Category Archives: IP CCTV

Hybrid CCTV, Analogue CCTV or IP CCTV?

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Decisions , decisions

If you are the  MD of a company who is about to upgrade or install a new CCTV surveillance system, you are probably going to be faced with some pretty tricky decisions on how you are going to approach the subject. The three main questions you will need to ask yourself are:

1)      Will I just upgrade my analogue cameras for new analogue cameras?

2)      Will I use a mixture of my existing equipment with new IP camera technology .i.e. a hybrid CCTV system?

3)      Will I go for the latest IP Megapixel camera solutions with a VMS recording platform?

CCTV solution? Too many choices?

The problem is there is no clear answer on this. Option 1 will almost certainly work out the cheapest at the point of installation and the results you will be able to achieve will mirror those of any previous analogue system you have used. The cameras and DVR may well have more features but overall system performance is going to be the same.

Hybrid CCTV.

Option 2 will give you a half way house solution. Hybrid systems combine analogue and IP cameras with the potential to record on either a DVR or an NVR but you will have to convert the cameras to either analogue or IP at the point of recording. Having said that some companies advocate the use of a Hybrid DVR that can handle both, but long term support for these products is distinctly questionable. However for the time being they provide a convenient bridge between the two technologies.

IP CCTV.

Finally option 3. This will mean a commitment to the future, but one that is still evolving. With megapixel cameras you really need to consider your companies network capabilities to ensure the frame rate and picture quality are maximised. It is inevitable that IP products will be the dominant force in the CCTV market place over the next 5 years. Analogue solutions have reached their ultimate performance levels and have become as cheap as they ever will do. The price of analogue will rise in time, which is why option 1 may not be the cheapest route in the long run. Conversely IP products will fall in price sharply and the options and ranges of the camera and recording products will be wide ranging.

Buy IP CCTV solution.

So as an MD the decision is defiantly not easy, proper advice should be sort to ensure that a supplier with an installation preference does not force you down the wrong route. So thought and consideration is now crucial as to the decision……… “Buy IP Camera solution”? probably …yes!

CCTV Solutions

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Here at Integrated CCTV we are striving to bring you the latest CCTV news from the industry . New products can be found on this site including the latest offerings from:

Avigilon

Arecont

Alhua Technology

360 vision technology

Basler

Axis IP camera

Bosch,

Brickcom

Cisco,

Custodian monitoring

Dual com,

VCL Dome camera,

Dallmeier

FLIR

HD CCTV

Milestone,

Maxxess

March networks,

motobotix,

Mayflex

Panasonic

Paxton

Redcare,

Risco

Siemans

Samsung

Sony

Vicon,

Videx,

Videcon,

veracity UK ltd

Xtralis

Plenty to look at search the site to find blogs and updates on all the CCTV products in the news.

CCTV IP certification

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IP CCTV

IP CCTV is the new way forward but as yet much of the industry is still waiting for some kind of standard to work to. The NSI has worked very hard over the last 20 years to ensure many standards have been put in place and inspected rigorously to ensure affiliated companies keep to these standards.

IP CCTV is about to change things.

Things such as data the  protection act are now hopelessly out out of date now images can be transmitted and stored just about anywhere in the world but it seems that most people in the industry have just turned a blind eye.

CCTV installations.

As IP CCTV solutions become the common format for CCTV installations then there will be efforts by the inspectorates to enforce some kind of standardization and inspection regime, but it seems that the IP technology is simply evolving too fast for regulation to be effectively applied.

The government.

the government did introduce a CCTV regulator knowing that the IP CCTV revolution was on its way but as yet we have seen or heard nothing , certainly at industry level.

ISO9002

So with the updating of  iso9002 for security companies can the new regs ever keep up .The way technology seems to be moving the answer has to be no.

CCTV security news. Financial report on security companies

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CCTV the state of the industry

Plimsoll analysis have recently produced an interesting report on the financial health of the CCTV and security industry. They carried out an in depth study of 391 leading UK security firms and found that the majority of companies are coming under increasing threat of failure. Their study found that of the 391 companies only 159 were in a good or strong position, a somewhat frightening statistic if you are a CCTV security installer today.

Fierce competition.

The reasons however are clear , fierce competition has driven prices and margins down leaving profits hard to find. Logistics often means cutting engineers is difficult without seriously compromising service levels and those who have tried have and found it impossible to reach industry standards for service and response times and as a result have inevitably lost customers. It is estimated that of the 359 companies included in the survey as many as 33% are actually making a loss and are in danger of takeover or complete failure.

Solving the problem.

So how can this be addressed? well to be brutal some companies deserve to fail. Installing at a loss, as loss leader in the hope that service incomes will make profits in the end are short sited and simply drive good businesses to the wall . Some of the big boys have been guilty of this during this recession.

Cuts.

Most of the of the more clever players however have simply cut away the excess, driven down stock levels and hung on in there by the seat of their pants. Slowly but surely the CCTV security industry is emerging from the economic downturn, ready to take on the IPCCTV revolution and get back to see strong balance sheets by early 2011.