Wider arena

As IT technology continues to drive the security industry forward, many businesses are now looking to put images from their CCTV system onto their IT network for a range of different uses.

For the security installer, the good news is that surveillance technology can now potentially be applied anywhere and everywhere. Whilst there is always a fear factor attached to moving into a new industry sector and particularly in using new technology, installers who are prepared to take a chance now look set to reap impressive rewards in the future.

Infrastructure

The infrastructure allowing 'open' circuit television – ethernet networks, namely LANs, WANs and the Internet – is already established as a medium to support the storage and exchange of computer data such as audio and text.

Despite fears to the contrary, the issue of bandwidth is not a major concern for many companies. Small to medium organisations throughout the UK now boast healthy 10 base-T network infrastructures yet carry traffic which only just scratches the surface of their true capacity. Ethernet, in fact, represents a cost effective transmission medium which goes to almost everyone's desktop and is already there and paid for.

Without doubt, the next step will be the support of video capabilities on the same networks. Servers can already hold the volumes of video content generated by CCTV systems and, given the ability to transmit this information in various methods and the proliferation of new products on the market, installers should ensure they remain abreast of the latest technology.

In the office

Most of the working population now has the means to receive data on their PC in the increasingly familiar form of internet browsers. With no need for detailed user training, browsers also remove the need to understand complex picture compression methods and formats.

But who should look at CCTV images?

Access to CCTV images is a highly sensitive issue, as most companies wouldn't want to put live images from their premises onto the internet for all to see. Yet the opportunities that 'images onto ethernet' present open up a wealth of new possibilities for existing security systems.

In its simplest application, pictures from existing systems could be viewed by employees who wish to keep an eye on their vehicle in the car park, or check how many visitors had arrived in reception prior to a meeting.

On the more serious side, if an incident happens, the situation can be reviewed before a course of action is decided. All it takes is a simple email via the ethernet network to the police or another third party for verification, identification or a response.

Alternatively, the images may be coming live from a manufacturing production line or a chain of supermarket checkouts.

As well as complementing machine tolerance monitoring systems or EPOS device readouts, video information to the desktop will also provide the opportunity for remote monitoring and verification. This kind of application takes the use of CCTV as we know it well beyond the realms of straightforward security monitoring and recording.

In the retail sector, for example, this application also offers a more positive benefit. Customer behaviour patterns can be monitored, either via live or recorded images, to identify for example which point-of-sale displays are the most popular or where queues are the longest, enabling instant redeployment of staff.

Opening up CCTV

Existing installers have huge advantages over IT specialists, as they have experience of working with video, cameras, lenses...

John Humphrey Group MD of Dedicated Micros

With the appropriate image source, this capability could equally be used for promotional, entertainment and training applications – served live to the world across the internet. Hotel guests, for example, can 'walk round' the facilities on the web before they book and delegates at sites around the globe can receive expert training remotely, and at their own convenience.

For forward-thinking installers who are prepared to combine security and IT skill sets, the new technologies look set to open the door to a wealth of new business opportunities.

Installers can now network an existing CCTV installation in a matter of minutes. A new raft of video server products allow video to be instantly digitised and distributed across networks. Installers looking to capitalise upon their existing customer base can either sell in a network 'upgrade' to an existing installation or seek out completely new applications. The sky really is the limit.

What about in practice?

Here John Humphrey answers your questions

Q: How difficult is it to network an existing CCTV installation in "a matter of minutes"?

A: Installers can now network an existing CCTV installation very quickly – it's no more difficult than connecting a PC as long as the network is also in place. Effectively all that needs to be done is to build a bridge between the two, which in most cases is the video server itself and the various coax and network cables. Once the system is allocated an IP address, it's ready to go.

Q: What specific advantages can installers sell to customers who may be interested in a network upgrade? Could you point out some specific security problems that could be solved?

A: Upgrading a customer's network opens up the benefits of CCTV to a far wider audience and becomes much more than security; it becomes live video, available any time and anywhere. In this situation, surveillance is no longer the sole domain of the security manager. It can potentially be used across the company for a variety of monitoring, tracking and management purposes. To take an extreme view, if the right price/performance criteria are matched, who wouldn't use live video to enhance their communications? Such new methods of visual communication bring opportunities to both companies and individuals for a variety of different and as yet untapped solutions – training, presentations, diagnostics, sales support – literally everywhere.

Q: For installers to take advantage of all these opportunities what new skill sets do they need and how can they gain them? Will they have to change their business horizons? ... "information and security" rather than just "security"?

A: Most companies have a person or team in charge of overseeing their IT infrastructure. For installers, once the CCTV system is in place and ready to be networked, it's most likely that the IT manager will take ownership – so new skills aren't necessary.

If the installer has some knowledge of IT networking, this is, of course, beneficial. These latest developments into the digital arena have opened up the possibilities of networking CCTV into an 'Open Circuit TV' solution, bringing together the two separate industries of CCTV and IT.

Q: Do existing CCTV installers have advantages over traditional IT people offering network CCTV?

A: Existing installers have clear advantages over IT specialists as they have experience of working with video; installing effective solutions, optimising positioning of cameras, setting up lenses, all to exploit the system's full potential and bring tangible benefits quality video to the customer.

Q: Does DM currently offer any training support to cover this or any plans to do so?