anyone have a membership to ipvm

[pal251]

Anyone have a membership to the ipvm club/webpage? Wonder if the 100 each for three months would work out for me

 

[networkcameracritic]

Its more industry news and occasional product reviews. It's focused more on people in the business. Can't tell you if it benefits you or not, try it.

 

[pal251]

100 is a lot to spend for a trial though. Not sure if I would use it enough

 

[jhonovich]

I am the founder of IPVM.

Here is a directory of 12 free reports that might be of interest to you.

For the record, we have 290 original product tests, including more than 50 this year.

 

[pal251]

Jhonovich, thank you. I will look over those reports and see if it's worth it.

 

[Surelabs]

Old post but wanted to give my five cents. I had been a member of IPVM for 12 months and decided not to renew my membership. Their articles are full of personal opinions, with very little independent/industry data referenced. There is not a lot of installer experience within the IPVM team, which is why they do mainly address industry drama and sensationalism rather than practical information. My membership with IPVM didn't help me expand my business and the tutorials are sub par. Not worth the money IMO.

 

[john-ipvm]

Surelabs, sorry for your bad experience.

We do cover a lot of industry / business issues as well as installer issues and real industry data.
Here is one example of installation coverage based on a survey of 100+ installers: IPVM Installation Labor Estimation Guide. Please take a look, it is quite popular with installers.

What type of practical information are you looking for? I'd be happy to point you towards it and give you an extended free membership.

Finally, we do cover a lot of industry issues. It is useful to understand that IPVM is widely read by business people as well, and those business people care more about whether their competitor's execs are being fired or they are expanding, etc. so we definitely do provide significant coverage there as well.

 

[Surelabs]

yes I have see those tools. The labor guide would be ideal in a fictitious world however in the real world there are many links in the chain that cannot be factored during a project which is not addressed in the document. It would be silly to believe one can perform a job cost using such a document. For example the question "How many man-hours would you estimate to install and configure a VMS Server?" in reality can take anywhere from 30 minutes to 5 days. While I appreciate what you are trying to do, I believe your site is suited more to the beginner than industry experts.

Also, IMO, the flavor of the IPVM articles are sometimes a little too over hyped for my liking. While I understand your aim is to attract subscribers often there is a lot of smoke and very little fire, (which btw is why I stopped reading murdoch press).

 

[john-ipvm]

Surelabs, I am sorry I cannot meet your needs.
You did specifically say that we lacked industry data in your previous comment and the report I shared is a prime example of where we gathered and analyzed industry data from over 100 experienced integrators, edited by one of our team members who had a decade of security integration experience before joining IPVM.

Also, as for us not being suited for industry experts, I'd encourage forum members to review our Super Low Light Shootout, where we spent over $7,000 buying high end cameras testing them in multiple rounds head to head, at a level of sophistication nowhere else available.

 

[JMartin]

I have to say... I began getting frustrated when every page/link I clicked on asked first for my email address, over and over... even for the "Free" information.
Ultimately, I lost interest when I was told this:



Just some feedback.

 

[john-ipvm]

JMartin, we have 2016 versions of both the Access Control and IP Networking books. We have revised a substantial portion of the camera training as well and are shortly releasing a 2016 version of that. Also, in fairness, even with the changes, there are not tremendous differences in 12 months and no one else in the industry is releasing new training materials at the rate we do.

I agree with you about the prompt for the free book / newsletter. We will get that changed this week to reduce its appearance. Thanks.

 

[Surelabs]

Surelabs, I am sorry I cannot meet your needs.
You did specifically say that we lacked industry data in your previous comment and the report I shared is a prime example of where we gathered and analyzed industry data from over 100 experienced integrators.

Most of your guides have been pretty much one person's opinion. The problem is John the data is useless to me. For example if I was to give that job cost document to one of my new guys on the team, they would still have no idea of how to cost a job. Worse still, if one of our customers got a hold of that document and believed to it be "gospel" then I'm screwed, because you cannot cost a job based on hearsay. Every job is different, and as I said before there are anomalies on the job which you haven't come even close to clarifying in that document. This is why job costing is such a valued skill that project managers are paid for - it can't be contained within a pitifully presented pdf.

