IP CCTV, we all want it to succeed, we all want it to take off , will IFSEC 2011be the launching pad we are hoping for? In 2010 we saw lots of the big manufacturers launch IP cameras, codecs and NVRs in the hope that this new and ever improving technology would be the inevitable upgrade path for installers and end users whose analogue CCTV had reached the end of its useful life.
It did not all quite go to plan though.Very cheap CCTV imports of analogue DVRs that to there credit did pretty much everything that some of the more expensive better known DVR models did made customers and installers think twice about IP CCTV. Specifiers who were being squeezed on price found the additional benefits that IP CCTV had to offer still too difficult to sell when analogue could be installed so cheaply. In addition to this installers found that getting a network point installed adjacent to their camera position was difficult. Co-ordinating a customers IT department into action can prove difficult especially if the head of that IT department has not been actively involved in the sale. Installers also found that installations of IP CCTV far from being easier actually took longer and demanded more effort and organization than a simple analogue install.
We all hope IFSEC 2011 will change all this. More innovative products and demonstrations of massively superior picture quality will tempt end users eventually but what can the manufacturers do about price, we have yet to see a huge reduction on price for codecs. The first guys that produce a decent codec for sub £50 will see them fly off the shelves as this will empower the installers to offer hybrid CCTV systems, the first step towards a full upgrade.We all know that once an end user has seen the quality of HD and megapixel IP cameras they will be tempted to buy more each time they need a new camera.
So if anyone out there knows of such a codec or a HYBRID DVR that does not cost the earth we would like to hear about it. Actually we are more than hoping that we will find one at IFSEC2011 this year.