Live network video can work out cheaper over the long period than either analogue systems or hybrid solutions that use Digital Video Recorders (DVRs), according to independent research.
The research, sponsored by IndigoVision, highlighted “dramatic cost savings for live networked video. But the savings were not at the expense of quality or function.
“In many cases, users can benefit from DVR equivalent quality but with greater functionality and at a lower cost than analogue – a significant development for the world’s CCTV industry,” says IndigoVision.
The results come from an in-depth “total cost of ownership” (TCO) study which evaluates capital expenditure costs and on-going maintenance for CCTV systems across a variety of scenarios. The research compares analogue, hybrid solutions and full live networked video deployments over five and ten years, from single-site applications such as a small garage owner, to multi-site applications such as a global corporation.
The study was developed by independent CCTV analyst Simon Lambert, principal consultant with Lambert & Associates and council member of the Association of Security Consultants.
Sceptical of digital
“While there has been reasonable take-up of hybrid analogue/digital systems, the industry has always been rather sceptical of the cost-benefits of going fully digital, despite the quality and rich functionality that live IP-networked video security systems provide,” said Mr Lambert, who gave the results of the study at a seminar at IFSEC 2002.
“This TCO research should make the industry sit up and take note.”
The most significant highlights from the research include:
Example scenarios from the study include:
Comparative cost
A key by-product of the study has been the development of a CCTV Comparative Cost Model which will be made generally available to the industry by IndigoVision and Lambert & Associates.
The software calculator will enable security and IT managers, specifiers, CCTV distributors and value added distributors to evaluate the long-term savings from moving from analogue to fully digital networked CCTV solutions.
Peter Fry, director of the CCTV User Group, participated in the roundtable debate at IFSEC and said: “This tool will help security managers make more informed decisions on future technology and should be a great asset to the CCTV industry.”
Julian Knight, director of surveillance and monitoring at IndigoVision said: “We believe this model will radically alter the buying patterns of the security industry. The technology case for live networked video is now backed with a clear commercial argument that opens the way for major IT and networking players to enter the security market.”
Methodology behind results
The study compared prices for Live Networked Video products and solutions with average prices for alternative equipment taken from publicly available and widely used CCTV distributors’ catalogues. The Comparative Cost Model also permits the user to enter their own figures for numerous non-IndigoVision elements such as cabling, maintenance, staffing costs and inter-site links – the model defaults to average market values if the user does not have a specific figure in mind.
The Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) analysis is calculated for both five and ten year periods. CCTV industry “rules-of-thumb” have been used to simplify the calculations and to ensure some resonance with the real world. IndigoVision says that every element of the study and its calculations have been ‘peer reviewed’ in detail by two technically competent, independent consultants besides the author, Simon Lambert.
The software model estimates the differential between the costs of owning conventional analogue and digital network video CCTV systems.
(NB: It is not a full CCTV project costing package that allows the user to calculate the actual installation cost of any CCTV scheme.)
