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Frequently asked questions

What people ask us, answered.

The questions that come up again and again on visits and in emails, with the answer we give over the phone. No going round the houses and no selling: when something depends on the installation, what you will see is what it depends on.

How to use this.

There are 360 WestPoint questions below, grouped by subject, plus the Infinity Neural ones, which have a page each. They open when you click: none of them needs you to leave this page to read it.

They are written by the people who do the work, not by a marketing department. That means some answers are «it depends», and when they are, we explain what they depend on and what the two or three real possibilities are. It is more useful than a yes that then does not hold up in front of an installation.

If what you are looking for is not here, write to us and we will answer it. And if the question comes up again, it ends up here.

Ask about anything that is missing

Cameras and CCTV

Which camera for which place, what can be seen at night, at what distance a face can be recognised and what the law says about recording.

Camera systems
Dome or bullet? Which one suits me?What is a multisensor camera for and when is it worth it?Do I need a PTZ or can I manage with fixed cameras?When do you need a thermal camera?Is a fisheye camera any good for covering a whole room?How many cameras does it take to cover a yard?Why can you see that somebody came in but not recognise their face?How many millimetres of lens do I need?Is a varifocal lens better than a fixed one?How far does a camera's infrared really reach?Infrared or white light?At midday the door comes out white and you cannot see who is coming in. Can that be fixed?Does the camera see on its own at night or does it need light?Are more megapixels always better?How many frames per second do I really need?I have been told that 4K sees worse at night than 2 megapixels. Is that true?What is the difference between H.264 and H.265, and does it affect me at all?Why does my camera not read number plates if the image looks fine?At what angle and at what distance do you put a number plate camera?How fast can the car be going for the number plate to be read?At what height should a camera be fitted?The image shakes in the wind. Can that be fixed?The dome bubble mists up on the inside. Is it broken?Where should you never put a camera?What is PoE and what do I need to use it?How far can I run the network cable for a camera?A camera restarts on its own every so often. What is that usually?Do the cameras need a UPS?How often do cameras need cleaning?The image has gone blurry over the years. Has the camera failed?How many years does a camera last?Does the warranty cover lightning burning out my cameras?Do I have to put up the CCTV warning sign?Can I record the pavement in front of my business?Can I put cameras where my employees work?How long can I keep the recordings?A customer asks me for a copy of the recording they appear in. Do I have to give it to them?I have old analogue cameras. Can the cabling be reused?Can I change the cameras in phases or does it all have to be done at once?Can I mix cameras from several brands in the same system?

Video software

The program you watch and search with: licences, recording, permissions, exporting a video that stands up and changing platform without losing the history.

Video software
What is the difference between a VMS and an NVR recorder?Do I need a VMS or is the recorder I already have enough?Does the VMS work with the cameras I already have?How is a VMS licensed?Perpetual licence or subscription?What happens if I stop paying for the software maintenance?Where is the VMS installed?Is the cloud any good for video?Does it work without internet?What server do I need for a video system?Should I record continuously or only when there is movement?Why can recording only on movement work out more expensive?What is pre-recording and why does it matter?Can I record on the camera as well as on the server?How many days of recording will I get?What happens when the storage fills up?What happens if a drive fails?Can I limit which cameras each person can see?Is there a record of who has looked at a recording?Who can export video and how is that controlled?How do you hand video over to the police or to a court?How do you prove that an exported video has not been tampered with?Can I blur other people's faces when I export a video?How do you find something in weeks of recording?Can I search for movement in just one area of the image?Can I join the video system up with the access control?And with the intruder alarm and the fire detection?What does an operator position need?How many screens does a video wall need?Can I change VMS without losing the history?What analytics does a VMS come with as standard?Why does motion detection give me so many false alerts?Does the video software have to be updated?What backup does a video system need?If the server goes down, does it stop recording?

Access control

Who goes in, where and when. Credentials, doors, biometrics and what the European regulation requires before you fit a fingerprint reader.

