November 29th, 2010

There are less than four weeks to Christmas and many businesses are preparing for bumper sales during this, the season of goodwill. However as many businesses will find to their cost, for thieves it is also the ultimate season for stealing. Each year in the UK it is estimated that over £ 1.1 billion worth of goods are stolen and the festive season alone accounts for over £200 million worth of these.

This means companies will more than ever be relying on their security systems such as CCTV and increasingly this means installing more sophisticated security systems, such as IP Network CCTV cameras.

This is a completely digital solution and unlike traditional systems, which record video footage on tape, IP Network CCTV cameras can transmit live video streams digitally across an IP network. These video streams can then be accessed remotely enabling users to view and manage the camera’s using standard web browser technology.

These IP Network CCTV cameras offer businesses improved flexibility allowing them to take full control over their security systems and actually help to reduce overall security costs.

A recent example of the use of an IP Network CCTV solution is a group of 30 London based business owners who have joined together in a bid to deter criminals. They have joined a web based service that allows them to share CCTV images of thieves both with the police and with other local businesses, as soon as a crime is committed. It can even use facial recognition software to identify known serial offenders.

This type of technology offers far more sophistication than traditional CCTV systems. Images can be viewed and stored digitally and can be enhanced to a very high resolution allowing for positive identification. These images are further supported by accurate time-stamps.

Many businesses have existing analogue based CCTV systems, but don’t realise that they can still benefit from IP based technology. Companies such as Alert Systems are now able to provide ‘hybrid’ solutions that allow businesses to take the first step to migrate their existing analogue systems to the latest digital technology.

These solutions allow businesses to get the most from their existing investment in analogue cameras and cabling making the transition to IP Network Cameras highly attractive and very cost effective.