NextAlarm Announces Release of NextView IP Cameras and Service

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Jun 30, 2010, 08:25 ET

OJAI, Calif., June 30 /PRNewswire/ -- NextAlarm (R) Monitoring Services, Inc., an alarm monitoring service provider and technology developer operating across North America, today announced the official release of NextView 2.0. NextView, the video surveillance product that works on its own or ties into any security alarm system monitored through the VoIPAlarm platform, has received major upgrades to its hardware and software architecture. An Apple(R)-approved NextView application is also available on Apple's online app store. Finally, a new cloud-based infrastructure is in place to support the new service.

The new line of NextView cameras, which currently includes a fixed camera and a movable camera with pan and tilt, feature customized firmware that allow the NextView service to react to any alarm event. When an alarm panel reports an event through the VoIPAlarm platform, the system provides the customer and authorized dealer with video prior to and after the alarm event. Using a proprietary buffering technology, the camera continually captures and discards small amounts of video footage. When an alarm or motion is detected, the camera uploads the buffer to the NextAlarm servers, which includes video taken just before the event. The subscriber and/or dealer can thus view the seconds leading up to an event, as well as video taken after the event occurred.

NextAlarm CEO Alex Elliot commented on the release, "This is really an entirely new product. We're doing things with NextView now that have never been done before. With the buffer, we can show you what happened right before an alarm, without tying up your bandwidth with constant recording, and with no storage hardware on site. Other products just start recording when something has already happened, and by then it could be over."

NextView also features a new interface, redesigned and rewritten in AJAX and JavaScript. The interface, called the NextView HUD, allows live views of up to 16 cameras, browsing of recorded alarm events when associated with an alarm system, and is searchable by date and time. It can be accessed from all major web browsers, and does not require a software download or installation. A version of the HUD is also available as an Apple iPhone(TM) app. The app, which works over WiFi and 3G on the iPhone, iPod(R) Touch, and iPad, offers all the functionality of the desktop interface, as well as push notifications of new video.

In addition to the new hardware and features, NextView has been upgraded internally, and now uses a cloud-based solution for video processing. Utilizing industry-leading cloud technology from Amazon, NextView enjoys near-unlimited capacity, automatic redundancy, and automatic failover.

Fixed and pan-tilt NextView cameras are available now from major alarm equipment retailers and distributors, with outdoor and low-light models coming in late 2010. The new NextView service is compatible with all new NextView cameras, and is available now at http://www.nextalarm.com and http://nextviewcam.com. The NextView iPhone app is available now on the Apple app store by searching for "NextView."

About NextAlarm(R) Monitoring Services, Inc.

NextAlarm(R) Monitoring Services, Inc., The Broadband Alarm Company(R), was established in 2000 by a team of alarm industry experts with more than 50 years of collective experience. The company provides service to thousands of homes and businesses in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean, including those who have switched to Voice over Internet Protocol telephone service. For more information about NextAlarm, visit http://www.NextAlarm.com.