Watch out for CCTV

As the CCTV market has migrated to digital technology, demand has flourished. Despite that, the traditional IT channel has been underprepared to provide migration paths from analogue CCTV systems to new digital or mixed environments.

Wartime Germany, 1942, saw the first CCTV system installed by Siemens at Test Stand VII in Peenemünde, for observing the launch of V2-rockets.

In 2008, the UK with just one per cent of the world's population boasts 20 per cent of the world's CCTV cameras. Schools, shopping centres and even the workplace are teeming with more than four million security cameras.

Yet despite rapid advancements in technology and the birth of a multi-billion pound IT industry, many CCTV system operators still rely on antiquated analogue gear.

Worse, many traditional CCTV installers still sell large analogue systems while IT resellers in prime position to take advantage of the digital IP trend miss a massive opportunity.

The market for IP and networked video surveillance grew nearly 50 per cent in 2007 to approach US$500m worldwide, according to research house MultiMedia Intelligence.

Its report in April suggested that the jump in IP based CCTV deployment was nearly four times that of the broader video surveillance equipment market.

Yet the reluctance of traditional IT resellers to get involved is limiting the IP CCTV market’s growth.

For the 45 years until the mid-1990s, the CCTV industry developed as a self-contained entity. Traditional installers, who had likely spent 30 years sending their workforces up ladders, began to learn about the benefits of digital technology.

Faced with the high cost of retraining their workforces, installers have been hesitant to take up IP CCTV, which can be an expensive technology.

Manufacturers in the Far East have cut electronics prices, so these installers can still effectively compete for smaller projects using entry-level legacy cameras.

To ease the transition to digital, players have developed hybrid systems that bridge the gap between legacy systems and the latest IP technology.

Digital video recorders designed to work with both analogue and digital cameras can remove the need for complete re-cabling.

Specially designed control systems such as keypads and joysticks can be integrated easily with new digital devices. So installers can start to upgrade traditional networks without the need for expensive operator retraining.

The success of the mobile phone industry has caused the price of high-quality camera image sensors to plummet. ‘Arrest quality’ two to 16 Megapixel cameras are now widely available.

The market used to talk about compression standards but now everything is multi-mode and can use several different compression formats.

Footage can be viewed over the internet using common software, such as Apple’s QuickTime, and can even be sent to mobile devices.

One market segment ripe for IP CCTV is education. Schools, colleges and universities are often heavily networked environments with the necessary backbone of network cabling.

Schools are also full of expensive items that people may be tempted to steal. Security for the pupils is also a concern. So, even in small schools, the market opportunity is enormous.

At this year’s vast IFSEC exhibition in May, a sizeable IP and networks hall was testament to growth in this market. Many small companies appeared that had roots in the unified communications space yet the large comms market players were notably absent.

For niche IP experts, there is now a significant opportunity to treat cameras like any other network device and add CCTV to their product offerings.

The combination of cut-price legacy systems and the business costs of retraining staff has encouraged traditional installers to stick with what they know.

Historically, there has been little advantage for many in going digital. However, many IT resellers now have the IP network knowledge to expand into the CCTV arena and compete with analogue installers.

Stuart Thorn is chief executive of IT peripherals vendor Electrone Europe