Everything buyers, integrators and security teams want to know.

TetherX is an open, cloud-based video management system (VSaaS) that unifies cameras, alarms and access control from 1,000+ integrations into one platform. It is sold exclusively through authorised installers and distributors and is used by housing associations, construction sites, control rooms, retail chains and government-adjacent sites worldwide. Founded in 2009, UK-built, with regional hosting in the UK, EU, US, Canada, India and Australia.

TetherX brings supported cameras, alarms and access equipment into one maintained cloud platform, sold exclusively through authorised installers and distributors. Verkada supplies a coordinated hardware and cloud suite, with supported third-party cameras connected through Command Connector. Eagle Eye / Brivo also supplies managed cloud security, with camera and cloud analytics and selected paid services. Hikvision HikCentral uses a Windows-based server environment operated by your team or provider. TetherX maintains its cloud platform and automatically delivers TetherBox software updates; run TetherBox Bridge on suitable compatible hardware. See all comparisons.

TetherX is an annual platform subscription priced by channel count - from £100/site/year for the platform, with dashboard, multi-site, alarms and access included. Optional cloud recording from £5/camera/month, plus specialist analytics and ARC monitoring layered on per camera only where the customer wants them. Quoted through your installer; choose monthly billing or prepay 1-3 year terms - same software, simpler invoicing on the longer terms. Pricing factors: channel count, retention period, cloud backup options and TetherBox model. TetherBox AI is included on compatible hardware; optional AI modules and specialist services are quoted separately. There is no separate Software Assurance renewal for platform updates. Compare complete quotes for the same cameras, retention, services and support.

It depends on the full proposal and how long you use it. Compare licences, new-version entitlement, support, server upkeep, storage and any additional modules. A perpetual recording licence does not mean every service is included, but a subscription is not automatically cheaper.

Terms differ by product and edition. Milestone XProtect uses perpetual licences; Care Plus covers new-version upgrades, while Milestone documents hotfix availability without Care Plus for General Availability versions. Genetec offers both on-premises Security Center and subscription-based Security Center SaaS. Request the exact upgrade, patch and support terms rather than applying one maintenance percentage to every vendor.

The TetherX platform subscription includes platform updates and scoped automatic TetherBox software delivery, with TetherBox AI on compatible hardware. Optional cloud recording, additional TetherX AI modules and ARC monitoring are quoted separately. Compare the complete services and the work your team or provider will maintain.

Yes. Integrators can request a 30-day free trial - no credit card, no commitment. The trial provides platform access and a dedicated onboarding contact. Run TetherBox Bridge on a suitable PC or server alongside your existing applications, or as a dedicated Linux appliance. TetherX Cloud automatically patches and updates the Bridge software across your sites. Agree camera access and compatible hardware for the customer site before installation. If you need more time to evaluate (waiting on a customer site visit, longer pilot period, ARC integration testing) just ask - we extend trials on request, no awkward sales pressure.

TetherX supports 1,000+ integrations and 17,000+ devices including Axis, Hanwha Vision, Bosch, Avigilon, Pelco, Panasonic / i-PRO, Vivotek, Dahua, Hikvision, Uniview, Mobotix, and any ONVIF-compliant camera. If a device is not on the published compatibility list, it usually still works - contact us and we will confirm.

TetherBox Bridge is the local software that connects supported equipment to the TetherX cloud, records locally and runs enabled edge analytics. Cameras remain on the site network without needing direct internet access. Local recording continues if the internet connection drops; cloud workflows need connectivity.

Run TetherBox Bridge on a suitable PC or server alongside your existing applications, or as a dedicated Linux appliance. TetherX Cloud automatically patches and updates the Bridge software across your sites. You do not have to purchase a separate box for every site. The TetherBox hardware range includes compact units for vehicles, lamp posts and remote cabinets through to rackmount servers for hundreds of cameras and long local retention. Your installer confirms capacity and deployment requirements.

UK, Canada and India customers get hardware shipped direct; elsewhere your installer sources a compatible unit locally per the recommended spec. TetherBoxes from over a decade ago still run the latest software.

Yes. TetherX is a drop-in replacement for the management layer. Existing cameras stay on the site network and connect through a TetherBox - no re-cabling, no re-mounting, no downtime. The cameras themselves never get internet access. This is the foundation of the iVMS-4200 / DSS Express, HikCentral and NDAA migration page migration paths.

Yes. TetherBoxes run well on mobile connections. We recommend 2 Mbps upload for optimal performance but TetherBoxes work with as little as 256 Kbps upload. Reliable operation depends more on packet loss and latency than raw speed.

Compliance is a shared-responsibility model.

What TetherX provides: regional data residency, encryption in transit and at rest, per-camera retention controls, role-based access, full audit logging, SHA-1 tamper-evident evidence hashes, time-stamped exports, time-bound footage sharing and the ringfencing architecture that isolates cameras from the public internet.

