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CCTV ... more affordable, more effective and more accessible than ever before

The decrease in telecommunications tariffs over recent times has brought about a phenomenal rise in demand for remote viewing capabilities within the CCTV industry sector.

Small business and home owners are now able to afford broadband WAN solutions enabling them to limit loss and aid in the fight against crime.

Cheaper broadband access has sparked bolder community projects. We are currently witnessing business and community leaders taking charge of their own security via community policing efforts using digital CCTV and centrally-based control centres. This has brought about greater co-operation between police departments and the general public.

It is clear that digital CCTV is affording South African citizens the ability to reclaim their streets from criminal elements.

This trend has highlighted many key benefits:

1. Visual verification: this is being aimed as an added value product to the many existing clients to monitoring centres country-wide. It is offered as an integrated solution to the already existing alarm systems.

Visual verification offers reaction companies the ability to differentiate between actual events and false alarm signals caused by device malfunctions and common user errors. This increases their effectiveness. It also serves to protect reaction officers by aiding in identifying the number of perpetrators, types of weapons and possible apprehension points from the safety of a secure control centre allowing more precise methods of combating the criminal element. This has made armed reaction efforts more focused in identifying hotspots/problematic areas.

2. PTZ cameras have significantly increased the use of more automated systems thus decreasing the human error factor. These specialised cameras monitor strategically defined preset positions thus lending a much-needed hand to guard patrols. The added ability of infrared night vision has become an industry standard.

3. Greater storage mediums are being used to capture larger amounts of historical video data. This, along with broadband solutions, has testified to the merger between the security and IT industries thus creating more demand for IT literacy within the country.

4. Point-of-sale integration to CCTV systems has given us the ability to take control of stock shrinkages by effectively identifying common methods used by thieves. This has increased profits by weeding out bad elements and aiding in implementing security policies that protect both companies and employees.

Integrated digital CCTV systems combined with cheaper broadband access has created a revolution by affording us all a more pro-active approach to crime within our country. It has re-defined the concept of community policing. South Africa is taking back its streets.

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