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Future hinges on VoIP

The future for security installations using CCTV and recorders is 'Video over Internet Protocol', or VoIP.

This was the message from Reditron managing director, John Loftus, to customers and guests at a celebratory function held in June.

John Loftus

Loftus said that the biggest eye opener of his most recent trip overseas was within the CCTV field. I have seen the future, he said, and the future is video over IP.

Putting his claim in context, Loftus said the debate in the local security industry a few years ago centred on the various merits of PC-based digital video recorder, or DVR, versus embedded DVR. He said the industry came to the conclusion that PC-based DVR was as stable as embedded DVR and therefore personal preference soon drove the purchasing decision.

"Today, the issue at hand is whether to install your DVR - that is embedded or PC-based - on the network, or whether to opt for a completely different kettle of fish, video over IP, in which case you use an NVR - network video recorder - instead of the DVR," he added.

"The advantages of video over IP are flexibility and, to a certain degree, cost. Simply, with LAN- or WAN-based DVR, every camera that you add has to be hard-wired to the DVR, which could be - depending on the size of the premises - up to 2 km away. With video over IP, the camera simply links into the existing WAN or LAN.

"When broadband becomes more freely available in this country, and it will, more and more offices, warehouses, banks, airports, schools, hospitals and homes will be designed with comprehensive video over IP applications in mind.

"This means, for example, that movie fans will never have to hire or buy a movie again - they will simply watch it over the Internet on their TVs and still be able to pause it, fast forward it, rewind it whenever the fancy takes them.

"Video over IP is happening in Europe today, with apartment dwellers in smart buildings and office workers in wired premises simply linking any and every device they want on to the WAN - their laptops, their CCTVs, their telephones, their TVs - all working off one network. I challenge you to think about it ... and think how this trend can help you grow your businesses in the security system installation arenas."

Loftus also said Reditron was planning to launch numerous new products, including several from JVC, Samsung, Sony and sister company, Vista, as well as the world's biggest manufacturer of CCTV cameras, Baxall.

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