Half of new CCTV systems are integrated with computer networks whether for viewing, transmitting or storing captured CCTV footage – so an on-line survey suggests.
The question was: ‘What proportion of your CCTV installations involve linking CCTV systems to PCs for use over a network (LAN, WAN or Internet)?” Some 135 replies – exactly half – that 50pc or more of their CCTV installations involve computer networks. One in five said that almost all of their installations now involve a link to a computer network of some kind. Ian Fowler, distributor Norbain’s Technical Training Manager said he was not surprised by the figures: “We have known from anecdotal feedback from customers for several years that the proportion of systems being linked to computer networks is growing significantly. This survey confirms that trend and may even suggest that CCTV-IT integration is becoming the norm rather than the exception. This has many implications of course. Installers need an additional set of skills when linking CCTV systems to existing networks but they also need to be able 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.” The survey by Norbain and IFSEC was hosted on the exhibition website in the weeks leading up to this May’s event.
