First-Time Construction Camera Users
Reef Development of Hawaii, a concrete contractor with over 50 years of experience serving the Hawaiian islands, specializes in pouring foundations, slab work, blockwork, precast concrete, and, above all else, flatwork.
With a relatively new buildings division and a growing range of services, the team at Reef Development needed to find an economical construction camera solution that provided a range of features to help keep teams connected and projects on schedule.
- Oli Woolsey, Reef Development of Hawaii
SUMMARY:
Company: Reef Development of Hawaii
Location: Honolulu, Oahu, and surrounding islands
Contact: Oli Woolsey, Project Manager & Estimato
Industry: Concrete contractor with buildings division
Project: Hawthorne CAT in Puhi, Kauai, Hawaii
Camera(s) Used: iBEAM Fixed 4K Construction Camera
Project Background:
Reef Development was contracted to build a new Hawthorne CAT equipment facility in Puhi, Kauai, on behalf of Hawthorne CAT in San Diego, California.
Once complete, the new CAT facility will help provide new and used heavy construction equipment to the island and its various construction projects.
Needs:
With offices on Oahu, Hawaii (the Big Island), and Maui, Reef Development is involved with projects spread across all of the Hawaiian islands. Due to the varying locations, upper management and office team members don’t have the opportunity to visit job sites first hand nearly as often as they like.
A construction camera was needed to help facilitate the easy viewing of all of Reef’s projects for the 25-30 office team members, as well as the 100 or so field team members. The camera would need to provide live-streaming video AND a photo archive so the team at Reef could view progress in real-time, as well as look back at relevant milestones as needed.
Additionally, projects on the Hawaiian islands are subjected to a variety of weather conditions ranging from extreme heat with high humidity to torrential wind and rainstorms. Any construction camera used on a Reef Development project would need to be able to operate in such weather extremes.
Finally, since Reef Development of Hawaii had no previous experience using a construction camera, an intuitive, easy-to-use solution was needed, as was one that was affordable and wouldn’t break the project budget.
The Problem(s):
As noted, the team at Reef Development had no prior experience using professional-grade construction cameras, so they were essentially starting with a blank slate in regards to possible solutions.
The lack of experience combined with the unique location of Reef Development projects presented a hurdle for Oli and his team to overcome when looking for a construction camera solution. As such, they began researching construction camera providers online.
After conducting a variety of searches online, Oli and his team found a few possible providers and reached out to them to learn more about their respective construction camera and time-lapse solutions.
Solution:
The team at Reef Development quickly found that iBEAM was not only the most economical construction camera solution, but also the easiest to work with.
"Sara and the team at iBEAM said they would do something or make something happen, it happened! ”
After a handful of conversations with iBEAM and seeing our solutions in action first-hand with a one-on-one online demonstration, the team at Reef Development felt that an iBEAM Fixed 4K Construction Camera was the best choice to meet the specific needs of their CAT project.
“Choosing iBEAM for our construction cameras was a no-brainer.”
Results:
“We couldn’t be happier! The results have been FANTASTIC!”
The team members at Reef Development are now first-hand believers in the power and value provided by iBEAM Construction Cameras for several notable reasons:
- Crystal-clear live video feed – Reef Development provides crystal-clear live video of their project to all of their team members, regardless of if they’re on another island or in the field, and to the Hawthorne CAT team in California, as well. Taking advantage of the job site’s internet connection makes the experience even more amazing.
“The live feed is fantastic! It’s just soooo smooth and incredible. Watching everything live is unreal.” - Affordability & Ease-of-use – The iBEAM Fixed Construction Camera is both affordable and easy-to-use for everyone on the team.
“Every time we log into the camera, the image pops right up. It’s so easy and the system is great! The pictures are super clear. The live video is great, as is the 24-hour access.” - Added Safety Deterrent – Reef Development didn’t think about this as a primary benefit initially, but after having their construction camera installed on the CAT project, they’ve seen an increase in safety on the job site.
“Everyone knows the camera is on the project and therefore teams don’t horse around or take unnecessary risks. The camera definitely makes things safer! No more slacking, no phone distractions...it’s been great.”
Final Thoughts:
Reef Development couldn’t be happier with their iBEAM Construction Camera and the experience they’ve had as first-time camera users.
“I highly recommend using an iBEAM Construction Camera! There are SO many advantages to including one on a project:
- They allow everyone on staff to see projects live in action from anywhere, which is cool.
- Managers and Supers have access to projects on tablets or smartphones with no issues.
- Safety is improved sitewide.
- It’s a great tool for recording progress and looking back on what happened - we’ve already downloaded 2-3 time-lapses to see what’s happened on particular days!
- We’ve checked on weather for rain delays so we know what the next day will look like.
"Basically, just take advantage of the opportunity! A construction camera helps with so many aspects of the project. There's so many positive resources...I could keep going. We highly recommend them!”