Access control
What is the best way to identify people: card, fob, phone, PIN or fingerprint?How do I stop people lending each other their cards?Is it worth using the phone as a credential?Is a PIN keypad good enough for controlling a door?Can the barrier be opened by reading the number plate?What do I do when somebody loses their card or leaves it at home?Is it true that my proximity cards can be cloned?What should I look at when somebody offers to change the cards?What is the facility code and why am I asked for it when ordering cards?What is the point of encrypting the card if the reader cable is unencrypted?Can I fit a fingerprint reader for my employees?When is an impact assessment needed?What do I do with somebody who refuses to give their fingerprint?Fingerprint, face or palm: which works best where?Where is the fingerprint stored: in the reader, on the server or on the card?Which lock do I fit on each door: strike, magnetic lock or motorised?Can I control an escape door with a panic bar?What do the fire regulations say about doors with access control?What state is each door left in when the power goes off?Turnstile, waist-high gate or motorised speed gate: which one do I need?How do I stop two people going through on one credential?How do you control cars coming into the car park?Can access to the loading bays be controlled?Who really decides whether the door opens?What happens if the network goes down or the server is switched off?Own server or cloud system?How do you set up the time schedules and access levels so they do not end up as four hundred of them?How are visitors managed?And contractors, who come and go all year?How long does it take to withdraw access from somebody who leaves today?Can the access control be connected to the payroll or HR program?Can I use the access control for clocking in?What is antipassback and when is it needed?What is an interlock and where does it make sense?How do you protect a room nobody should go into alone?What is recorded and how do I get out who went into a room on a particular day?How long can I keep the record of entries and exits?Can I know who is inside the building during an evacuation?If I change system, can the readers, the cabling and the cards be reused?Can the access control be changed without stopping the factory?

Intruder detection

Security grades, detectors, false alarms, perimeter and what really happens between an alarm going off and somebody turning up.

Intruder detection
What are the security grades in UNE-EN 50131 (the Spanish adoption of the European intruder alarm standard)?How do I know which grade applies to me?Does a grade 3 device make my installation grade 3?What is the Private Security Regulation and how does it affect me?Am I obliged to have an alarm?What is a registered security company and why does it matter?Does the installation have to be notified to the authorities?Which detector goes where?What is a passive infrared and where does it fail?What is dual technology and when is it worth it?What are indoor curtain and beam infrared detectors for?Are magnetic contacts any use?Seismic detector or glass break detector?What is anti-masking and why does it matter?Why does my alarm go off when there is nobody there?I have a dog or a cat: can I have an alarm?Can you guarantee it will never go off falsely again?Cannot that be fixed by turning the sensitivity down?What is video verification and why does it change things so much?And audio verification?Why do the police not attend every alert?What exactly does an alarm receiving centre do?What exactly happens when it goes off at three in the morning?What is the keyholding response service?Can I connect the alarm only to my phone and save myself the receiving centre?How do you protect an outdoor perimeter?Microwave or infrared beams?Buried cable or sensor fence?Is video analytics any good as perimeter detection?What stands up to rain, fog and snow, and what does not?What happens if my telephone line or my cable is cut?What is dual path and how far does it protect me?Can a radio alarm be jammed?What are partitions and part-setting?Can it be set and unset on a schedule?What is a duress code?Am I obliged to maintain the alarm, how often and who can do it?What does an inspection report have to say?Can I have intruder detection, fire detection and video in the same building and on the same screen?Can I change maintenance company if the system is closed?

Fire detection

What the regulations require, how often it has to be inspected, which detector goes where and where our part ends and fire suppression begins.

Fire detection
Am I obliged to have a fire detection system?What is RIPCI (the Spanish fire protection installations regulation) and what exactly does it oblige me to do?What does CTE DB-SI say and above what floor area does it require detection?I have an industrial unit, which regulation applies to me?What is UNE 23007-14 and why does everybody mention it?What does it mean for a device to comply with UNE-EN 54?My installation is older than the current regulation, do I have to change it?How often does fire detection have to be inspected?Who can carry out the inspections?What does an inspection certificate have to say and how long do I have to keep it?What happens if the inspections are not done?Besides maintenance, is there any compulsory inspection?What is the insurance company going to ask me for?Is a maintenance contract compulsory, and does it have to be with whoever installed it?What types of detector are there and where does each one go?When do you fit a heat detector and what is a rate-of-rise detector?What is a multi-criteria detector and when is it worth it?When do you need a flame detector?Is a CO detector any use? Is it the same as the one in the car park?How much floor area does a detector cover and up to what height does it work?Do detectors expire? And the old ionisation ones I have fitted?The system gives false alarms all the time, what can be done?The kitchen sets the detector off every day, what goes in there?In the unit there is dust, steam and welding fumes, which detector copes?The car park goes off with exhaust fumes and with pressure washing, what can be done?What is aspirating detection and when is it worth it?What is heat-sensitive cable and where is it used?What is linear infrared detection?Conventional panel or addressable analogue?How many zones and how many devices fit, and what if I want to extend it?How many sounders are needed and how long do they have to sound for?When do you need a voice evacuation system with spoken messages?When the fire alarm goes off, what happens to the access control doors?How do you close the fire doors that are always held open?Can the detection stop machinery, the air conditioning and the lifts?Who does the alert go to? Is the fire brigade called?We are going to do building work in an occupied building, what happens to the detection?How do you protect a high-risk warehouse or one with very high racking?And a battery room?What goes into a data centre or an electrical room?Do you also do sprinklers and hose reels?How do you coordinate with the company doing the fire suppression?

