Retailers missing out on benefits of IP-based surveillance due to IT concerns
04.04.2011
The independent report by the Centre for Retail Research (CRR)
examines current and future CCTV use in the UK. It reveals that
nearly half (42.7%) of the respondents cite a lack of collaboration
with their IT departments as the reason they are unable to roll out
IP-based surveillance across their stores. Axis believes that this
barrier to adoption is largely due to the misconception that
network video cameras will take up too much data network
bandwidth.
Commenting on the report, entitled 'Retail use and experience of
CCTV in the UK,' Professor Joshua Bamfield from the CRR said: "The
majority of retailers are claiming that a lack of collaboration
with their IT department is preventing them from moving towards a
digital upgrade. However, there is a minority of retailers that
still claim they do not need IP surveillance or that upgrading is
simply not a priority for their business."
"Although analogue CCTV clearly still dominates in this sector,
the report also shows that the vast majority of retailers are
considering moving towards IP-based surveillance in the future, so
obviously appreciate the numerous benefits that networked camera
solutions can bring to the business far beyond just security and
protection of stock."
The impact of this technology on the company network is often
misunderstood, and this report suggests that this may still appear
to be the case in the retail sector. Atul Rajput, retail business
development manager, Northern Europe, at Axis Communications said:
"File sizes can be easily managed by the adoption of efficient
compression techniques commonly used throughout the global consumer
video industry and retailers can also control when and how video
files move across the company network so that footage isn't
continuously streamed.
"Network video surveillance adds real business value for retailers
and is capable of far more than helping to reduce shrinkage. It can
be simultaneously deployed to help analyse customer behaviour and
therefore help improve the customer shopping experience. If video
is perceived as delivering business value, perhaps IT departments
may be more inclined to embrace network video.
Making the move from traditional analogue CCTV to IP surveillance
is easier and more cost effective than many people realise.
Retailers can also make the most of their existing investment in
analogue technology and upgrade to an IP-based solution using video
encoders which bring footage onto the network.
Axis has worked with many well-known retail brands to successfully
upgrade their surveillance systems to IP with minimal impact to
their networks.
ENDS
About the report:
The report entitled 'Retail use and experience of CCTV in the UK'
was conducted by the Centre of Retail Research, Nottingham http://www.retailresearch.org/
and commissioned by Axis Communications.
The report was based on the opinions of 363 respondents, ranging
from single-store retailers to those with more than 400 outlets.
Retailers who responded to the questionnaire had a combined total
of 29,240 stores (about 9 per cent of the UK's retail outlets) 40
per cent of the report's respondents were from food stores, the
other 60 per cent from non-food.
,
Notes to editors
1 Axis Communications is the global market leader in the network
video market. The network camera market is set to have a CAGR of 27
per cent per year over the next five years. The world market for
video surveillance products is forecast to be worth more than
$14,474 million by 2014 according to industry analyst house IMS
Research (http://www.imsresearch.com)
in its latest market report entitled 'The World Market for CCTV and
Video Surveillance Equipment 2009 Edition' published in August
2009.
About Axis
Axis is an IT company offering network video solutions for
professional installations. The company is the global market leader
in network video, driving the ongoing shift from analogue to
digital video surveillance. Axis products and solutions focus
on security surveillance and remote monitoring and are based on
innovative, open technology platforms.
Axis is a Swedish-based company, operating worldwide with offices
in more than 20 countries and cooperating with partners in more
than 70 countries. Founded in 1984, Axis is listed on NASDAQ OMX
Stockholm under the ticker AXIS. For more information about Axis,
please visit our website at www.axis.com .
For all media enquiries, please contact:
Fiona Whyatt, Insight Marketing & Communications
Phone: + 44 (0) 1625 500800, E-mail:axis@insightmkt.com