Oct 07, 2015

When it comes to choosing a video surveillance solution, there are quite a few options. Recent reports have predicted heavy growth in the surveillance solutions sector in the coming years. TechNavio estimated in a September 2015 report that the global wireless video surveillance market would grow at a compound annual rate of 21.35 percent from 2014 to 2019. Another study conducted by 6Wresearch indicated that the IP video surveillance market in India alone would be worth $1.4 billion by 2021. This increase in purchases is due to several things, according to the 6Wresearch report.

"Declining prices, terrorist strikes, government initiatives, rising public infrastructure, increasing government security spending and growing awareness have fuelled the adoption of IP surveillance systems in India," said Anuj Mehrotra, research analyst at 6Wresearch.

All of these numbers are clear indications that video surveillance is a tool growing in popularity and functionality all over the world. Various industries, including public transportation, retail and public safety, can all benefit from installing cameras to keep an eye on their premises.

What should businesses and communities consider before investing in a wireless video solution? Let's take a look at three important points to think about when it comes to choosing what kind of wireless surveillance technology would work best:

1. Decide what the cameras should look like
An alternative to this step would be deciding what the cameras will be used for. If a community or business simply wants to surveil a specific area, a discrete system that blends into the current infrastructure may be useful.

Sometimes, however, cameras can be used as efficient crime deterrents, as well. According to IFSEC Global contributor Julian Rutland, when cameras are in obvious places, they may remind potential criminals that they're being monitored and therefore reduce the chance of theft.

Therefore, whatever a business wants their cameras to accomplish will be an indicator of what these devices should look like. For instance, the 6Wresearch study found that the most popular cameras in 2014 were bullet-shaped, but at the end of the report's forecast period, a dome-shaped camera will be popular, at least in India.

2. Determine the scope and breadth of your surveillance network
It's crucial to know where the network is going to go and whether or not it will need to be scaled in the future. Making sure that the chosen surveillance solution is flexible enough to add cameras down the line is important. Rutland noted closed-circuit television networks, for instance, are difficult to add cameras to because they're on a closed network.

It is a safe bet to invest in a system that is easily scalable so that cameras can be added in the future if further surveillance is deemed necessary. Being prepared when it comes to surveillance network infrastructure could make a difference down the road.

3. Make sure the network is reliable
Wireless video requires a lot of bandwidth to reliably transmit from one location to the next. In order to make sure all of the high-quality video footage is making it back to central command with no hiccups.

Mesh topologies, for instance, make it so that camera systems are backed up by reliable networks across the board. Mesh technology is different from a traditional ring network. Instead of all the points in a network being dependent on the previous node in the chain, mesh networking solutions allow each point in the network to connect to each other, so that if one node goes down, the data in the system simply reroutes through the other points. In this way, mesh networks are self-healing and reliable.

Contact Firetide today for a solution that fits all of these requirements.