From New Jersey:

DEMAREST, N.J. (CBS) ― Surveillance cameras rolling inside our local schools is nothing new, but what’s taking place inside Demarest’s public schools is truly cutting edge: a live feed from more than two dozen cameras with a direct connection to the police.

The cutting edge part — and the expense — is the network itself. Steaming 24 camera images is like simulateously downloading 24 YouTube movies that never end. The network cameras themselves are newer technology, but commonly available these days.

It’s amazing how often I hear a story about a bunch of cameras streaming to a remote location. There might be a reason for recording at an off-site location, but isn’t the point of remote viewing just to see what’s going on? If you really need to see all 24 cameras live, the incident is a big one.

Remote viewing is about seeing one or several specific cameras when you need them, and that’s not so difficult for network bandwidth.

Nonetheless, even the Department of Commerce’s NIST experts concluded that it wouldn’t be feasible to install cameras in New York City subway cars because the bandwidth would be too great. Where do they get that? Is there some kind of union pact between network camera manufactuers and network installers?

Find a way to index the camera, so when you need the live video, you can find it. Off-site alerts when a camera detects motion are already built-in to most camera systems. Record the video on-site, where it doesn’t cost a fortune.