May 03, 2016

IFSEC Global recently surveyed hundreds of video surveillance experts located around the world to get their take on the features they currently need most, why they use video surveillance solutions and what they are seeking from their oversight tools going forward. Part one of this two-part series highlighted a number of the trends noted in the report, including lighting-related concerns, fears of terrorism, data breach worries and remote access demands.

But these are far from the only trends noted in the report. The second part of this two-part series will highlight some of the other points brought up by IFSEC Global:

5) Video needed to cover large spaces

As far as where cameras are most commonly deployed, the report found that 68 percent of respondents used their solutions to surveil large places. Furthermore, 55 percent of them said they needed video surveillance systems to cover long distances as well. These are not surprising findings, instead showing further evidence that many organizations use video in situations where it would not make sense to always or exclusively rely on physical personnel for such tasks.

6) Video analytics becoming more sought after

Increasingly, many physical security professionals want more from video surveillance than pure oversight. As big data and data analytics become more prominent across just about all industries, video teams are looking to similar technologies to help them make sense of the immense amount of video data they're collecting.

After all, IHS found that video surveillance networks around the world captured 566 petabytes of video data in just one day in 2015. To put this in perspective, every Netflix user in the world as of December 2015 would need to stream over an hour of ultra high-definition video all at once to reach 566 petabytes.

Many in this space are eager to leverage analytics in conjunction with video surveillance, especially as proactive surveillance becomes more central and necessary. Over half of those polled by IFSEC Global listed analytics and related incident management among their top desired features.

However, professionals have yet to coalesce around specific analytics technologies. While heat maps and crowd density were listed in the IFSEC Global report as the top two video analytics tools, they did not rank that far ahead of other solutions like license plate reading and people counting. Facial recognition technology was put at the bottom of the list, but that may change as that technology becomes more sophisticated and accurate.

Still, as video analytics becomes more prominent, so too does the need to effectively store more footage. After all, the key to big data is being able to look at massive troves of information to glean insights, and this can only happen with effective storage in place. This is perhaps why close to half of those surveyed listed large storage capacity and ease of storage as one of their top five video surveillance features.

7) No clear consensus on when it's time to upgrade

As far as when it's time to install or upgrade a video surveillance system, it seems as though everyone has a different idea on when's the right time. While a change of security priorities or needs was the top cited reason by IFSEC Global survey respondents, it was far from the consensus pick, with only 27 percent of those polled noting it as their top reason. On the upgrade front, 22 percent listed moving from analog to IP as their top reason, while 19 percent of respondents said they are most likely to adopt something new if and when their current solution fails to continually meet expectations.

8) IP's rising dominance in the space

Whether security pros like it or not, IP is currently set to be the dominant standard in the space. When asked if they would consider upgrading to a high-definition analog system, 34 percent of those polled unequivocally said no, citing IP as their reason for their reluctance. This was by far the most popular answer to that question.

"Technologies like HDCVI, HDTVI and AHD create complexity with less support than other technologies and [an] absence of one standard platform like ONVIF," one of the survey respondents said. "We feel that IP will soon replace all these and be more cost-effective. On actual site locations, analogue is easy, but still it will [become] obsolete."

9) 4K resolution is not quite here yet

Few video technologies are receiving as much hype right now as 4K video footage. Currently the highest definition option on the market, IHS had previously listed it as one of its own top eight video surveillance trends of 2016.

But, despite the hype currently surrounding the technology, 4K has yet to ingrain itself with security professionals. Only 12 percent of those polled by IFSEC Global listed 4K as a top feature. In contrast, 62 percent listed full-HD resolution as a top feature. It may one day become the dominant technology, but all signs show that 4K has not yet gotten there.

"4K resolution, on the other hand, ranked lowest among the camera features offered," the report's authors noted. "Improving rapidly in recent years, image resolution has perhaps reached a point where Ultra-HD (ranked second) is good enough for all but the most challenging or unusual environments."

10) End-to-end solutions not the ideal for video

One perhaps surprising find of the report was that most of those polled were not into installing a solution that covered everything, instead pursuing options that allowed them to pick and choose the specific components that best suit their needs. Over 30 percent of them said they likely would not consider switching to a plug-and-play solution due to its perceived inflexibility, while 27 percent said they might be interested in such an option but were as of yet not totally convinced of its benefits. In addition, 34 percent of respondents said trying to integrate an end-to-end system with other solutions is a difficult proposition.

The video surveillance market is in a state of flux right now, according to the results of the IFSEC Global report. While some newer technologies are quickly becoming status quo options, others are not yet proven to be vastly superior over existing systems. Security pros first and foremost need their chosen solutions to work well, and some bells and whistles are not considered worthwhile.

"[O]ne thing becomes quickly apparent in their response[s]: most organisations have multiple demands that many older surveillance systems would struggle to meet," the report's authors wrote.

Nevertheless, the survey results show that 2016 is likely to be a big year for the space. Be sure to check out the Firetide blog for the latest on new trends and use cases, and to contact a Firetide representative today for more specific information on video surveillance and related networking needs.