TRENDS IN CLOSED CIRCUIT TELEVISION INDUSTRY

Child and women safety, local crimes, terrorism and other security threats around the country are generating a high demand for advanced CCTV solutions that can help detect threats, and protect lives and assets. Ashok Subramaniam analyses some of the trends that are helping reshape the security industry.

Security is today a huge issue. As technology advances, the nature and intensity of threats, both physical and virtual, is keeping pace. While security for technology solutions are taking the direction of advance testing for threats, physical security has found a new support – close circuit TV cameras that can help keeping crime at bay.

 Rajagopal Sivaramakrishnan, a Cisco Networking expert across data voice and video says “Across a wide range of industries -banking, retail, critical infrastructure, government, corporate campuses, education, airports, seaports, public transportation and residential campuses- government entities and organizations are interested in a broader deployment of CCTV solutions.  The new situation has spawned a wide variety of solutions, giving customers more options”.  Ashok Sundar, Owner of BitsNBytes Solutions, a CCTV infrastructure solution company based in Chennai and Bangalore, says “Using a more proactive approach to leveraging existing video infrastructure, organizations continue to increase the safety and security of their facilities, improve emergency response, and enhance their investigative capabilities.”

Ashok Sundar adds “Consistent with the ongoing demand from heightened security needs, the CCTV market continues to experience a technology transition from relatively passive analogue CCTV video systems to more sophisticated network-based IP video solutions that include integrated analytics. Colleges are now increasing looking towards adding Video solutions as part of their campus safety management systems.”

Rajagopal explains this trend – “CCTV systems use analogue equipment and closed IP Networks providing mainly very basic viewing and recording features. Conversely, IP video solutions use Internet Protocol (IP) network-based video management solutions that can efficiently collect, manage, and analyze large amounts of video over networks. The transition from analogue systems to network-based digital video surveillance systems can help improve an organization’s ability to find security breaches, deliver video and data across the enterprise, and quickly provide security and relevant teams the information they need to address security threats, improve operational efficiency, and comply with budgets.”

Karthik K, Ocher LV solutions, a Home Automation company that provides CCTV solutions among others especially for manufacturing institutions around Chennai adds, “The technology transition from analogue CCTV systems to IP-based video solutions should be looked at as an evolution, rather than a revolution.  My own customers, still use analogue technology.  I have suggested them the need to continue using their existing analogue video infrastructure parallel to newly introduced IP-based video solutions. As this technology evolves, the market will favour those able to support their customers through the transition.”

“In Mumbai, Bengaluru and Delhi, and other major cities in India, because of the recent incidents of terrorism, child and senior citizen safety issues, theft and burglary, there is a mandate from city police to the residential apartment associations and shops to install CCTV.” Says Karthik K.  For newer installations for large residential campuses we position IP based CCTV solutions he says.

Rajagopal adds, “Another area of development in conjunction with IP networking platforms, video analytics will also continue to gain traction. Video analytics is designed to help organizations make sense of huge volumes of information by automatically pinpointing activities indicative of security threats.  When video analytics were first introduced to the Indian market, there was a great deal of hype around this new, innovative technology, especially in enterprises and large companies. As such, the expectations from video analytics have resulted in some disappointment. Without tight integration to the CCTV solution, the value of analytics is very limited. In order to be effective for security operations, video analytics are now becoming a very important feature of an integrated video solution – not a stand-alone proposition as it originally started a few years ago.”

Karthik K adds, “As technology advancements continue to change the landscape of the industry, so do customer demands.  Similar to recent trends we’ve witnessed with enterprise applications, such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM) systems, buyers are transitioning from multiple suppliers to single vendors that can provide a comprehensive IP video solution. This is where we are making a big difference.”

“It’s expected that this trend will be driven further by the increased involvement of IT departments in the purchase decision-making process of video solutions.   This is because of the integrated networks, typically is an Information Technology subject matter.  So the solution providers should include IT departments in this approach.” Ashok Sundar says. Karthik K adds – “as such, these departments and the enterprises overall, are opting for a single source for all their IP video surveillance needs. This movement will help drive integrated security solutions so they can help streamline the connection to other systems, such as access control and other security subsystems. The end result – buyers get a higher value for their video systems at a lower cost,” Ashok Sundar says. He has been doing that for factories in and around Chennai and has completed at least 4 projects.

Rajagopal says “As technology transitions to a more sophisticated, network-based IP video system with integrated analytics, organizations are leveraging their current video infrastructures. In addition to enhancements to video technology comes more return on investment (ROI) objectives for these organizations.”  Ashok Sundar and Karthik K, agree.  Karthik adds “Today, more and more organizations are leveraging networked video to improve business and operational effectiveness. The retail sector in particular has seen significant interest in using IP video solutions featuring integrated analytics. Armed with this technology, retailers find themselves in a better position with the ability to make more informed operational decisions and validate assumptions for key in-store marketing, product placement, and advertising decisions.  We have seen lot of traction here”. Ocher LV solutions has deployed these solutions where IP technology has enabled retailers to make more informed advertising decisions.

“By leveraging existing video surveillance footage, retail stores are able to quickly extract and search for patterns in customer behaviours related to operational and customer satisfaction issues, such as staffing at peak times, or for real estate evaluation purposes when leasing to third-party vendors. Further, when combined with point-of-sale data on customer buying patterns, these video solutions can help determine the success rate of specific promotions, and optimize store layout and design to influence traffic patterns, maximize sales, and improve the customer experience.” says Karthik, who works with a number of retailers.

Ashok Sundar says “In the future, we can expect to see integrated video analytics applied across an array of markets, helping improve the customer experience and providing a quantified ROI. Today, there is an ongoing focus and priority around the need for and value around integrated security systems that combine traditional physical security with IT-based security platforms.”  Karthik adds “This demand for security solutions paves the way for advanced practices in information management – based on my own experience working with large organizations where integrated information management becomes key. As the market continues to evolve, we can and should fully expect demand for safety, security, convenience, and design to follow suit – fuelling product development and innovation to revolutionize the IP video marketplace” he says.

CCTV is set to be a preferred solution for many issues of security – domestic, national and international circuits.  Channels can leverage these opportunities and there is a strong merger of technology trends and demands meeting at the end of the road.