2012 is set to be a very exciting year for the UK with both the Olympic Games and Her Majesty The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in poll position to dominate the headlines over the coming months.
Both of these extremely high profile events will attract millions of visitors to the UK and, most notably, our capital city. That being the case, the overriding need for effective surveillance will become more important than ever before.
However, it’s not just large installations demanded by events such as these that will highlight the benefits of IP-based surveillance.
If we take a look at recent trends in the UK surveillance market, one of the main ones we’ve witnessed is that even the most conservative specifiers and installers of CCTV technology are now moving rapidly towards IP.
In the past, these same practitioners had concerns over quality, availability and cost in relation to IP technology. These days, though, solutions in the IP world are very much on a par if not superior to analogue technology and this is the driving force behind the aforementioned shift in technology.
Examination of convergence rates in the UK
If we look at convergence rates in the UK, one of the clear trends is that analogue technology is now in decline (and has been for the last couple of years). However, IP technology’s share in CCTV and surveillance is increasing by about 30% per year. In turn, this means that over the next tw-to-three years we’ll certainly see a tipping point in the UK whereby the majority of specifiers and installers will be looking towards using IP technology.
In the UK surveillance sector there’s much debate right now concerning the level of conversion of IP technology in the total CCTV environment. At Axis, we estimate that figure is 10-12% just now and is growing gradually by 1-2% per year. Very rapidly we’ll be at the 20% mark, and the UK will have then caught up with the rest of Western Europe.
So where will this growth come from? It will continue to come from large installations and, as I’ve already said, we will see huge CCTV installations in the UK ahead of the Olympic Games. Growth is also likely to come from the retail sector where we distribute at least 25% of all our smaller installations of CCTV here in the UK.
I also predict that we’ll see a surge in smaller installations adopting IP technology as its cost effectiveness means we can offer these solutions to installers who previously thought it was far too expensive to contemplate.
As IP surveillance plays its role in two significant events this summer, could 2012 be the year for this technology to shine?
Phil Doyle is regional director for northern Europe at Axis Communications (UK)
Next time on The Networker: the Network Video Clinic looks at how schools are turning to IP surveillance technology in order to protect staff, pupils and property alike
If you have any network video questions you would like to put to Phil, send an e-mail to: [email protected]
