“I need the serial number,” the voice said.
“I gave the serial number to you twice,” Gabriela said.
“That number is the reseller ID,” the voice said. “I need the manufacturer serial number.”
Gabriela looked at the side of the camera. The camera was white. The camera was metal. The camera was mounted under the eaves of the roof. The eaves were high. Gabriela did not have a ladder.
“I cannot reach the camera,” Gabriela said.
“Then I cannot open the support ticket,” the voice said.
Six Months of False Security
Gabriela ended the call. She sat at her desk. She had three tabs open on her computer. One tab was the website for the reseller. One tab was the website for the manufacturer. One tab was the email for the installer. The installer had installed the cameras in . It was now .
The camera stopped recording video on Tuesday. Gabriela needed the video. Someone had driven a truck over her grass.
The Blame Circle
The reseller told Gabriela to contact the manufacturer. The reseller said the warranty belonged to the manufacturer. The manufacturer told Gabriela to contact the installer. The manufacturer said the installer must verify the power supply. The installer did not answer the phone.
The installer had a voicemail message. The message said the installer was on a job in another state.
I have seen this happen many times. I advocate for residents in elder care facilities. I see medical equipment fail. I see call buttons fail. I see monitoring systems fail. When a system fails, the blame moves in a circle. The circle has no end.
I sneezed seven times while I started writing this paragraph. My eyes are watery. My nose is red. I am frustrated by circles.
The Ghost of Vertical Integration
In , the Ford Motor Company owned the mines. Ford owned the ships. Ford owned the steel mills. Ford owned the glass factories. Ford owned the assembly lines. This was vertical integration.
If a Ford car broke, Ford fixed the car. Ford could not blame a supplier. Ford was the supplier. This model was clear. The model was expensive.
1924 Model
Vertical integration. One owner. Clear accountability. If it breaks, you know who to call.
Modern Model
Layered supply chains. Fragmented ownership. Efficient, but accountability is thinned to a vanishing point.
Modern supply chains are different. Modern supply chains use layers. One company designs the software. One company builds the hardware. One company sells the hardware. One company installs the hardware. This is efficient. This lowers the price for the buyer.
But this thins the accountability. Every person in the chain is technically right. The reseller is right that they do not fix hardware. The manufacturer is right that they do not fix cables. The installer is right that they do not fix software bugs.
Gabriela called the reseller again. The reseller is a large online store.
“The manufacturer will not help me,” Gabriela said.
“Did you provide the invoice?” the reseller agent asked.
“I provided the invoice,” Gabriela said.
“The manufacturer must honor the warranty,” the reseller agent said.
“The manufacturer wants the installer to check the cables,” Gabriela said.
“We do not provide installation services,” the reseller agent said.
Seams in the Supply Chain
This is the accountability gap. The gap exists in the seams between companies. Most people buy security hardware based on the price. They do not buy based on the support path. They do not ask who owns the ticket when the video stops. They do not ask if the manufacturer is also the maker.
Many brands do not make their own cameras. These brands buy cameras from a factory. They put a logo on the camera. They sell the camera to a reseller. If the factory has a problem, the brand has a problem. If the brand has a problem, the customer has a problem.
Closing the Loop: The Taiwan Connection
Amcrest does things differently. Amcrest works with FOXLINK. FOXLINK is a manufacturer in Taiwan. FOXLINK is a public company. They make the HELIX line. They make the AMLINK line.
These cameras do not use components on the FCC covered list. The HELIX models are NDAA compliant. This means the supply chain is short. The supply chain is clean. When the hardware and the brand are close, the support loop is small.
If you buy a poe camera for a home, you want the video to work. You want one cable. The cable carries power. The cable carries data. This is why people buy PoE systems. It is a simple system.
Gabriela finally reached the installer. The installer called her back from a truck in Nevada.
“I checked the cables in ,” the installer said.
“The camera does not work now,” Gabriela said.
“I am in Nevada,” the installer said. “I can come to your house in .”