Networks and communications

Why video is not office traffic, how much bandwidth you need, PoE, fibre and what carries on working when the internet goes down.

Networks and communications

Infrastructure and hardware

How many days of recording fit, how a server is sized, which drive stands up to recording all day and what happens when one fails.

Hardware infrastructure

Project engineering

How an installation is designed before anything is bought: risk analysis, documentation, acceptance testing and what is handed over at the end.

Systems engineering
What is the difference between a security project and a quotation?Does the law oblige me to have a project or is a quotation enough?What is the risk analysis and who decides it?And if the budget does not stretch to everything the project says?What does the site visit involve and how long does it take?Does the visit cost anything?Does it have to be visited at night or at the weekend?What documentation do you hand over with the project?What is the specification for if there are already drawings?What are the schedules of quantities and why do they matter if you are the ones giving the price?What stages does a project go through?What is the outline design and what is it for if it then has to be developed?What are the acceptance tests and what exactly is tested?And if something does not pass the tests?I already have an engineering firm and an architect, do you tread on their toes?Do you work for the owner or for the main contractor?The specification written for me already names a brand, what do you do?I have equipment installed, can it be reused or does it all have to go?Can you work on a system that another company installed?Why do you not start by choosing the brand?Do you train my staff? In what exactly?Are the administrator passwords mine?Who administers the system when you finish?If tomorrow I want to change maintenance company, can I?How long does it take to design a project and to build it?What do you need from the builders, and when?How do you coordinate with the other trades?I want to extend it in two years' time, how is that prepared for?

Support and maintenance

What a contract includes, who answers in the early hours, what gets fixed remotely and what happens with an installation somebody else built.

Technical support

The group, and how we work

Who is who, which clients we work with and which we do not, what happens if you are an installer, what certifications we hold and what gets signed with your data.

Who we are
Who exactly are you?How many companies are there in the group and which one do I sign with?What is the difference between WestPoint and Infinity Neural?Is IRIS Neural a third company?Can I contract the installation without the artificial intelligence?Can I buy the artificial intelligence without you installing anything?How long have you been doing this?Where are you?Do you only work near Badalona and Madrid?Do you work outside Spain?What kind of client do you work with?Are there clients you do not work with? Why?I am an installer. Do you sell me the technology or do you have to fit it yourselves?If I buy the technology from you, are you going to turn up in front of my client?WestPoint installs. Does that not make you my competitor?How does a job with you start?What do I get before signing: a quotation or a project?I already have cameras of a particular brand. Do you work with what is there?Do you take on the maintenance of an installation that somebody else built?What happens if what I need is not something you do?Do you also do fire suppression, sprinklers and hose reels?What certifications does the group hold?What is this about installer company no. 3709?What is RASIC and how does it affect me?What is the ENS and do you have it?What exactly did the Centro Español de Metrología approve?Do you hold any standard that deals with artificial intelligence?When we give you access to our cameras, who answers for those images?Does anything have to be signed for you to get into our system?Where are our images? Do they go to any cloud?Do you have public liability insurance?How do you handle risk prevention and the coordination of business activities?How do you invoice and what payment methods are there?What warranty does what you install carry?Do you sign confidentiality agreements?Why are there no client names on your website?Do you deal with people in Catalan or in English?What happens if the technician who knows my installation leaves the company?

Artificial intelligence for cameras.

What people ask about Infinity Neural: what it detects, what it does not and what it takes to get it running on the cameras that are already there. Each one has its page with the full answer.

