One of the most important, but sometimes overlooked aspects of any video installation is network uptime. However, if end users want to take a look under the hood of their IP video network, they currently have to cobble together different tools provided by their video management software or IT systems to be able to determine if all of their cameras are functioning properly. And they have no current way of knowing if video is being recorded at the quality and retention required. These tools are not comprehensive though and as a result, organizations and their systems integrators have still been forced to roll trucks to have technicians check out equipment in the field. Those days may be changing with the launch of a new industry startup called Viakoo.

Headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., Viakoo provides organizations around the globe with a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform to help ensure the uptime and performance of video surveillance networks. Viakoo first hit the market two years ago, but the company was involved in beta testing until its first production release late last spring. With more than 90 percent of its beta sites becoming customers, the company is now ready to take its technology to the mainstream security market.

According to John Gallagher, vice president of marketing for Viakoo, the company?s technology is really targeted towards those organizations for which video surveillance uptime is mission critical such as critical infrastructure installations, casinos, prisons, healthcare, retail, education, etc.

?Those are places that you really can?t have tolerance for downtime or, increasingly in markets like retail ? where our technology provides tremendous value ? the stability and performance that is needed for video analytics,? said Gallagher. ?We are not everything to everyone. There is definitely a sweet spot for our technology; as you get into hundreds of cameras, it becomes imperative to make sure you have the tools and technology to maintain that and do it in a way that?s affordable and scalable.?