Changing the Landscape
IP video casts new light on industry but also includes challenges, opportunities
- By Peter Wilenius
- May 01, 2008
The evolution of IP video technology
is rapidly changing the security
industry landscape and creating
both challenges and opportunities for
security professionals, vendors and system
integrators. Unquestionably, the industry
has embraced the benefits of IP video and
the efficiencies of a converged security
and IT infrastructure. However, it is equally
clear that, although the movement to an
all-IP environment is inevitable, there are
practical considerations that will dictate
the pace of that transition.
The emergence of the all-IP video paradigm
incorporating IP cameras, CAT-5
cabling and video management software
on industry-standard host and storage
servers is being selectively embraced by
security professionals looking for higher
resolution video and cost efficiencies
related to installation and capital outlay.
But all-IP video isn’t necessarily appropriate
for every organization or application.
IP Adoption
The rate at which all-IP video is adopted
will vary by industry. We are seeing a
faster adoption of IP video technology in
facilities such as college campuses, hospitals,
corporate headquarters and airports,
where IP networks are pervasive
and CCTV systems are only now being
deployed as a result of heightened security
concerns. In the retail and banking
industries, which by their very nature
consist of widely dispersed networks of
smaller locations, the preferred solution
for some time will be analog cameras and
recorders. As early adopters of CCTV
technology, retailers and financial institutions
also are heavily invested in legacy
systems and less inclined to incur the cost
of retrofitting their facilities.
In other scenarios, security professionals
are deploying solutions incorporating
analog cameras with encoders and
video management software on IT
servers, so the new and emerging reality
features multiple technologies co-existing
within a single organization.
Deploying appropriate flavors of technology
within an organization inevitably
raises the question of unified management
and system compatibility. It can get very
complicated if a large financial institution,
for example, has one vendor for the DVRs
deployed at its branches, another for its IP
cameras and a third for its video management
software. The result could be a complex
integration or no integration at all, in
which case the security department has to
cope with parallel user interfaces and
management systems, multiple vendors
and training issues.
New Opportunities
The good news is that the evolution of
diverse, co-existing video technology
environments within enterprise-wide
security systems also has created a need
for an end-to-end solution capable of unifying
all-IP, hybrid and conventional
recorder-based video technologies.
VideoSphere, March Networks’
recently launched video management
solution, does exactly that. Unifying
video management software capable of
interoperability with IP and analog cameras,
video encoders and networked
recorders provides the flexibility to select
video surveillance technology that’s right
for a specific application without worrying
about compatibility and integration or
being forced to make technology choices
that may not be appropriate.
The accommodation of multiple technology
environments under the umbrella
of a unifying video management system
allows security professionals to leverage
their investments in existing cameras and
cabling infrastructure when it makes
sense for them to do so. Common video
management software also offers the
freedom to mix and match video technologies
based on the specific requirements
for each location.
Video Analytics
The pace of technological innovation also
is accelerating on other fronts. The emergence
of video analytics, for example,
promises to dramatically increase the
effectiveness of video surveillance systems
by alerting security personnel to
potential risks as they occur. Object
tracking, direction-specific tripwire, and
perimeter alarms and occupancy sensors
are making their way into the wider market
and will become more prevalent as
they demonstrate their accuracy and costeffectiveness.
Analytics that monitor the
integrity of video surveillance systems by
alerting security personnel to camera
obstructions are already having a major
impact on the effectiveness of video surveillance
systems.
Increased Integration
The integration of video with data systems
is also accelerating, as retailers and
financial institutions, for example, see
the benefits of linking their CCTV systems
with exception reporting and banking
transaction applications. The marriage
of video and data dramatically
enhances data mining effectiveness and
provides loss prevention personnel with
much richer visual intelligence.
In mobile applications such as public
transit, the integration of video with GPS,
vehicle information systems and impact
sensors allows investigators to correlate
video images with data relating to the operation
of a vehicle at the time of an accident.
Similarly, integration of video and access
control systems allows security professionals
to link video with data points reflecting
door openings or alarm events.
All of these innovations in video surveillance
are dramatically enhancing the
capabilities of security professionals and
resulting in safer workplaces, reduced
losses, more effective investigation capabilities
and operational efficiencies.
These changes are driving the convergence
of security and IT as more CCTV
systems migrate to IP networks. In the
new video paradigm, security professionals
and IT departments must work together
more than ever and understand each
other’s domain. But each will continue to
bring their own areas of expertise to the
table in addressing the security challenges
of their organizations.