentionally incorrect.
The same problems of backward compatibility will cause problems in the below applications as they involve long-lasting vehicles that will often outlive the shorter life Hard Drive based DVRs found in many School Bus Video Camera Recorders used in those other applications:
Should you have any questions, or concerns, or require more information about Testudo Lifetime System Warranty Bus Camera Systems, various applications or School Bus Student Transportation Video Camera Recorder configurations, we encourage you to let us know and we will be happy to offer our 35+ years of market experience in sales and service of digital recording devices to respond to your concerns or questions.
