Video monitoring

12 Jan 2010

by: By John Adams

If one thing is clear, it’s that the monitoring industry, far from being undermined by the advent of IP-based wireless and wired comms, is now able to provide superior services to an increasingly discerning customer base. And as the NBN rolls out, things could get more exciting still.

A COUPLE of years ago you could have been excused for wondering whether a swing from dialler-based monitoring services to IP comms might unhinge the monitoring industry. Many worried that the dollar-a-day with rebates equation would be overtaken by free comms running over the public Internet and serviced by a new generation of ISP ‘backyarders’.

It’s now obvious these fears were unfounded. Far from being weakened, providers are using the power of IP communications to significantly enhance the services they can provide their customers. Even more importantly, as Internet services and IP communications improve, the products and services monitoring companies are able to offer their customers is likely to be even further enhanced.  

A good example is the Securitel replacement offered by AlarmLink. AlarmLink’s service uses Emizon’s secure alarm transmission network in conjunction with Optus GPRS. The cost for the transmission device is $129 and after this cost is dealt with the weekly cost is a measly seven bucks fifty.

It’s a pretty amazing deal considering the quality of the service provided, including dual path reporting, no connection or third party network charges, C1-C5 certification, full redundancy and 5-year warranty.

As IP monitoring services mature, you have to wonder about the potential of future offerings, particularly as Australia’s National Broadband Network is installed over the next few years. The big idea with the NBN is the establishment of an Open Access Network delivering download speeds of 100Mbps to 90 per cent of homes and businesses – that’s Fast Ethernet speed.

“Then there’s the 500-pound gorilla in the control room – remote video monitoring of the type touted by Suretek and VideoControlRoom. You have to hand it to these pioneers – and tip your cap to SNP whose unbroken involvement in remote monitoring dates back to the IP pre-history of the late 1980s”

In larger centres the NBN will be fibre-based while in regional areas wireless and satellite technology will be employed. As has been widely reported, the NBN is Australia’s largest ever infrastructure project, with a cost of $A43 billion. The network rollout began in Tassie in July just gone with services set to kick off same time next year.

So – what does the NBN mean for monitoring companies, bureaus and customers? In essence it means low-cost LAN-speed services to every business and household in Australia. A key element of the network is going to be its ability to provide not only voice and data services but also high definition video transmission, including symmetric services – that means neat things like duplex video monitoring to help points, as well as facilitating novel remote video storage solutions.

It’s pretty obvious where clever monitoring providers are going to be positioning themselves moving forward. The drive to wired and wireless IP monitoring services continue at pace. This is a good thing. Dual path monitoring services are superior to plain old telephone comms and they give sales people something additional to sell.

Then there’s the 500-pound gorilla in the control room – remote video monitoring of the type touted by Suretek and VideoControlRoom. You have to hand it to these pioneers – and tip your cap to SNP whose unbroken involvement in remote monitoring amazingly dates back to the IP pre-history of the late 1980s.

It’s an beyond doubt that many video surveillance solutions go entirely unmonitored after installation, and this is most particularly the case with high risk, small businesses like service stations, convenience stores, bottle shops, newsagents and local supermarkets and general stores. Along with these you can tag retail outlets with any sort of cash turnover, as well as high risk sites like pubs and clubs.

Dedicated monitoring of cameras in real time – particularly those integrated with alarm systems and access control systems and supported by capable video analysis software would be ideal. It’s not far-fetched to envisage networked video surveillance systems packaged with monitoring services and installed by alarm techs.

The fundamentals that allow this are well on their way. Low cost hardware, virtual plug and play, IP-capable alarm panels, improved storage technologies for edge devices and of course, the rollout of the NBN, which will facilitate unprecedented networking opportunities for companies and sales teams clever enough to take advantage of them.

“It’s an beyond doubt that many video surveillance solutions go entirely unmonitored after installation, and this is most particularly the case with high risk, small businesses like service stations, convenience stores, bottle shops, newsagents and local supermarkets and general stores”