The Infinity question archive
Is there any technology that lets me get alerts if somebody is working without the protective equipment they need?How do you detect if somebody takes their PPE off during the working day?What system can I use to check that protective goggles are being worn without having to check by hand?Is there any way of automatically detecting if somebody starts work without gloves?How can I check that high-visibility vests are being worn properly in areas where they are compulsory?How can I know whether workers are wearing their hard hats at all times?How can I know whether the waiting times at crossing or control points are being observed?Is there any way of analysing whether the loading and unloading areas are well managed in terms of traffic flow?What can I do to make sure vehicle blind spots are covered?How do you detect if there is traffic going the wrong way inside the plant?Which tool lets me see the flow of people and vehicles in real time?How can I log incidents involving internal traffic automatically?What options are there for controlling movement in areas where cranes or mobile platforms are operating?How do you prevent accidents on ramps, entrances or areas with poor visibility?What technology can alert me if a vehicle enters a pedestrian area?How do you analyse the bottlenecks in shared traffic areas?What can I do to improve the flow of internal traffic without compromising safety?How do I identify the most problematic points in the internal traffic of my site?Is there any way of checking that vehicles only drive in the areas set aside for them?How can I reduce the risk of people being run over by forklifts?Which tool lets me analyse whether the pedestrian walkways marked on the floor are being respected?How do you detect whether people are building up in narrow passageways?What system can I use to supervise dangerous crossings between pedestrians and machinery?How can I avoid collisions between people and vehicles in my plant?How can I identify whether staff are near heavy machinery that is running?Is there any solution to help me manage several safety zones from a single platform?What can I use to analyse which areas have the highest concentration of incidents or near misses?How do I record visually which areas are exposed to risks and how often?What tools can I use to identify areas where safety distances are not being kept?How can I detect unauthorised presence outside working hours or during production shutdowns?What is the alternative to controlling access to areas with electrical or mechanical risk by hand?How can I know which areas of my site have the most movement of unauthorised people?Is there any system that tells me if there are workers under suspended loads?How do you watch areas with moving structures that can be a danger if people are nearby?What can I do to know whether there are people present during dangerous manoeuvres such as loading or unloading?How do you monitor areas that are hard to reach without having somebody there all the time?What technology lets me automatically log entries and exits in dangerous areas?How can I know which areas of my plant have the most safety breaches?Is there any way of controlling the occupancy of risk areas in real time?How do you know whether a worker is working in an area where they should not be?What method can I use to supervise critical areas without having to install sensors at every point?How can I detect whether there are people in dangerous or restricted areas?How can I manage safety on sites with a high turnover of staff or subcontractors?What technology can help me move from reactive safety to preventive safety?How do I know whether the changes I make are really improving safety?How can I prevent risks without swamping the people responsible for safety?How can I prove that I comply with the safety regulations if I am inspected?What system could alert me if safety measures are breached at critical moments?How can I get automatic reports on the incidents or risks detected?What options do I have for automating the detection of safety breaches?Is there any solution to help me supervise several work areas at the same time?What can I do to reduce the financial impact of workplace accidents?How can I act quickly when a dangerous situation happens on the plant floor?What method can I use to audit the safety of my site without interrupting the operation?How can I stop workers going into restricted areas without authorisation?Which technologies can help me identify dangerous areas in real time?How can I get objective data on the level of safety in my plant?What tools are there for improving workplace risk prevention without relying only on human supervision?How can I know whether the safety protocols are really being followed at all times?Is there any way of detecting unsafe behaviour before it causes an accident?How can I reduce the number of workplace accidents in my company?How is Black Neural different from other AI solutions for safety?In which sectors is Black Neural already being used successfully?What training does the health and safety team need to get the most out of Black Neural?Is Black Neural only for prevention or also for analysing past incidents?Can Black Neural be used as an internal safety audit tool?What does it cost not to have a system like Black Neural in high-risk environments?How long does it take to start seeing benefits after it goes in?What kinds of alert can Black Neural raise and how are they received?What is the difference between using physical sensors and using artificial intelligence with cameras as Black Neural does?How does Black Neural help with complying with workplace risk prevention regulations?Is Black Neural meant only for large sites?Which kinds of company can benefit most from Black Neural?What return on investment (ROI) does Black Neural generate?How does Black Neural help reduce workplace accidents?Does Black Neural replace the security staff?What benefits does Black Neural bring to an industrial plant?What kinds of workplace risk can Black Neural detect in real time?What makes Black Neural different from a traditional CCTV system?What is Black Neural and how does it improve workplace safety?How can AI help me offer more effective cross-selling?How do you decide which messages to broadcast over the speakers to improve CX?Is there technology for creating