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Does IP Surveillance really work?

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PCQ Bureau
New Update

Let's first understand the technical side of the things. IP surveillance as

the name suggests, works over IP, so you can easily deploy it over your existing

network cabling. So you save cabling costs. Plus, even if you expand your

premises, you're going to extend your network to it, which can again be used for

IP surveillance as well. Moreover, since it supports WiFi, it can even be

extended to areas where you don't have network cabling, such as a warehouse.

Even if there's no power outlet in a certain area, IP surveillance cameras can

work over Power over Ethernet.

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Ease of deployment and use are two other major attractions of the technology.

We received several IP surveillance based solutions for testing in our lab and

managed to deploy them without any hassles. Using them was as easy as opening a

web browser and entering the IP address of the camera or recorder.

Anil Chopra, Editor



anilc@cybermedia.co.in

Since the communication is over IP, it can be monitored from anywhere across

the world through a web browser. It can also save captured videos or images in

standard digital formats, which can then be easily shared with others. The

technology is definitely there, and it indeed works, provided you use it. That's

where the question of policies comes in. The success or failure of any

technology is governed by the strength of processes and policies that have been

established to use it, whether enforced by law or otherwise.

Apparently, RBI mandates that all banks that maintain cash chests must deploy

IP surveillance. This is good, provided the banks that deploy it also make use

of it. For instance, a bank might record hours of surveillance video, but it

won't be of any use if it's not analyzed regularly.

The other critical success factor to IP surveillance is to have a complete

plan. Just setting up IP surveillance cameras won't be enough. You'll also need

to define the scope of work and then dedicate resources to execute it. For

instance, Delhi Police has deployed powerful IP surveillance cameras on a few

major crossings across the city and plans to extend it to all major crossings

before the Commonwealth Games in 2010. This is very good, as the cameras would

be able to capture photos and videos of traffic violators on the spot, and

attach them as proof while sending court summons. This will bring in the

much-needed transparency and authenticity into the system, which till now was

questionable. It will work provided there are dedicated resources to analyze

videos, manage incident detection, communicate with motorists, etc.

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