What the customer and installer are responsible for: picking the right camera brand (some frameworks - NDAA migration page, UK government high-secure, AU PSPF - mandate approved manufacturers), setting retention to regulator-required values, restricting admin access to named individuals, operator training, CCTV-in-operation signage, and DSAR / FOI workflows.

TetherX cannot prevent an authorised admin from over-sharing, just as a lock cannot prevent the keyholder from opening the door. The platform gives you the audit trail to detect it and the controls to limit it - the policy decisions sit with the operator.

TetherX itself is UK-built and not subject to NDAA covered-entity restrictions. The platform supports every NDAA-compliant camera brand (Hanwha Vision, Axis, Avigilon, Pelco, Bosch, i-PRO and more), and lets federal contractors migrate the management layer off Hikvision / Dahua immediately while phasing camera replacement over 12-36 months. Note: NDAA compliance requires the entire deployment to use approved camera brands - the platform alone is not sufficient. See the dedicated NDAA migration page for the full plan.

TetherX is UK-built and hosts in UK / EU data centres so deployments stay inside scope.

Frameworks the platform is designed to support: UK GDPR + Data Protection Act 2018, EU GDPR, the ICO Video Surveillance code, the Surveillance Camera Code of Practice, BS 7958, BS EN 62676 / EN 50132, BS 8418, BS 5979, NIS2, Cyber Essentials / Plus, ISO 27001 and SOC 2 cloud infrastructure. Per-camera retention meets ICO data-minimisation; audit trails and SHA-1 evidence hashes support DSAR and court-admissible exports.

Caveat: GDPR also requires the operator to limit admin access to a named list, train viewers on lawful purpose and act on subject-access requests within statutory time - tooling we provide, decisions you make.

TetherX hosts in Australian data centres (Sydney) so customer data stays onshore by default; on-demand local clouds are available for sovereignty-critical deployments.

Privacy: Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) + APPs, NDB scheme. Critical infrastructure and federal: SOCI Act 2018 (2022 SLACIP), PSPF, Hosting Certification Framework, IRAP-aligned controls.

Cyber: ASD Essential Eight, ASD ISM, AS/NZS ISO/IEC 27001. CCTV-specific and state law: the AS 4806 CCTV management series, state Surveillance Devices and Workplace Surveillance Acts (NSW WSA 2005, ACT Workplaces Act 2016, plus SDAs in NSW, VIC, WA, QLD, SA and TAS).

Caveat: SOCI and PSPF require named-personnel access controls, retention to asset class, and incident reporting to ASD ACSC inside statutory windows - TetherX provides the audit trail; the operator runs the policy.

Regional data centres + on-demand local clouds keep data onshore where required. India: DPDP Act 2023 (Digital Personal Data Protection), IT Act 2000, CERT-In incident reporting. Canada: PIPEDA, plus province-level laws (Quebec Law 25, BC PIPA, AB PIPA), Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (CCCS) baseline controls. New Zealand: Privacy Act 2020, NZISM, AS/NZS ISO/IEC 27001. The platform configuration (retention, audit trails, role-based access, regional storage) is the same lever used to meet each.

PCI DSS: audit trail, role-based access, retention and tamper-evident export support retail and hospitality assessments. HIPAA (US healthcare): regional storage, audit logging and BAA-ready cloud regions. CJIS (US law enforcement): encryption-in-transit and at-rest plus access controls align with the security policy.

UK CPNI / NPSA: high-secure-site guidance addressed via the ringfencing architecture - cameras isolated behind the TetherBox. Aviation, transport, energy: sector compliance (CAA, Network Rail, DCMA, Ofgem) sits on top of the install - TetherX provides the evidence trail; vertical-specific rules on retention, camera approval and operator vetting sit with the operator.

All communication between TetherBox and TetherX cloud runs over an outbound-only 4096-bit VPN with TLS 1.2+ in transit. Each connection is challenged for reauthorisation weekly; certificates can be revoked if suspicious traffic is detected. Data is AES-256 encrypted at rest in regional cloud storage on ISO 27001 and SOC 2 attested infrastructure.

TetherX hosts in regional data centres in the UK, EU, US, Canada, India and Australia. Customer data is stored in the region closest to the installation. Local recordings stay on the TetherBox; cloud recording backups and platform data are stored in the assigned region and encrypted at rest. Each customer can run a private cloud instance to control their own data flow - and new local clouds can be spun up on demand for customers that need data residency in a region we do not yet host in (regulatory, gov-procurement, vertical-specific compliance).

No. TetherX has never had a publicly disclosed security breach. Compare to Verkada (150,000 cameras exposed in 2021) and historical Hikvision plaintext-password issues that have been widely documented.

