Remote managed/monitored video continues to grow and gain more adoption in the security channel, but the category is still relatively fragmented. With this growth we also continue to see new players and some consolidation.
I maintain that technology isn’t why adoption has not accelerated any faster. We have our fair share of quality technology and we all know that the need for security and managed services exists.
An element that creates some misunderstanding is the sheer variety of solutions embodied within the proposition of remote managed services. If you asked 10 people to describe remote managed video, you could feasibly receive 10 different answers and they would all be correct.
Besides the obvious value in providing some primary or additional security to a customer’s location, enterprise or campus, a huge and sometimes overlooked value of remote managed/monitored video is the additional business management tools platform it can provide.
Certain business segments have higher adoption of remote managed video services than others. For example, fast food restaurants as well as full service restaurants.
Aspects such as integration with point of sales (PoS) systems to periodic announced video tours and check-ins — in which the monitoring provider will check-in via video and have the manager look up and let them know everything’s OK — have produced great returns for owners and managers.
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Other well-known and early adopters of remote managed video are car dealerships, which have engaged services to handle activities such as monitoring their 24/7 open lots for all manner of theft, to spotting after-hours passersby in the video stream and announcing over a PA system that the dealership is closed and they are welcome to come back in the morning.
Security is necessary and is no longer an option. Remote managed video not only provides this necessity, it also provides a platform that delivers a measurable return on investment in addition to the addressing the requirement of security and mitigating losses.
If you asked 10 people to describe remote managed video, you could feasibly receive 10 different answers and they would all be correct.
A significant element that has enhanced remote managed video is the increased functionality and robust features that accompany the mobile apps offered with many platforms. The combination of high-speed connectivity, high-resolution video, high-definition mobile devices and world-class automation delivers real-time results.
As analytics continues to evolve on a daily basis, the raw video that traditionally simply existed as a bunch of disconnected data, now presents valuable information that can be reviewed in seconds to determine an emergency situation or management issue.
History sometimes inhibits growth of this channel as well. Some of the early adopters had disappointing results. The early days of time-lapse recorders and even DVRs would sometimes create situations that left users frustrated. Situations would arise when a business owner or manager would need to access recorded video only to find that they had a bad tape, corrupt hard drive, malfunctioning camera, etc.
That type of poor experience was amplified by taking into consideration the higher cost of adoption back then, and that on occasions when they finally needed to leverage their big investment it failed to deliver. Well, none of these factors is an issue anymore with a comprehensive, remote managed video system.
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Besides being a great value, these systems are always supervised and monitored, catching essential elements such as an out-of-focus camera, lose of network connectivity, hard drive approaching capacity, etc. Major aspects affecting the heart and soul of any video system will alert your monitoring center and/or premises manager or owner. As you can tell, I am very passionate about remote video monitoring.
I was among the very early adopters in the early 1990s at what was then King Central (later Criticom Int’l), when we accomplished all that we could over dial-up video modems. The industry and the remote managed and monitored video space has come a long way and I am more bullish on its value proposition for future growth than ever.
Peter Giacalone is president of Giacalone Associates, an independent security consulting firm.
