IP cameras, also known as network cameras or internet CCTV cameras, have taken the CCTV market by storm in recent years, and the purchasers of new systems and tending towards this new technology because of its ability to communicate over computer networks. This has caused problems for traditional CCTV installers who may be very competent at installing analogue CCTV but don't have the computing knowledge needed to install the new IP cameras. Fortunately, there is an answer as this article explains.

An IP camera is basically a camera lens with a tiny but very sophisticated computer behind it. A world away from the traditional CCTV camera, the IP camera is ”intelligent”. It can connect to any standard computer network and the internet. It can communicate with other computers. Its images can be viewed by someone sitting at a computer screen on the other side of the world. It can send emails and text messages when movement is detected. This is a whole new era for CCTV and many traditional installers are struggling to adapt. They are finding that more and more of their customers are moving over to IP cameras and shutting them out, because the average installer doesn't have the time or inclination to learn how to set up these new cameras on a computer network, how to configure a router, how to set up text message and email alerts.

There is a real dilemma here. On the one hand we have the traditional installer who can't get involved with new IP cameras for whatever reason. On the other, we have the IP camera industry that desperately needs to keep these installers in the industry. This is because, intelligent though IP cameras may be, they don't have legs and can't put themselves up on the wall. They still need to be sited correctly, physically fitted, weatherproofed and wired up. To resolve this problem, the industry needed a way in which analogue CCTV installers could work with these new IP cameras without having any computing knowledge. Until recently the only option would have been to contract an I.T. specialist onto the job, which is prohibitively expensive except for the larger commercial projects. Now, however, there is a better way as the next section illustrates.

Nowadays, a few specialist IP camera service providers are springing up to provide traditional CCTV installers with an easy way into the fast-growing IP camera market. These providers take care of all the computing and programming side: configuring the cameras; providing web and mobile phone access; supplying space on servers to store recorded footage; setting up email and SMS alert services and providing an ongoing support service. They also provide free literature that the installer can pass to existing and prospective customers. The installer takes care of the physical side of the installation. According to an article by eyeontheplace.com on IP camera services for installers, ”We sell IP camera services, but we don't install the cameras. We do what we do best — the computing side — and we need installers to do what they are best at: the physical installation.”

In this way, established CCTV installers can move over to internet CCTV, marketing IP cameras with confidence and safeguarding their businesses into the future.

Sources
Michael Harper, Wireless Internet CCTV, eyeontheplace.com

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