Security Trends for 2014 and onwards: IP technology as an enabler for better business

CCTV is predicted to reach its tipping point in 2014, according to IMS Research (now part of IHS). The new report entitled The World Market for CCTV and Video Surveillance Equipment forecasts that the CCTV and video surveillance market is headed in a direction where revenue for network video will overtake analog for the first time ever next year. In this article, Johan Paulsson, CTO at Axis Communications, looks further into coming key trends for the global Internet protocol (IP) surveillance market and how these can help shake things up for the better.

Nobody wants to buy a camera today

They want to buy an efficient and effective solution. The switch from analog to IP enables more functionality to be built into the video camera and security solution, including at the edge recording, analytics and even smarter access control. Subsequently, it encourages the move to more intelligent and proactive video surveillance, which not only helps improve security, but also brings business benefits to organizations of all sizes.

Integrating cameras with BI opens up new business possibilities

Take the retail sector as an example. Axis' recent study revealed that more than half (58%) of UK retailers are planning to migrate from analog-based CCTV to a new network video system in order to integrate network cameras with business intelligence (BI) applications. BI application integration was considered the most significant reason for UK retailers to move to network video, or IP surveillance as it is sometimes called.

Retailers can now deploy network cameras capable of integrating seamlessly with existing BI applications through the use of open platform infrastructure and APIs. An increasing demand of the new generation of intelligent network cameras is supported by the appeal of running a wide range of video analytics software within the camera itself.

For continuity and reliability, the intelligent network camera is never idle and supports the operator 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It is constantly on guard, waiting for an impulse to start recording or sending an alarm to the operator.

Additionally, intelligent video systems can extract video and data from surveillance video streams and integrate that information with other applications, such as retail management systems or access control systems, creating new benefits and opening up new business possibilities through add-on functionalities including people counting, demographic analysis and queue alerts.

IP opens door to a new world of physical access control

The rise of IP technology in the surveillance market also drives an increasingly popular trend of migrating another security technology to a network environment - physical access control. The global physical access control market is valued at about USD 3 billion (2012) and will grow to approximately USD 4.2 billion by 2017, which represents an annual growth of 7 per cent, according to market research firm IHS.

For many businesses and particularly in new intelligent buildings, the migration of access control systems to a digital environment is sure to bring many benefits, such as lower installation costs and easier configuration and management, while simultaneously enhancing the versatility of the systems and opening them up for integration with other security products.

The transition to IP-based solutions will make the implementation of access control systems far more attractive. It will also resolve many of the limitations of existing traditional systems, and enable additional functionalities that go far beyond conventional door control.

Integration with video is one example of a very common requirement that will be much easier to meet with IP-based solutions. In fact, a common, standardized digital environment has the potential to create countless opportunities to integrate other systems such as intrusion detection, fire detection, and so on into uniform, manageable and user-friendly systems.

Very much like in the video surveillance market a shift to IP in the access control industry will surely also mean a transition from proprietary systems to open solutions. And these solutions will most likely be based on international industry standards.

Making access control systems based on TCP/IP will bring new and existing business opportunities. Integrators will, for instance, appreciate the easy installation and the possibility to integrate access control with other systems. Distributors will find new markets and new customers when they are free to bundle different components from different manufacturers to create useful and attractive business offers. And end users, finally, can take advantage of an affordable, yet flexible, future-proof and adaptable technology that can help to secure and protect valuable assets.

Smarter solutions for the brighter future

Since the first centralized IP camera was invented in 1996, it has come a long way, from perhaps a more passive surveillance equipment that watches over our shoulders for potential threats, to an enabler for many proactive, add-on solutions. These solutions not only protect us from potential dangers, but also enhance business benefits to open up endless new possibilities. The use of open platform infrastructure and APIs also encourages everyone to design and develop even smarter solutions for a brighter future.

Six other predictions in IP surveillance for 2014 and onwards

• High Definition TV (DTV) is to become the standard for surveillance cameras. It is able to achieve both resolution and sensitivity in good balance creating a more secure surveillance system that can even be utilized for identification purposes. We predict the main interest for HDTV will move from 720p to 1080p in the year of 2014.
• 4K is a natural step on from HDTV to improve image quality even further. For the security market, 4K is appreciated in situations where there are high demands on image quality and detail.
• Color-at-night and high contrast sensitive cameras will become significantly more important and almost mandatory over the next few years due to an increasing demand from end users and technology availability.
• Thermal imaging as a "detector" will become an integrated part of a security solution.
• Mobility solutionmakes it possible to look at the surveillance video anywhere and anytime, and the image size and bandwidth files can be adapted to accommodate different usage.
• Intelligent, out-of-the-box solutions Surveillance cameras will become more intelligent as more functionality can be run on the device itself. It means that the camera will only pick up and notify the central system once a change or movement occurs.It will also be possible to set up alert to notify the central system if one of the local cameras is broken or needs attention.