Adhering to Protocol

What's that network for exactly? What's its purpose? Many organisations become so bogged down in the technicalities of digital surveillance that they neglect the most fundamental consideration... namely what they hope their own system will achieve in reality.

We all know about the increased access, flexibility and resilience that IP surveillance can offer, not to mention the ways in which digital technology can reduce the overall complexity of your system. These characteristics have been mooted, tried, tested and proven since the uptake of Internet Protocol (IP) technology in the security arena. The ability of IP to offer varied levels of surveillance – as opposed to the fixed level of image quality available with traditional analogue systems – is now allowing organisations the freedom to specify their surveillance requirements in minute detail.

With all this technological flexibility on offer, as well as the expertise of network designers and integrators, organisations need only ask themselves one question – what is the purpose of the surveillance operation?

High bandwidth, low latency
IP networks can offer security operations requiring high quality, full-motion images (such as police cameras monitoring a stretch of motorway) a high level of bandwidth and low latency. This ensures there's no loss of dexterity over control of the camera movement, such that video images are clear and incidents may be analysed in great detail.

The IP solution is also suitable for images where time delay or reduced image quality is unimportant (for example a camera application for monitoring the amount of traffic on a given road at any one time where the image quality is somewhat less fundamental). IP allows us the freedom to decide exactly what we need from our surveillance operation, liberating the end user from the traditional point-to-point analogue system.

The surveillance industry has been sceptical of the technical benefits of using a digitally-networked solution over an analogue system but, after much debate and several trials, IP seems to have won the day in specific areas.

Conventional analogue transmission systems are based around point-to-point transmission with central points of control, whereas a digital network allows for multiple points of image presentation so that numerous cameras can transmit independently to multiple control centres.

IP also allows for greater flexibility because the network is scaleable. In other words, cameras and viewing stations can be added and removed from the network quickly and easily causing less disruption than installing dedicated cables. This is particularly advantageous to end user organisations that may need to change IP surveillance requirements on a regular basis (eg town centre security management teams).

With debate raging as to whether networked digital video is coming to replace analogue CCTV, are we perhaps losing sight of one truism? Namely that a good IP surveillance solution for the end user is one that merely does its job? Mark Bouldin explains why

Reducing technical complexity
A good IP surveillance solution fulfils network requirements by reducing technical complexity, leaving organisations free to concentrate on what they actually want the network to achieve.

When an analogue system has more than one control system, in addition to multiple cameras, it becomes complex and cumbersome to cable, manage and operate. A digital network allows for simplified cabling and easier connectivity. This reduced complexity may be compounded by the duplicity of the network, which makes it capable of carrying various systems such as telephone and data.

Finally, IP makes for the ideal surveillance solution because of its increased resilience. Digital networks offer the added capability of multiple routes, ensuring that data reaches its destination, as opposed to the point-to-point analogue systems that have little or no resistance to failure. In reality, this is because analogue systems can fail from a single point for reasons as simple as a fuse blowing on the matrix. Digital networks use hot back-ups, helping to ensure surveillance images are still available – even if multiple failures occur.

Despite the apparent successes already achieved by using IP for surveillance networks, worries over quality of service have centred on the idea that its architecture isn't designed to carry multiple services. The advent of multi-protocol label switching results in lower installation and on-going costs. Network designers and integrators should provide the technical expertise for a successful IP surveillance solution, leaving organisations free to think about the end result.

IP has so far proven itself as an effective technology in terms of integration, centralisation of control, ease of management and cost reduction, but this means nothing if it doesn't provide the exact requirements to fit your surveillance needs.

Network integrators are vital
Choosing the right network integrator is crucial. Digitally-networked CCTV products have existed for some time, but the convergence of IP and surveillance equipment has been slow... making it difficult to find experts with the networking skills to manage the traffic on an IP surveillance network, deliver the service levels and properly understand the capability of a true CCTV security solution.