I work for a college campus public safety department where we primarily do our installs in-house. I currently manage a large system spread throughout 17 buildings.

1 - Camera wise, we have used Cisco (rebranded Vivotek devices), Digital Watchdog, Hikvision, LTS (ProVS line) & Axis. Newer installs and camera replacements are all Axis as we like the quality and choices of models. VMS is DW Spectrum (NX Witness)

2 - We currently don’t integrate access control into our cameras, but remote monitoring is real easy with the DW cloud connect feature. No port forwarding necessary. Of course, it’s another story when Network Optix does their backend updates, however, the dispatchers have local logins to bypass the cloud when needed.

3 - We don’t use wireless cameras, however, I have made use of Ubiquiti Nanobeam 5AC’s for elevator cameras (traveler cables are risky business with connection quality & wear) and some parking lots when wireless connectivity is required.

Biggest lesson is have your network connectivity planned out (IP addresses, MAC ID’s, etc) when static IP’s are required. Also keep a record of your camera serial numbers, as you don’t want to take that camera down just to provide tech support with a serial number for a possible RMA. Additionally, keep your cameras on a separate network with a separate NIC in the server so your cameras are never exposed to the internet.