Half of all new CCTV systems in the UK are integrated with computer networks, for viewing, transmitting or storing captured CCTV footage.
A survey, carried out jointly by Norbain SD and CMP Information, IFSEC organiser and Security Installer publisher, asked: “What proportion of your CCTV installations involve linking CCTV systems to PCs for use over a network (LAN, WAN or Internet)?”
Of 270 respondents, exactly half said that 50 per cent or more of their CCTV installations involve computer networks.
And an impressive 20 per cent reported that almost 100 per cent of their installations involve a link to a computer network of some kind.
NSI Silver Systems support manager and Security Installer columnist Mike Lynskey believes the survey results are another indication that installers are becoming more comfortable with computer technology.
“I think most installers are becoming more computer literate, because they have to,” he said. “If they’re not up with the technology, they’re at a real disadvantage to the rest of the industry – it’s just so necessary, in every sector now, not just CCTV.”
Norbain Technical Training Manager Ian Fowler said feedback from customers for several years had suggested that the proportion of systems being linked to computer networks was growing significantly.
“This survey confirms that trend and may even suggest that CCTV-IT integration is becoming the norm rather than the exception,” he said. “This has many implications. Installers need an additional set of skills when linking CCTV systems to existing networks, but they also need to advise their customers of the implications of networked transmission and storage on topics such as Data Protection.
“Surveys like this will also encourage a move away from continuous monitoring to motion activated monitoring in order to ease the burden on network traffic.”
Source
Security Installer
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