Video Surveillance Technology Expands Options For Security Monitoring
November 8, 2013
Traditionally cautious, the security industry of late is starting to fully embrace the capabilities made possible by technology innovations like storage in the cloud and mobile devices. This leaves facility managers with a healthy menu of options when it comes to selecting video surveillance components for their facility. Luckily, they can do so one byte at a time.
To begin with, the shift to IP technology and the ubiquity of mobile devices means that security video data streams are accessible in the palm of your hand, wherever you are. Not only is this convenient for facility managers, but it also allows facility managers to more easily share access to video surveillance with higher-ups in their organizations.
An interesting advancement in IP cameras is the capability for meta tagging that the camera itself does. For example, if something happens in your facility and you know it involves someone in a red shirt, the cameras can detect when they're picking up something red that that's the size of a human being. The camera itself tags, or labels, the data stream without having to go through a video management or analytical system.
Other camera-level innovations include on-board heating and cooling, even wipers, which allow the units to be deployed in different environments. As well, the megapixels now available on IP cameras are creating ever-clearer video streams filled with useful and intelligible detail.
As amazing as the capabilities of IP video surveillance cameras might be, fully retrofitting a system from analog to IP is out of reach for most facility managers, mainly due to cost. Security systems manufacturers are well aware of budget limitations, so options exist for migrating systems over a little bit at a time. Encoders available from most camera manufacturers can take an analog data stream and turn it into a digital network stream.
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