personalised experiences in a shopping centre?Is there any system for broadcasting messages over the speakers adapted in real time to the kind of people in a place?How do you personalise adverts on screens in real time according to the kind of customer walking past?How can I automate the air conditioning in a room according to the people in it?Can I adjust the lighting automatically according to how many people are in my premises?Can I match my marketing campaigns to the demographics of my customers?How do you measure how effective my in-store campaigns are?How can I make my shop's marketing more effective using AI?How do you detect whether somebody sneaks onto the underground or into an event without paying?Can I trigger automatic alerts for intrusion into restricted areas with AI?Can I detect whether somebody touches a valuable object in an exhibition?Is there intelligent surveillance software for detecting loitering?How do you detect suspicious behaviour on my premises?Are my advertising screens in the shop working?Is there any system for detecting whether customers interact with my screens or displays?How do you measure how long customers stop to look at products or window displays?Which products go unnoticed in my shop?How do you measure the average time spent serving a customer at a counter?Is there any way of measuring the queues at the tills to cut the waiting time?How do you optimise the number of tills open according to footfall?How do you keep track of whether the checkouts are overloaded?What can I do to reduce the queues in my shop?How do I know whether my customers are waiting too long in the queue?How can I know why customers leave without buying?Where should I put the promotions so that more people see them?How do I know whether my window display works well?How do I know whether my shop layout works well?Which areas of my shop does nobody visit?Can I detect which areas of my premises my customers spend most time in?What route do customers usually take inside my supermarket?Where can I find software for creating heat maps and understanding movement in my premises?How do I know which areas of my shop are the most visited?Are my premises accessible for people with reduced mobility?How do I know whether my visitors have accessibility needs?How do I know whether visitors are carrying suitcases, rucksacks or luggage?How old are my main customers?At what time do more young people or older people come into my shop?What kind of customers visit my business most?How do you get to know your customers better without asking them for personal data?How do you adapt my shop to what my customers need?How do I know whether my customers come alone, in pairs or in groups?Does my advertising attract the kind of customer I am after?How do you understand your customers better without running surveys?How do you find out the age and gender of the people who visit my business?How do you compare visitor footfall across all my shops?How do you find out how many people visit my shop by day or by hour?How can I find out the busiest times in my premises?What can I do to avoid going over the permitted occupancy?How do I keep track of occupancy in real time in my business?How can I know how many people come into my shop each day?How do I know whether I am making the most of my shop's potential?How can I digitise my physical space without big investments?Can I improve how my business performs without changing my infrastructure?Which data would help me improve my physical business?Can I know whether my physical space works well without surveys or sensors?How do you use the data from my cameras to make more money?Why turn security cameras into analysis tools?How do you take more efficient decisions in a physical business?How do you know whether a marketing campaign brings in more visitors?How do you cut costs without affecting customer service?Why are sales in my shop falling if the same number of people come in?How do you optimise staff planning in your business?How do you avoid overcrowding in your premises?How accurate is the data that AI solutions for people analytics provide?Is it difficult to put an artificial intelligence system into your physical business?Which kinds of business is artificial intelligence applied to customer experience useful for?How can artificial intelligence (AI) applied to CX improve your physical business?Can Lemon Neural detect whether somebody comes in through the exit?Does Lemon Neural allow specific people to be followed with AI?How do you assess how effective the design changes in your shop are?How do you detect bottlenecks in the flow of your customers?Are heat maps any use for optimising your shop layout?How do you find out customer routes in your premises?Can Lemon Neural predict footfall?Does Lemon Neural allow data to be exported?What technical support does Upon Group offer for Lemon Neural?How accurate is the data from Lemon Neural?Is the data from Lemon Neural historical or real time?What alerts and responses does Lemon Neural offer?How is the data Lemon Neural collects presented?Does Lemon Neural integrate with other existing systems?Does Lemon Neural help in emergencies or evacuations?Does Lemon Neural measure how effective the staff are?Does Lemon Neural detect customers waiting for help?Is the estimate of gender or age with Lemon Neural anonymous?Does Lemon Neural detect whether a customer has made a purchase?Does Lemon Neural measure the ROI of advertising displays?How can you measure the interest in your window displays or signage?How can you identify the most popular areas of your shop?How do you find out who your customers are without invading their privacy?Is Lemon Neural only for counting people?How does Lemon Neural measure footfall at multiple entrances?Does Lemon Neural tell employees and customers apart when counting?Does Lemon Neural need extra staff for the countingDoes Lemon Neural log entries and exits in real time?How does Lemon Neural protect the privacy of the data?What certifications does Lemon Neural hold as an AI solution?Why is Lemon Neural better than other AI solutions?How does Lemon Neural affect the ROI of your physical business?What benefits does Lemon Neural bring to your physical business?Which KPIs does Lemon Neural offer for optimising your business?What is Lemon Neural?

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