Need to replace Honeywell NVR with something more user friendly

[Odysseus]

I hope this is the correct place for this post, but if not, would the moderator please move it. I looked at the forum names and this seems like my best choice. However I am new to the forum and hope that this is the appropriate place for my question. Also I am still a beginner at NVR admin. Anyway here goes.

I have a Honeywell Performance Series IP NVR (HEN04111) with cameras, the administration of which is simply above my pay grade. I was about to buy a consumer grade system such as Swann or Samsung Smartcam but my neighbor advised for the Honeywell. Months of banging my head against the wall trying to learn how to operate it has been essentially fruitless.

I had hoped to get it to a point where I can get event alerts by text, email, and/or telephone call to my android phone, and to be able to connect to the NVR by phone and/or computer to turn event alerts on and off, see recorded video, etc., but so far not much progress.

So I am asking for recommendations from the users of this forum. Is there a consumer friendly (emphasis on friendly) NVR to which I can connect my Honeywell wired POE cams (2 interior, 2 exterior) and accomplish my simple objectives? I can appreciate that the Honeywell NVR is a very sophisticated, excellent piece of kit which has myriad settings and features that I would love to be able to use. But all those features do me no good if I cannot administer the system.

Objectives:
-to receive event alerts to my android phone
-to be able to use the phone to gather more information about the event (I am learning that lots of things cause alerts other than burglars.)
-to connect to the NVR admin panel remotely by phone and/or computer to turn event alerts on and off
-to be able to limit the number of alerts caused by sudden cloudiness, wind caused motion, moths/birds, and a host of other things.

Suggestions (including names of other more appropriate forums if my post is out-of-place here)? Thanks in advance.

 

[Del Boy]

If you already have cameras then you are better off getting Dahua (over Hikvision) as that is better at connecting to ONVIF cameras. Their NVRs can do all that but you will still get false alerts, nothing is clever enough to avoid those things without missing out on real events.

Step one. Verify you cameras are ONVIF compliant.

 

[Odysseus]

Del Boy, As far as I can determine, my Honeywell H2D2PR1 interior ball cams are ONVIF compliant, not sure about the exterior bullet cams but since they both are in use on the same NVR, it is probably safe to assume that they are also.

I am not sure I understand "Dahua (over Hikvision)". Does that mean you prefer Dahua over Hikvision?

It was my understanding that Hikvision is professional grade gear like the Honeywell. Aren't both of Dahua and Hikvision going to have the multitude of incomprehensible choices and complicated interfaces like the Honeywell? AFAIAC, Honeywell is like grad school mathematics and I am a grade schooler learning addition and subtraction.

I am looking for a much simpler and more consumer friendly (i.e. less complicated) GUI than the Honeywell. Does the Dahua fit that description?

 

[fenderman]

@Odysseus That honeywell kit is actually rebranded dahua. The GUI will likely be the same or similar. The hikvision will be not much different or possibly worse.
As an alternative, consider downloading Blue Iris software http://blueirissoftware.com/ see of you find the interface more intuitive. You will need to run it on a pc. If you are looking for extreme simplicity look at https://www.sighthound.com/products/sighthound-video it is much more expensive.

 

[Odysseus]

Until I got this Honeywell DVR, I considered myself a little bit above average in things consumer IT related. To me the Honeywell is indecipherable.

You clearly have experience in these matters. How do you characterize the Honeywell user interface?

Would the Blue Iris be considered more consumer friendly? Thanks.

 

[fenderman]

Until I got this Honeywell DVR, I considered myself a little bit above average in things consumer IT related. To me the Honeywell is indecipherable.

You clearly have experience in these matters. How do you characterize the Honeywell user interface?

Would the Blue Iris be considered more consumer friendly? Thanks.

They are both about the same. Blue iris is much more customizable so you can implement the features you are looking for. Honestly, if the honeywell is too complex you might need to get someone to set it up for you, or look at sighthound. Best thing to do is download the demos of both and see for yourself.

 

[Odysseus]

Thanks for the candid guidance. I read Jim's review:

http://jimcosoftware.com/index.php/reviews/surveillance-software/blue-iris-video-security-software

It looks and sounds like the interface is much easier to understand than the Honeywell. I looked for a downloadable Blue Iris demo but do not see one and hate to buy a license just to demo it. Can you point me to the right place?

Also I see that Blue Iris is written to run on Windows and from the specs, the computer needs to be quite high spec (i7 cpu, 8Gb RAM, etc) which means buying a new computer to dedicate (my computers are all Linux) to the task. But it raises these questions:

I assume the Honeywell box is a computer, and if sufficiently high spec, and if I like the Blue Iris interface, would I be able to overwrite the Honeywell software and load Blue Iris onto the Honeywell NVR so as to avoid the expense of a new Win box

If not, my Honeywell NVR has 4 (POE) Ethernet ports. Can I somehow pass the camera feeds through the NVR to this new computer so that the Honeywell box is acting like a POE enabled switch? If not how do I get the camera feeds into the Win box?

How does one set up the Win box to send call alerts to a telephone # (my cell phone)? I assume that there would need to be a modem involved. Would a internal card be the way to go. I have two or three modems from the last century, would one of these be sufficient, or is there a better alternative? VOIP?

 

[fenderman]

@Odysseus Download the install file, it will give you a 15 day demo.
You cannot run blue iris or any other software on your honeywell. You dont need an i7 for 4 cameras. You can by an i5-4590 system for 300 with full 3 year warranty (next business day service) search the forum for optiplex and elitedesk.
While you can stream from the NVR to blue iris, you should use a poe switch. You can buy a tp link 4 port for 45 dollars on amazon.
While you can setup blue iris to call your phone using a pc modem, its 2016, the mobile app supports push notifications that are much faster than calling. You can also text or email.

 

[Odysseus]

Thanks for the quick response. Good to know about "push notifications". Would this be like an automated voice message pushed to a telephone number (i.e. my cell)? Is any additional hardware involved to deliver the push?

Is it fairly easy to set up remote administration of the Blue Iris PC from my cell phone or a remote PC? Can this be done through the android app or must it be set up through a browser?

Would you imagine that the Honeywell NVR has any resale value? It is only 6 months old and still under warranty (which may be transferrable).

 

[fenderman]

Thanks for the quick response. Good to know about "push notifications". Would this be like an automated voice message pushed to a telephone number (i.e. my cell)? Is any additional hardware involved to deliver the push?

Is it fairly easy to set up remote administration of the Blue Iris PC from my cell phone or a remote PC? Can this be done through the android app or must it be set up through a browser?

Would you imagine that the Honeywell NVR has any resale value? It is only 6 months old and still under warranty (which may be transferrable).

Push notification requires and android/ios phone and the blue iris mobile app. You can text to any phone. Its not a voice messged its a audible or vibrate alert with information about the alert.
You need to setup blue iris at the pc its installed on or use remote viewing software like teamviewer/logmenin.
Almost everything has resale value, how much? No idea.