USE CASES · FIELD & INDUSTRIAL SITES

Field & Industrial

Q: Does the image quality suffer?

The accurate description is a level at which degradation is hard to perceive. You make that judgement in the demo — viewing the original and the compressed stream side by side is more accurate than any explanation.

“The network bill comes every month, and there is neither room nor staff for a server room.”

A field site is not a control room. There is no server room, the network link is poor, and the site itself moves. Instead of standing up a central GPU server, UniverseAI puts one box next to the camera and cuts the volume being sent — on a wireless link that means a smaller monthly bill, and on fibre it means more retention days on the same storage.

Send Your Site Conditions Request a Live Demo

What actually happens out on site

We will not open with market size. Here are the three scenes site managers live through every month.

SCENE 1 / CONSTRUCTION SITE

No server room, and the site keeps moving

There is no server room to host video equipment and the network link is temporary. On top of that, once the phase ends the site itself relocates. A configuration built around a central server has nowhere to go in the first place.

Cause: the architecture concentrates processing in one place, so when the site moves the architecture cannot follow.

SCENE 2 / RURAL, WILDFIRE, REMOTE

The link is expensive and nobody is on site

Where video is sent over a wireless link, money goes out every month in proportion to what is sent. The link also drops on some stretches — and there is no one stationed nearby to go and check.

Cause: the architecture requires everything captured to be uploaded to the centre, which turns the link into both a fixed cost and a single point of failure.

SCENE 3 / FACTORY AND LOGISTICS

Many channels, no room to expand the server

There are dozens of channels and a long-retention requirement, but neither the budget nor the space to scale storage and servers accordingly. In the end retention gets shortened to cope.

Cause: retention days = storage capacity ÷ daily video volume. More channels and higher quality enlarge the denominator, and unless storage grows with it, retention shortens by the same factor.

The first dividing line — is your link wireless or fibre?
That single question decides what actually has value at your site.

Sites on a wireless link (construction, traffic, rural areas, wildfire watch, mobile and temporary installations) — sending video costs money continuously. Cut the volume sent and the monthly outflow drops by the same proportion. The saving is large and pays back quickly.
Sites on fibre (control centres and buildings on a private network) — the link costs effectively nothing. If your link is fibre, there is no network-cost saving. What we bring to that site is retention days — one clean value.

That is why we ask about the link on the first call: what we bring differs between the two.

Site type	What is holding you up	What has value here
Construction sites	No server room, a poor network link, and a site that relocates.	A high share of wireless links makes the cost case strong. Typically the site manager reviews it first and the head-office safety or facilities team decides, so we prepare the material each of them needs.
Factories, logistics and other multi-channel private sites	Many channels and a long-retention requirement, with no capacity to expand the server.	On fibre, retention days. Where remote sites are mixed in, cost comes with it.
Traffic, roads and disaster monitoring	Scattered locations, many wireless links, and frequent requests for after-the-fact review.	Both cost and retention days. Review usually starts with the facilities team and moves to the budget office, so we prepare the evidence for both stages.
Rural, wildfire and remote monitoring	An expensive, unstable link, and nobody stationed on site.	The network saving, plus the fact that it keeps running locally even when the internet drops.

AI BOX — only the middle stage is new

Neither your cameras nor your existing storage and VMS get replaced. One box is inserted between them.

This is an insertion, not a rip-and-replace. The stage in front (cameras) and the stage behind (storage and VMS) both stay exactly as they are.

Component	What it does	Why it is needed
AI BOX	Next to the camera it reduces video volume by roughly 85%. One box covers four channels, so a 40-camera site takes ten boxes. Compression finishes on site, so no central GPU server is required.	It fits even with no server room. On wireless the return comes as network cost; on fibre it comes as retention days.
Your cameras and VMS	You keep using them. Integration is via ONVIF and RTSP, and your existing VMS is not removed — it runs alongside.	With zero replacement cost, the decision never has to become an equipment-replacement project.
VCA (optional)	At sites with frequent after-the-fact review, it adds search combining face, body, clothing colour and carried-item conditions.	It is not part of this configuration by default. Tell us the situation you need covered and we will review the requirements and respond.

4K at 16Mbps, as is

7.5 days

On the same storage capacity

Codec improvement only (approx. −50%)

15 days

Still short of the common 30-day policy

With AI BOX (approx. −85%)

50 days

Clears the 30-day line with margin

Thirty days is not a legally fixed number — it is the usual operating policy of public bodies and companies. Send us your site conditions and we will calculate against them.

Adoption takes four steps

From confirming site conditions to supply — here is exactly what is exchanged at each step.

Confirm site conditions

We ask five things — whether the link is wireless or fibre, how many channels, how much storage, how many days your retention policy requires, and which image-quality baseline applies (FHD or 4K, and whether an upgrade is planned). Without those five, no comparison table can be made accurately.

