Where East Lake and Trinity come together, you’ll find a small community of luxurious homes nestled among moss-draped oak trees. The Grey Oaks community is a longtime customer of Surveillance Technology, Inc. (STI), who installed a CCTV system at their entrance gate six years ago. In 2024, the equipment sustained lightning damage during a major hurricane, after which STI replaced and upgraded their community surveillance system to IP technology.
Surveillance Tech installed DITEK shielded in-line surge protection, to protect the new equipment from voltage spikes, power surges, and transient electrical disturbances. STI chose to protect both ends – the camera side and the NVR side – to safeguard the equipment regardless of where the lightning may strike. Overvoltage surge energy will travel in both directions to find the path of least resistance, which may lead right through your equipment. With the new setup at Grey Oaks, a lightning strike between devices can’t travel to either one. Or, if it were to directly hit one device, it can’t reach the device at the other end. This reduces the likelihood of sustaining power damage in future storms.
STI installed a 16 channel H.265 4K NVR to support a variety of 4K 8 megapixel cameras. For broad shots of the entry and exit gates, Surveillance Tech used three ColorMax bullets. These cameras offer deterrent features, including AI motion detection, blue and red flashing lights upon intrusion, and management notifications. These cameras are mounted on a pole at the entrance to the community, along with a traditional IR turret looking at the call box and two license plate recognition cameras capturing both lanes of incoming traffic. Inside the gate, another license plate reader captures tags before vehicles exit the property.
Some behaviors and circumstances can be a source of concern outside the gates. A fourth license plate recognition camera captures plates of vehicles who turn around at the main entrance, even if they don’t fully enter the community. Delivery trucks, for example, are known to damage landscaping when they are unable to gain access and turn around in the tight space. Adolescent residents and visitors may engage in mischievous or unruly activities. Halfway between the main road and the call box is a second pole, housing a bullet camera with varifocal lenses, offering tight views of the gated entrance, with 24/7 color images. On the same pole, a camera with a 5 – 50 mm lens gives tight views of the main entrance at the crossroad. Further out, the community belltower holds a 5 megapixel traditional IR camera, to ensure visibility in front areas of the property otherwise obscured by signage and landscaping.
The community received more than one quote for this project. Another surveillance provider’s quote stated Grey Oaks would need to replace cable in order to upgrade from CCTV to IP equipment. But STI was able to convert their Siamese cable to CAT 6, allowing the client to retain their existing cabling infrastructure.
The Grey Oaks project highlights the best of Surveillance Technology, Inc. A longstanding client trusted STI to keep their equipment modern and able to withstand increasing weather impacts. STI was able to demonstrate the budget-saving benefits of their expertise, along with their tailored solutions and wide variety of best-in-class equipment.