Also, as for us not being suited for industry experts, I'd encourage forum members to review our Super Low Light Shootout, where we spent over $7,000 buying high end cameras testing them in multiple rounds head to head, at a level of sophistication nowhere else available.

LOL I would call your guides many things but "sophisticated" is not an adjective I would personally use.

If a noob integrator was to visit your office and ask for installation advice, then went to the office of an IP video expert with 10+ years experience, I guarantee you the advice would be very different.

Sorry my friend but you have lost my business. But not for lack of trying on both our parts.

 

[john-ipvm]

Surelab, with regards to IPVM being 'one person's opinion', we have 100+ reports based on surveys of 100+ integrators. For example, here is our Hospital Video Surveillance Guide.

And your criticism of our install guide misrepresents what is in. It contains 100+ explanations from experienced integrators on various scenarios to help techs learn. If it is not good for you, that's fine but saying it is "one person's opinion" is simply factually wrong.

We are a team of IP video experts. In addition to myself, who has been doing IP video since 1999, there is Ethan Ace, Brian Rhodes and Brian Karas, to name our 3 most experienced full time team members, all with 10+ years IP video experience.

I respect your decision to not choose IPVM but I do want the members of the forum to understand the facts about IPVM.

 

[fenderman]

John, sureblabs has and axe to grind...there is a reason the others pay for the membership.

 

[Surelabs]

John, sureblabs has and axe to grind

I dont have an axe to grind at all. It's called an opinion, isn't that what forums are for?

your criticism of our install guide misrepresents what is in.

John, sorry if I was factually incorrect but your guides certainly read like they have been created by a one man band. But arguing the point is moot because as I said much of the material I have found on your site is filled with opinion and with no new or practical knowledge that I can use. As I said, and I will repeat again for emphasis, your guides did not help me with my business. Yes you reference quotes from other installers, but again the way the information is presented is not helpful to me or my team. Its not commercially usable.

The most viable information I receive is directly from the relevant manufacturer's training events combined with advice from their field engineers. Its time/money well invested with a high return yield. I didn't experience the same ROI with your service.

...there is a reason the others pay for the membership.

The only reason people pay for ipvm is because there is no one else at the moment. The industry badly needs another information source that directly competes with your service - with better quality information and material.

Good luck.

 

[fenderman]

I dont have an axe to grind at all. It's called an opinion, isn't that what forums are for?

John, sorry if I was factually incorrect but your guides certainly read like they have been created by a one man band. But arguing the point is moot because much of the earlier material I have found on your site was filled with opinion and with new or practical knowledge. As I said, and I will repeat again for emphasis, your guides did not help me with my business. Yes you reference quotes from other installers, but again the way the information is presented is not helpful to me. Its not commercially usable.

The most viable information I receive is directly from the relevant manufacturer's training events combined with advice from their field engineers. Its time/money well invested with a high return yield. I didn't experience the same ROI with your service.



The only reason people pay for ipvm is because there is no one else at the moment. The industry badly needs another information source that directly competes with your service - with better quality information and material.

Good luck.

Pretty obvious that you have an axe to grind as you keep making the same point over and over. Each of your posts read like an attack. Users can try ipvm and determine for themselves if its helpful. If membership didnt learn any useful information from ipvm then they would not pay the fee, the fact that there is no other option is irrelevant. There is either a benefit to ipvm that users value or not. They pay the fee, because they find value in it. Your logic is flawed.

 

[Surelabs]

No, my logic would only be flawed if I kept putting good money into a service that doesn't render me anything commercially worthwhile.

 

[john-ipvm]

Surelabs, I am happy to give you a full refund for the past year. Just DM me or email info@ipvm.com.

While your 'read like they have been created by a one man band' claim is easily refuted by reviewing our Installation Labor Estimation Guide or our Super Low Light Shootout, we take member satisfaction seriously. Again, happy to give you a full refund. Just contact me.

 

[john-ipvm]

Quick update, we released the 2016 Surveillance camera book and we changed how the promos are displayed (less frequently). Thanks for the feedback.

 

[iphelpc]

Quick update, we released the 2016 Surveillance camera book and we changed how the promos are displayed (less frequently). Thanks for the feedback.

I was trying to decide whether or not to subscribe. Your persistance and willingness to give labs his money back has convinced me to give it a try. Thanks for being "real"!