NVR or VMS - Small Business Usage

[CrucialScott]

Hello everyone,

Not sure if to go with an NVR or VMS setup for my configuration. This is for a small business (covers a shop showroom, office upstairs, and warehouse/car-park), using around 12-14 cameras with the possibility to expand in the future. Cost is not a massive issue however the cheaper the better as always!

Reasons I can see to go with NVR:
Easy to use/setup and access using apps


Reasons I can see to go with VMS:
More customisable
Multi-Monitor Support (This might be needed for my setup)
Live-Stream and way more features
Playback decoding/better performance overall, more camera support.

Purchased parts so far:
24-Port POE Managed Switch (250W+)
12 IP Cameras (all Zetech 5MP) - We will be adding more once initial phase 1 (internal cams) is installed.

I'm leaning towards the VMS because I like the customisation and performance however I'm also drawn to the NVR because it's really simple to populate with HDD's and the rest is plug and play (also very for colleagues to check back video footage etc...much harder on a computer/server due to access rights, etc)

What would be your thoughts? Any VMS software recommendations? For NVR's I've seen this one - Zxtech Onyx 4K 12MP 36CH CCTV NVR - Very good specification vs Price.

Not sure which way to go and it's the next decision I have to make to move forward......

 

[Dan]

Hi @CrucialScott

We would recommend that you take a look at this summary we put together for schools

CCTV Software for schools

Schools often come to us and ask us to recommend CCTV software. Cost is frequently a driver. Many schools had their original system built using corporate CCTV / VMS software, which typically incurs an annual ongoing support cost. Unfortunately, many schools and their IT departments are simply...

www.use-ip.co.uk

Although aimed at schools the basics of the pros + cons of VMS/NVR/NAS are still relevant to your setup.

Based on your description of the size of your system I would lean towards an NVR because Zxtech are quite a small brand and not all the software features of their cameras may be compatible with VMS/NAS software. If they are ONVIF compliant then they should link to the VMS/NAS ok but you won't get the full functionality that you would with linking them to an NVR from the same brand.

Also, with most professional NAS/VMS brands, you will need camera licenses to link all your cameras to the software and each of these licenses can cost as much (or almost as much) as the camera price itself. This means there will likely be very little price difference between NAS/VMS or NVR, but feature-wise you will get better support with an NVR from the same brand.

 

[CrucialScott]

Thank you for your quick reply! I've read the info page on CCTV for Schools. Some interesting points were raised.

The Zxtech camera are the latest ONVIF compliant, should work fine with any NVR/VMS. That's not the concern. Easy of use is mainly, I don't want to go with a VMS that's extremely complicated to use.

The biggest problem I see is that a lot of the NVR around my budget are very old now. All the 16/32H NVR's that are in your guides or the information came out around 2017-2018. This is very old tech now, ARM based computing is moving at an alarming rate. I don't like the thought of spending £400+ on tech from the last decade. For example, the firmware update that hasn't come to the 'k' series recorders despite a redesign.

Computer based VMS has come on leaps and bounds, most of them do not need a license for each camera or are relatively low cost compared to what the server setup costs are or are subscription based on the number of cameras. They are just as easily accessed using mobile apps and can run tons of multi-monitors and other advanced features.

Anyone have any VMS software recommendations?

Using google I find:
Blue Iris
iSpy
Axis
DSE