News How Site Monitoring is Helping in the ‘New Normal’
iRis 4.0 by Time-Lapse Systems is allowing us to provide a remote service
Site monitoring has shown its ever-growing importance as the world has had to adjust to a ‘new normal’ with the Covid-19 pandemic, with the full potential of time-lapse photography utilised by its dual capability as a site monitoring solution.
What are the key benefits of site monitoring?
Remote monitoring in the ‘new normal’
One of the key benefits of time-lapse camera systems in the ‘new normal’ is their remote monitoring function. In the current time when people are unable to travel extensively and visit sites, a lot of information can be gleaned from time-lapse photography.
A bespoke time-lapse camera system installed on a construction site has the capability to capture above high definition quality images at set or custom intervals. This gives access to immediate updates (such as through our online viewing portal – iRis 4.0) as images are taken, with project managers and other key stakeholders able to see what is happening on-site instantly.
The latest images, along with the full project archive, can all be accessed with secure personalised log-in credentials on a viewing portal. Remote monitoring from systems can be viewed on any device – laptop, tablet, and mobile phone, enabling constant remote involvement. This is good news, as the need to work remotely has continued unabated. Even in June the government’s new guidelines for working safely during COVID-19 in construction and other outdoor work, it is stated: “Businesses and workplaces should make every reasonable effort to enable working from home as a first option.”
Time-Lapse Systems remote monitoring also comes with other added benefits, as our highly skilled team can micromanage and control the capture instantly, remotely adjusting settings on the camera system itself to match or counter activity on site.
Further benefits to site monitoring
As all the images sent through are organised by time, date, and year, it is quick and easy to isolate exact time periods if the need arises. This function can be used for a variety of purposes on an operational building site, from checking delivery arrivals to assessing social distancing plans, to looking back on how much build progress has been made. All the images can also be downloaded from the portal, collectively and individually, to be kept as a permanent record of the site and project.
Sharing site monitoring photography
With many construction sites back up and running, remote monitoring is more important than ever. Project managers and engineers may be scattered in a variety of locations, but site monitoring can be used as an interactive internal intermediary which allows the project to run smoothly from afar. It also allows external parties such as stakeholders to log in and be kept up to date & in the loop from anywhere in the world. This can all remain private and secure password-protected for the relevant parties.
Or it can be used to share what is happening with a wider audience. Some companies embed the viewer onto their external websites to allow the public to feel part of a project and watch developments take place. For example, Watford Football Club provided public access to their iRis 4.0 viewing platform, so fans could see work on Sir Elton John Stand as it progressed.
If needed by the client, we have the capability of adding a time delay to the images shared with the public. This allows all images to be viewed on an external website, but only after a certain amount of time has lapsed.
Communicating progress through site monitoring photography
Time-lapse capture from site monitoring can be used as a visual progress report. Using past and present images side by side instantly shows the developments made and how much work is still required. Again, depending on the client and project, this can be used internally, with all parties involved, or with the general public.
This can be shared via email, online presentations, or during meetings on communication software and online platforms such as Microsoft 365. This important visual information can be easily monitored and studied so all team members remain up to speed with the construction progress. When very high-quality images are at the centre of this, specific details can also be isolated using the zoom and pan options, allowing remote yet in-depth knowledge of the building project.
These images can also be used in a variety of public communications including press releases, news updates, and across all social media platforms. Photographs, as well as time-lapse videos, are an ideal way to translate progress to the public and keep everyone up to date.
Sharing site monitoring photography across social media platforms
The other side of site monitoring capture is that it can also be used as a marketing tool to promote the business to a wider audience. It can provide content for all social media platforms, from Instagram, Twitter, Facebook to LinkedIn in the form of still images or videos.
Using the site monitoring capture, the high-definition images can be used to illustrate an entire project via a time-lapse video. Progress edits or a final time-lapse video can be created by highly skilled editors, such as our own. Our experienced team can seamlessly edit the high-quality images we capture to create eye-catching videos to document the whole build process or project. This can be used for a variety of promotional purposes on websites, social media, and in general media to showcase the contractors and developers work. In this current time, online visual publicity is the best (and maybe for a time, the only) exposure to a wider audience.
Why use Time-Lapse Systems
It may be tempting to cut corners and budgets at this time, but the reliability and quality that can be produced using a professional, bespoke DSLR camera system mean that your site will always be online with clear capture. As well as the all-in-one functionality we offer, there is also a service guarantee, meaning a full end-to-end package. This high definition site-monitoring and time-lapse capture are used extensively on construction sites, but also on a wide variety of projects.
As the UK’s leading time-lapse video company, we have the expertise and know-how to offer bespoke site monitoring and time-lapse videos to high specification requirements. Please contact us for more details and to discuss your next project.