CamServer

While surfing the web for whatever it is that tickles your fancy, you surely heard of surveillance controversy on Internet safety. However, monitoring isn’t only good for the virtual space, and it can come in handy probably more when done in real life. In case you need a tool for this task, CamServer is sure to at least get you connected.

Since it’s used for surveillance and monitoring, portability comes as a major advantage, because you can freely take this application with you on an USB Flash drive and attempt to keep an eye on things even from a distance. Sure enough, you need an active Internet connection, as well as a video capturing device.

When you launch it, be sure to give it permission to connect to the webcam or other devices that can retrieve video. As soon as it’s granted, the application directly goes to the system tray, but you quickly realize it’s active if your webcam is fitted with LED lights, because they immediately turn on. No preview pops up, so that unsuspecting individuals don’t know they’re being monitored.

Right-clicking the system tray icon gives you the possibility to view which devices are currently connected and used. Apart from this, there are options to connect to an external source, either by providing a LAN IP address, or URL for long-distance monitoring. Needless to say that appropriate privileges are required.

Clicking on a connected device from the tray icon lists brings up a window so you can get a preview. Hovering the cursor over it is a good idea, because only then does the upper toolbar become available.

In it, you can set a password for the playback so that only you have access to it, as well as the camera itself. The configuration option lets you adjust all camera color and control settings. Resolution can be changed by selecting from the list of Video Modes, with a lot of entries, but the device needs to support those resolutions.

Last but not least, there’s a built-in record function you can use to save sessions or use as proof against, or for somethings, at least in theory. Pressing it gives you the impression a recording started, but after pressing stop, the video is nowhere to be found on the computer.

All things considered, we come to the conclusion that CamServer has a long way ahead until it can become a fully-fledged detective. Intentions are good, but frustration progressively builds up as you uncover more and more flaws in functionality. Moreover, the set of features leaves more to be desired, so it’s not the right choice when it comes to monitoring, not even for personal use.