A New Role for Video
VIDEO SURVEILLANCE CONVERGES WITH IP NETWORKS
BY LISA TERRY
<< Surveillance cameras are becoming
more powerful and offer higher resolution.
The convergence of video surveil-
lance, access control and other secu-
rity systems with IP networks is
opening up new opportunities for
retailers who support them. In fact,
ABI Research believes the video
surveillance market is poised for
explosive growth, from about $13.5
billion in 2006 to $46 billion in 2013.
Technology is evolving quickly.
Cameras are becoming more pow-
erful and higher resolution, analyt-
ics are growing more sophisticated,
application-specific and are shift-
ing from computer to camera. Data
compaction algorithms are improv-
ing, and users are experimenting
with wireless applications. These
developments are fueling a whole
new venue for video data in retail,
well beyond physical security.
By configuring analytic
software to look for spe-
cific changes in pixels,
retailers eliminate the
tedious, labor-intensive
and error-prone task of
screening images in
search of problems.
Video surveillance hardware is
evolving rapidly. It’s becoming
smaller, cheaper, easier to integrate
and use, scalable and more fre-
quently uses Power-over-Ethernet
(PoE), eliminating the need to run
electric to camera locations.
Systems can be programmed to
send alerts, for example, notifying
a manager or loss prevention officer
25 of retailers plan to
increase spending in
2009 for loss prevention.
Source: RIS/IHL Group Store Systems
Study 2009
to shoplifting, employee theft, loi-
tering or other potential fraud inci-
dents. Alerts also can be used in
association with marketing and oper-
ations-related video data, including
people counting, traffic patterns, pro-
motion evaluation and training.
Analytic Benefits
The ability to use a computer rather
than a human to analyze images is
revolutionizing the use of video.
The video surveillance
market is poised for
explosive growth, from
about $13.5 billion in 2006
to $46 billion in 2013.
Retail + ROI
Successful detection and prosecu-
tion of theft incidents will continue
to lead retailers’ priorities for video
surveillance. Technical improve-
ments are making it easier and
cheaper to more extensively pro-
tect goods and people.
Centralizing video management
and analyzing data delivers real
benefits, but video surveillance sys-
tems pay even more dividends
when integrated with point-of-sale,
access control and electronic arti-
cle surveillance systems.
Despite the downed economy,
grocers, discount and automotive
retailers are investing in video
surveillance systems. Potential
sources of return on investment
include deterring both internal
and shopper theft, increasing suc-
cessful prosecutions and protect-
ing against lawsuits, as well as the
labor savings from remote man-
agement and monitoring.
As video breaks out of the
bounds of proprietary CCTV
systems, it also breaks out of the
security pigeonhole. By afford-
ably addressing security concerns,
retailers add a powerful new type
of data and an array of technical
tools in order to better understand
and manage their businesses.
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