u/EffectiveActivity922

We currently run separate access control and intrusion systems across a warehouse and office campus, and managing multiple systems is becoming a pain.

We have just over 100 doors and around 150 cameras across three buildings, with intrusion covering the perimeter, loading areas and several internal zones. We’re mainly looking to upgrade the software rather than rip out existing hardware, so support for our Mercury boards and current CCTV setup is important.

Ideally, we want one platform with remote admin that brings access control and intrusion together. What are my options?

Every access control vendor seems to call their platform open, but that can mean different things open hardware, open APIs, flexible deployment, easier migration, or just a few integrations.

I’m currently looking at mercury based systems like Genetec, Acre and LenelS2. For anyone with experience using them, where are they genuinely open and what compromises would I be making?

Field tech at a small ITS contractor. I’m speccing switches for a roadside cabinet job with PTZ cameras and some other edge gear. Requirement from the engineer is 802.3bt across all 8 ports.

The problem I keep running into is that a lot of switches advertise “90W per port,” but the total PoE budget is nowhere near 720W. So it’s really a per-port max, not something you can run fully loaded.

Are there industrial managed 8 port switches that can actually do full 90W on all 8 ports at the same time? Looking for something outdoor rated, ideally something people have used in traffic or roadside cabinet installs.

We've got four flexible office and coworking sites across the city, five buildings, around 140 doors between them. User base sits somewhere between 500 and 700 depending on the month mix of members, tenant staff, contractors, visitors, temporary event guests, the whole lot.

The headache is that most of our sites are running older systems that are somewhat disconnected from each other, kind of duct taped together. Reception staff have 3 or 4 different dashboards open at any time just trying to track down a member, which slows everything down and leaves too much room for things to slip through.

We want to upgrade to something that simplifies all of it and still works locally when needed. Most of the work comes from bookings or memberships not updating access properly, so staff end up fixing it manually. Getting rid of that would probably be the biggest win.

To top it all off we've got a member only gym opening at one of the sites soon, so the access tiers are only going to get more complicated 

Would really appreciate any advice from people who've been through similar things

I'm a CCTV/low-voltage tech doing a 16 camera outdoor warehouse job. Switches are going in small wall mount enclosures, not a real network closet, so no fans, limited airflow, temp swings.

Usually I just use the same basic PoE switches we use indoors, but this site’s a little rougher. Hot summers, outdoor enclosure, some exposed conduit runs. I’m trying to avoid a callback later because the switch starts dropping cameras. 

Looking at industrial/rugged options now but I haven't run enough of them to have an opinion. For anyone doing perimeter or outdoor camera work what brands/models have actually held up long term? Bonus points if you've had one fail on you too, curious what to avoid as much as what to buy thanks

Hi! I’m looking for recommendations for a staffed photo booth rental for our wedding in NYC on September 19.

I’m looking for a company that sends someone to set up and run the booth, not a DIY/shipped option. Hoping for something fun, easy for guests to use, and a good value.

Budget is ideally under $1,500, but we’re flexible for the right fit.

Would love to hear from anyone who used a company they liked. Thanks!

I'm in IT for a company with one office and warehouse site and a few other locations we may eventually pull into the same access control setup. This has landed on my plate, and whatever we pick here probably sets the direction.

Our current system is old, the server needs replacing sooner rather than later, and the admin UI is a pain. Figured this is probably the time to see what else is out there.

Everyone talks about cloud like it's the obvious move, but we've always run on-prem and I know what the costs look like one hardware refresh vs ongoing subscriptions we'll be paying forever.

That said, I can see the multi site management argument for cloud if we do end up consolidating. Is that enough to change the equation, or is on-prem still fine for this if we may need to manage a few sites down the road?

I'm the facilities director at an independent K-12 school. Not super technical on access control, but I'm the one starting the planning for the upgrade and talking to integrators, so I want some outside perspective before those conversations start.

Current setup is a mix of older card readers on the main entrances to a few campus buildings, physical keys for staff areas and interior doors, and standalone keypad locks for maintenance rooms, storage areas, and similar. Everything’s locked in one way or another but actually managing access is a mess. 60+ doors across the campus.

Install is planned for next summer. Using this year to research and get bids.

Need access logs that facilities can check themselves when something comes up, without IT every time. Phasing may be needed because some of the doors and hardware are a lot older than others. We're not trying to go cheap but the budgets are always tight.

What platforms should be on the shortlist? Anything technical schools usually miss early in the process? Honestly, any help or recommendations appreciated.

Hey everyone! Looking for a photo booth rental for a wedding in Santa Monica on August 6th and would love some recommendations from people who've actually used one. Going for a relaxed, fun vibe so guests can grab silly photos throughout the night. Trying to find something that's good value without cutting corners. Has anyone used a photo booth rental company they’d recommend?

So this has been bugging me for a while. Every time I ask a vendor where their gear is actually built, I get the same dance. "Designed in California." "Engineered in the USA." Cool, but where's the board stuffed? Silence.

What gets me is how many of the big names are playing this game. Final screw down in Texas, label printed stateside, and suddenly it's "Made in USA" even though the guts came off a line in Shenzhen.

And it actually matters. Some of my projects touching critical infrastructure have BABA clauses and TAA compliance getting tighter every year. Auditors are catching on to the assembly loophole too.

So help me out who's actually manufacturing domestically?

9 weeks out and still going back and forth on whether to do a photo booth at all. we got a quote from Selfie Booth Co that's pretty reasonable so leaning yes, just not 100% sure guests will actually use it

did yours get used? and if you went with Selfie Booth Co i'd love to hear how it went, but honestly just trying to figure out if it's worth the spend

thanks!!

Three weeks evaluating VMS platforms and every demo is making me angry. Hoping someone here has solved this.

600 users, 4 sites, one site can't be cloud. Right now reception types visitor names into access control to cut a day badge. It's fine until it isn't.

Every sales rep shows up with a cloud dashboard, then deflates when I mention we need on-prem. The "hybrid" ones turn out to mean "you can VPN to our cloud." 

What I actually need:

• Visitor checks in, temp credential auto provisioned in access control, expires when it should. Real provisioning, not an email to security
• Pre-registration that pushes to access control before the visitor shows up
• Real hybrid or on-prem
• Works with our Mercury hardware (mix of EP and MP). Software can change, controllers can't
• Different flows for different visitor types. Contractors need COI verification before a badge cuts. VIPs need pre arrival notifications to the host. Interview candidates need a flow that doesn’t make them feel like they’re checking into a federal building. 
• Unified audit trail across visitor events and access events
• Entra SSO, audit logs, all 4 sites from one console

Already ruled out:

• Verkada: proprietary hardware, no Mercury support
• Brivo: cloud-only, plus confirmed we would be over their door count at two sites
• Genea: cloud-only, and access control side felt thin for what we need
• LenelS2: looked at OnGuard, the migration path off our current setup got ugly fast

Looking for something where VMS and access control are tightly integrated, not glued together with emails, manual steps, or fragile middleware. 

If you’ve integrated VMS with a Mercury based access control in a hybrid setup, what are you running?