“I need the video now,” Gabriela said.
“Call the manufacturer,” the installer said. “Maybe the firmware is bad.”
Gabriela felt a pain in her head. She went to the garage. She found a broom. She went to the side of the house. She stood under the camera. She held the broom by the bristles. She used the handle of the broom to touch the camera. She hoped the camera would move. She hoped the red light would stop blinking. The camera did not move. The light kept blinking.
The Grandmother and the Silent Alarm
I once worked with a family in a nursing home. The grandmother had a bed alarm. The alarm was supposed to ring if she fell. One night, she fell. The alarm did not ring.
The nursing home said the battery was old. The battery company said the alarm sensor was faulty. The alarm maker said the nursing home staff did not reset the system.
“No one said sorry to the grandmother. They were too busy being right.”
When a supply chain has many layers, the truth gets lost. The truth is that a person bought a product to solve a problem. If the problem is not solved, the product is a failure. It does not matter which layer failed. The brand on the box is the brand that the customer remembers.
Breaking the Cycle
Gabriela decided to buy a new camera. She did not want to wait for the installer. She did not want to talk to the manufacturer again. She searched for a camera that she could manage herself. She looked for a company that made its own hardware. She looked for a company with a clear path for support.
She found a turret camera. The camera used Power over Ethernet. She knew she had a good cable in the wall. She knew the power was working because the other cameras were on. She ordered the new camera.
She saw the serial number on the back of the old camera. It was printed in tiny grey ink. She felt an urge to call the manufacturer and read the number to them.
She did not call them. She put the old camera in a box. She put the box in the trash.
She installed the new camera. She plugged in the ethernet cable. The camera turned on. The video appeared on her phone. The video was clear. The night vision was in color. The camera had human detection. If a truck drove on her grass again, the camera would send an alert.
The new camera was an Amcrest. She felt better. She knew that if the camera failed, she only had one company to call. She did not have a reseller in the middle. She did not have a ghost manufacturer in a different country. The hardware was Taiwanese. The support was local.
Demanding More From the Brands We Choose
The problem with the modern world is that we have made it easy to sell things and hard to own them. We have optimized the transaction. We have neglected the relationship. We think that a lower price justifies a longer loop. It does not.
A security camera that does not record is the most expensive camera in the world. It costs you your peace of mind.
I am still sneezing. My eighth sneeze was the loudest. My cat ran out of the room. I am sitting here thinking about Gabriela. I am thinking about the grandmother in the nursing home. I am thinking about the serial numbers we cannot see.
We should demand more from the brands we choose. We should ask where the parts come from. We should ask who answers the chat. We should ask what happens when the red light blinks. If the answer involves three different companies, we should walk away. We should find the shortest line between the problem and the fix.
Gabriela watched the live feed on her phone. The grass was still damaged from the truck. But the screen was bright. The connection was steady. She deleted the three tabs on her browser. She closed the email from the installer. She was done with the circle.
She looked at the old invoice. The invoice was for a lot of money. She had paid for the convenience of an installer. She had paid for the reputation of the reseller. In the end, those things did not matter. Only the video mattered.
A Checklist for Homeowners:
- Check your cameras. Check the brand.
- Check the support number. Call the number now. See who answers.
- See if they ask for a serial number you cannot reach. If they do, buy a ladder. Or buy a better camera.
I prefer the better camera. My back is too old for ladders. I will stay on the ground. I will keep my nose clean. I will keep my eyes on the screen. The screen shows the truth. The circle only shows the blame.
We are all looking for a way to be secure. We want to know that our homes are safe. We want to know that our families are watched over. We do not want to be a ticket number. We want to be a customer. There is a difference between those two things. One is a data point. The other is a human being.
Gabriela’s neighbor walked by. He waved at the new camera. Gabriela saw him on her phone. She waved back through the window. The system worked. The loop was closed. The afternoon was quiet. The grass would grow back. The video was safe. That was all she wanted. That was all any of us wanted.
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