A quote worksheet for cameras, feeds and retained days
A buyer counts nine camera housings on the wall: eight with one sensor and a ninth with four sensor feeds. That makes twelve feeds if all four sensors are connected — give bidders both numbers. Verkada’s Connector licenses each connected sensor feed, while Lumana describes a feed license with retention and term as inputs. A drawing marked “nine cameras” invites two bids that look comparable until the installer turns up. V09 · Connector licensing FAQ V07 · Lumana license
| Line to fill | Example instruction to bidders | Amount or evidence to return |
|---|---|---|
| Equipment | Eight single-sensor feeds and four feeds from one housing | Model, count and one-time price for each appliance |
| Storage | Ten feeds for 14 days and two entrance feeds for 30 days | Location, retained object and achievable duration at specified resolution |
| Search | Investigate an entry at either entrance on day 21 | Edition and tool enabling a search at that age |
| Staff | 45 named users including five administrators | Any edition or seat charges, SSO and audit-log terms |
| Agreement | Same start date and 36-month comparison period | Cash due at signing, recurring charges, renewal terms and exclusions |
| Expansion | Add two feeds in an existing building, then two at a new address | Two separate changes to the total and any new equipment |
Where the total usually goes wrong
Start the total with the amount due on day one. If it includes a prepaid year, subtract that year from the remaining recurring periods. Include the labor to migrate cameras and any interval when both the old and new recording contracts must stay active. Keep taxes and estimated charges in labeled rows so a reviewer can reproduce the arithmetic, and ask each bidder to state what the customer must provide, including network access, power, equipment space and staff time.
In the example, ten times fourteen plus two times thirty gives 200 feed-days across one retention cycle. That is a compact way to describe the scope, but it cannot determine the number of disks or the cloud storage bill without the stream settings and the supplier’s pricing model. Also check which edition makes the retained days searchable: Eagle Eye’s editions show how a search window and a retention setting can differ. V10 · Cloud VMS editions
A blank line needs a name
When a bid leaves a price blank, write “included,” “buyer supplies” or “awaiting price” beside it after confirming with the bidder. A blank treated as zero can decide a close comparison by accident. Hand the final sheet to someone outside the evaluation team and ask them to explain what happens to the total when the second building opens.