Surveillance products merges with IP

Lee Scott, merchandising manager at electronics retailer, Leading Edge Electronics said vendors like Swann Communications have been able to make surveillance products simpler for the end user, which has helped price points to drop.

“DVRs and IP addressable cameras have changed the way people view Close Circuit Television (CCTV) and they are hooking systems up through wireless products rather than hard wires - which is becoming old fashioned,” said Scott.

He told CRN that ten years ago, end users wouldn’t have been able to buy CCTV products for less than $10,000, but now the products have come down to reasonable prices for end-users.

Jeremy Stuart, vice president of global marketing for Swann Communications also believes that a new generation of CCTV products are inexpensive and easy to install and can be combined with desktop or laptop PCs and the Internet.

"Video cameras can be managed remotely by Internet-connected PCs which are then also used as data storage devices for the footage that is captured. Where incidents do occur they can potentially be acted upon in real time to prevent crime or the recordings can be handed over to law enforcement officers to assist investigations and help apprehend offenders," he said.

Stuart Burtenshaw vice president Australian sales, Swann Communications said small business, home users and retailers themselves can have cameras in multiple locations and manage all cameras through one monitor.

“End users can now get wireless IP camers which have emailing capabilities with two way audio so people can have conversations via an Internet connection,” he said.

While prices for these types of products have come down quite a bit over the last decade, Scott believes the selling prices are still reasonable enough for resellers to make good margins on such products.

“I won’t go into detail about margins but I can say they are very healthy,” he said. “Resellers can also personalise a customer’s order with added software.”