Camcloud is designed as an open-platform cloud video surveillance service that works with a large number of IP cameras — including many plug-and-play models and cameras that support standard streaming protocols. This article explains how to determine what kind of support your camera will have with Camcloud.
1. Familiarize Yourself with Camcloud's Camera Support
First, read our Supported Cameras Overview including our Deployment Guide to get a high level overview of Camcloud's camera support.
2. Plug-and-Play Camera Integrations
Camcloud offers native integrations (secure, automatic setup and cloud connection with no port forwarding) for a wide selection of popular camera brands. These integrations make setup simple with zero or minimal network configuration. Check if your camera falls into this category since this is the easiest way to setup your camera.
Our list of plug-and-play cameras are: Amcrest, Axis Communications, Hanwha Vision, Milesight, and Speco Technologies.
If your camera is listed above, Camcloud can usually configure it with minimal setup and no special network configuration. Not only will network setup and cloud connectivity be seamless, but many camera settings will be configured automatically for the cloud. Read how Camcloud's platform will configure most of your camera settings for you.
3. Cameras Not Listed as Plug-and-Play
Even if your camera brand isn’t shown on the plug-and-play list, having RTSP + FTP support often means Camcloud can still support your camera — it just won’t have the “plug-and-play” setup.
RTSP-capable cameras: If your camera can provide an RTSP video stream, you can usually add it as a Generic camera in the Camcloud portal. You’ll need to supply the camera’s RTSP URL and credentials when adding it.
FTP/Event Support: For events and cloud recording, many cameras must be capable of sending images or video clips via FTP to the cloud. Check your camera’s specifications for FTP support.
Auto-Configure RTSP and Camera Settings. Setup is even easier for Hikvision and VIVOTEK cameras where auto-config of many camera settings is available from the cloud. You will still need to follow Step 4 below to connect it to the cloud, but Camcloud will then configure most of your camera settings for many Hikvision and VIVOTEK cameras.
4. Connecting Non-Plug-and-Play Cameras to Cloud
If your camera doesn’t have built-in plug-and-play support and it supports RTSP video streams as described above, you now need to connect it to the cloud using either Camcloud's Secure Tunnel Manager software or Port Forward your network to allow the camera to communicate with the internet.
5. More Resources
If you’re still unsure whether your camera will work, contact Camcloud Support — we can help confirm compatibility before you invest in new cameras.