TetherX automatically generates SHA-1 checksums for all recorded video. These unique fingerprints let you verify downloaded footage matches the original recording, which is critical for legal proceedings. Time synchronisation uses TetherX Cloud NTP servers so timestamps are admissible. See the security architecture for the full evidence-chain workflow.

No. TetherX is sold only through authorised installers and distributors. We never quote, bill or support end customers directly - your installer is the customer's single point of contact for design, deploy, support and renewal. See the Partner Programme for the installer path.

Tell us about your sites via the partners page or any quote form. We match you to an accredited local installer based on territory, vertical and accreditation - or you can pick one yourself from the directory. The partner contacts you direct to scope, quote, install and support. Your enquiry only goes to that partner, not a central sales team. Typical response: 1-3 business days, depending on the partner.

If you have your own internal security or facilities-management team, we offer free training so they can support the platform end-to-end - user management, retention adjustments, alarm-receiver configuration, multi-site dashboard reviews. The qualified installer stays available for hardware changes and on-site work, but day-to-day operations can sit entirely with your in-house team.

Apply via the Partner Programme page or become a partner. Approved partners get a trial TetherBox, onboarding training, demo platform access, marketing materials and ongoing technical support. There is no joining fee.

Yes. As a partner you get a free demo system on up to three of your own sites, and it stays free. And you can offer your customers a 30-day free trial on their own sites. So you can show a live system and let the customer run it themselves before anyone signs. Full detail on the Partner Programme page.

The platform is portable. Any qualified TetherX installer can take over the sites - the hardware is multi-vendor, the data is the customer's, and the same multi-site dashboard runs whoever is on the keyboard. The relationship is with the customer, not locked to one integrator.

The built-in Health Dashboard monitors every TetherBox, camera, drive, alarm panel and connected network device 24/7. Proactive alerts (camera offline, drive degraded, NTP drift, certificate expiring) reach you before the customer notices. Customers report a 70% reduction in site visits after switching.

Yes. One user account can have access to multiple customer timelines with the right permissions. Engineers see only the sites and cameras they should see, with audit trails per action.

Yes. TetherX integrates with Immix, Sentinel, CONXTD, MASterMind, Bold Manitou, Stages, CHeKT and others out of the box - Any ARC software can connect via a generic link - no special integration required. ARC integration lives in the per-site settings. See control rooms for the full ARC workflow.

Yes. TetherX AI delivers person, vehicle and animal detection, 63-class audio analytics, natural language footage search, directional counting and Support-configured region rules. Describe footage such as a person wearing a red hat last Tuesday, review the proposed filters and adjust the dates before applying the search. Combine detections and appearance with the sites, cameras and time window you need. Video and audio detection run on suitable site hardware; natural language interpretation uses a cloud service. Support configures counting lines and region rules on compatible AI hardware. Rule notifications and output commands need connectivity; counts are crossings, not unique visitors or verified occupancy. TetherX combines these workflows with supported independent cameras. Other platforms also offer AI: Eagle Eye / Brivo supplies camera and cloud analytics, while Verkada combines camera or Command Connector processing with cloud AI. Compare the exact detection or search task, compatible hardware and included services. TetherBox AI is included in the TetherX platform subscription; optional modules, cloud recording and specialist services are quoted separately.

The visual timeline indexes events as they happen. Customers report 90% faster evidence retrieval compared to scrubbing through 24/7 footage. Combined with multi-camera Timelapse and event filtering, a specific incident is usually found in under a minute.

Yes. Native iOS and Android apps with Face ID / Touch ID unlock, custom notification sounds, and the full event review workflow. Available from the App Store and Google Play.

Yes. Arm or disarm individual cameras, whole sites, or scheduled windows from the platform or mobile app. Combine with VCA filtering to reduce false alarms.

Control rooms using TetherX report 90% fewer false alarms compared to legacy video-verification workflows. AI pre-filtering (person / vehicle / animal classification + audio analytics across 63 sound classes) drops noise events before they reach the operator. Customers also report an 80% reduction in support calls to the installer after switching. See control rooms for the full ARC workflow.

There is no hard TetherX platform limit. We recommend up to 1,000 cameras per timeline for optimal event searching; deployments above this use multiple timelines federated under one organisation. The largest TetherX customers run tens of thousands of cameras across hundreds of sites globally.

Automatically, over the air. Updates apply on the next reboot or reconnect, with scoped rollouts (each unit gets updates relevant to its hardware and configuration). Critical security updates are pushed immediately.

The TetherBox keeps recording locally during the outage and automatically reconnects when the internet returns. Events sync back to cloud recording once connectivity is restored. No data loss for the typical outage.

Yes. Users and TetherBoxes each have independent time zone settings. The platform was designed from day one for multi-country, multi-region deployments - one of the differentiators against single-region cloud VMS.