Live demo

We do not describe compression in words — the original and the compressed stream are shown side by side for you to judge with your own eyes. We first ask what your cameras actually see — foot traffic, mostly vehicles, how much of it at night — and prepare for those conditions.

Pilot verification

Verification under the same conditions as the real site. Because the reduction differs by zone, we pick representative zones together with you. Scope and duration are agreed case by case.

Supply and rollout

The sales partner leads the engagement, and UniverseAI supplies measured data, retention-day calculations and integration checks. Expansion means adding one box per four channels — no server expansion and no rebuild.

Fix the target before comparing
Putting “the price of one storage unit” next to “the price of one box” does not hold, because the two do not do the same job. The honest comparison fixes the target first — for example, “to hold 30 days of retention at 4K, how many storage units would have to be added versus how many boxes.” That count only emerges once we have your site conditions, so we do not invent figures on the spot: we take the conditions, calculate, and respond. The procurement procedure and contract method are guided by the sales partner and the responsible department.

What we base these claims on

Only what has been measured and what is structurally fixed — followed by the scope, stated in the same place.

Approx. 85%

Reduction in volume transmitted and stored

4 channels

Cameras covered by one box

Zero

Central GPU servers to be built

50 days

Retention days at 4K 16Mbps on the same storage

How it sits with your existing equipment

It connects to your existing cameras over ONVIF and RTSP and runs alongside your VMS without removing it. Expansion means one more box per four channels, so it is a quantity addition rather than a budgeted project. Faults are contained per box: if one box has a problem, only those four channels are affected, and replacement means swapping that box.

Even when the link drops

Because processing happens locally at the edge, compression and recording continue even when the internet is down. The link is only needed for remote transmission. At remote and wildfire-watch sites with no one stationed nearby, that property is the value itself.

Stated up front

Compressed quality is not “lossless” — it is a level at which degradation is hard to perceive, and you compare it against the original side by side in the demo.
The reduction depends on how much movement is in frame. A main gate with constant foot and vehicle traffic behaves differently from the back of a warehouse that barely changes all day. That is why we do not quote a single average — we ask what your cameras actually see.
If your link is fibre, there is no network-cost saving. What we bring to that site is retention days — we calculate how many days the same storage will hold.
Real-time event detection and video-analytics search are outside the scope of this configuration. Tell us the situation you need covered and we will review the requirements and respond.
A 30-day retention policy is not a legal figure — it is the usual operating policy of public bodies and companies. Tell us which standard applies to you and we will calculate against it.

Frequently asked questions

The nine questions site managers actually ask first.

We have no server room. Can we still adopt this?

That condition is exactly why this configuration exists. Compression finishes in a box next to the camera, so no central GPU server is built. Installation means wiring a box between the cameras and the storage or control system — no server-room construction and no network redesign follow.

Do we have to replace our cameras?

No. We connect to the ordinary cameras already installed, via ONVIF and RTSP. Send us your camera list and models and we will confirm whether they integrate, and reply.

What happens to the VMS we already use?

It is not removed — we sit alongside it and run in parallel. Tell us the name and version of your VMS and we will confirm the integration method and respond.

What happens if the internet goes down?

Processing happens locally at the edge, so compression and recording continue even when the link is down. The link is only needed for remote transmission — a property that matters most at unmanned sites with unstable connectivity.

We have 40 cameras — how many boxes do we need?

One box covers four channels, so 40 cameras means ten boxes. The arithmetic is simple enough that the channel count alone gives you the scale. That said, the product line differs by processing mode (after-the-fact review versus real-time) and installation environment, so tell us those two and we will confirm the configuration and respond.

Does the image quality suffer?

The accurate description is a level at which degradation is hard to perceive. You make that judgement in the demo — viewing the original and the compressed stream side by side is more accurate than any explanation.

Our site runs on fibre. Is there still value for us?

There is no network-cost saving. What we bring to that site is retention days — one clean value: how many days the same storage holds, without adding any. At 4K 16Mbps, leaving things as they are gives about 7.5 days, a codec improvement alone about 15, and on-site compression around 50. Send us channel count, storage capacity, retention policy in days and image-quality baseline, and we will calculate against those conditions and reply.

How is this different from just buying more storage?

Comparing one unit against one box gives no answer, because the two do not do the same job. It is more accurate to fix the target — for example, “to hold 30 days of retention at 4K, how many storage units would have to be added versus how many boxes.” That count only emerges from your site conditions, so instead of an on-the-spot figure we take the conditions, calculate, and reply. One more point: adding storage does not change the volume being transmitted, so on a wireless site the network bill does not fall.

What does adoption cost?

We respond with a quotation. Five inputs are required — whether the link is wireless or fibre, channel count, storage capacity, retention policy in days, and image-quality baseline (FHD or 4K, and whether an upgrade is planned). The procurement procedure and contract method are guided by the sales partner and the responsible department.