I’m the sole IT/Sysadmin for an org with about a half-dozen locations, and I inherited an absolute Frankenstein's monster of physical security. We have an old S2 Netbox system for access control that is incredibly clunky (we basically only use it to print badges at this point), some standalone keypad doors, and a mix of Axis and older IP cameras running on aging NVRs that are starting to fail.
Management finally gave me the green light to modernize and unify everything under a "single pane of glass." We are also a heavy Mac shop, so I need something web-based—no thick clients.
I initially looked at Verkada and Avigilon Alta. The software looks great, but the quotes made my CFO laugh me out of the room. To get their ecosystem, I’d have to rip out perfectly good IP cameras and buy their proprietary hardware at a massive premium, plus pay the recurring licensing.
While looking for hybrid-cloud alternatives, I stumbled onto a company called Coram AI and had a demo with them this week. I’m naturally skeptical of vendor pitches, but their model actually solves my two biggest headaches:
- No Camera Rip-and-Replace: They use a local AI appliance (acts as the NVR) that ingests the RTSP streams from our existing Axis/IP cameras. It processes the AI locally (so it doesn't crush my WAN bandwidth) but gives me a cloud dashboard.
- The Access Control Pricing: This is the part that caught my attention. Instead of charging thousands for door controllers and readers upfront, they just charge a per-door software license, and the hardware (4-door controllers, readers, and even the HID fobs/cards) is included in the license cost.
Because it's one platform, if someone forces a door open or tailgates, it automatically pulls the video clip from the nearest camera and sends an alert. I don't have to cross-reference timestamps between S2 and my camera system anymore.
It honestly sounds like exactly what I need to avoid vendor lock-in on the camera side while modernizing our doors, but I wanted to ask the trenches: Has anyone here actually deployed Coram in production? How is the hardware quality on the door controllers? Are there any hidden "gotchas" I should be looking out for before I present this to my COO?
Appreciate any insight!