If the market experts interviewed by Campus Safety’s sister publication Security Sales & Integration for its annual forecast are to be believed, the 2017 security technology market looks to be even stronger than it was in 2016.

But the security industry must still face and overcome several challenges, with cybersecurity in particular looming as a potential villain, and a new presidential administration being the wild card.

All that plays out in full glory just ahead as leading dealers, integrators, manufacturers, consultants and analysts assess how the industry will perform this year.

Security Technology

Oliver Philippou, Senior Analyst Technology, IHS Markit

Two big developments will be video surveillance equipment price erosion and cybersecurity.

The average price of a network camera in North America in 2012 was around $600, the price from vendors to the channel that is. It is forecast to be less than $170 in 2017.

Cyberattacks on networks through video surveillance cameras were big news stories in mainstream media in 2016.

Chris Peckham, Senior Vice President and CTO, Kratos Public Safety & Security Solutions

Continuing to drive change in the industry will be the use of the Cloud and how it is leveraged for delivery of services.  Interaction with the Cloud and providing integration across different platforms will use APIs to build upon capabilities.

Mobility continues to be an area with great potential bringing video and other information together from numerous sources as well as leveraging a device that is constantly with an individual.

The Internet of Things impacts the physical security industry as well by using platforms providing a multitude of sensors on the network. It is also a means of integrating across deployed systems, devices and sensors, providing information that can aid an organization or user base in observing events across different sources.

Many vendors have been building offerings around the Cloud as well as IoT, with features such as AI and adaptive machine learning to correlate alarms and events with tools built for Big Data processing.

Robotics and drones are areas with potential as well. These technologies are being integrated into patrols and other systems to provide information from the field, and coverage in areas that would otherwise be difficult to cover. These devices can work somewhat autonomously and provide real-time data from the field including video, environmental monitoring, and tracking WiFi and Bluetooth devices around them.

Brian Wiser, President of Sales – North America, Bosch Security Systems

Overall, integrated systems that tie security and communications technologies together will continue to provide opportunities in 2017, as they deliver added value and reduced complexity for the end user.

For example, presenting access credentials at an entrance unlocks the door, disarms the intrusion system and alerts security with video from a nearby camera; or, a camera with onboard video analytics that detects a perimeter breach can fault a point on the security control panel, which triggers an audio announcement in the area and alerts the central station.

Within specific technology categories, H.265 compression and noise reduction technology will help to lower overall costs for video systems. This will become increasingly important as users continue to seek more detailed images with more pixels, which can increase both bandwidth and storage requirements.

And, even if systems installed in 2017 aren’t immediately using H.265 compression, dealers/integrators will select technology that is H.265 capable to futureproof these systems.

Video analytics will become more relevant as improvements in its accuracy are making it a more sought-after feature of surveillance systems.

Enhancements in reliability are reducing false alarms in outdoor environments. Analytics can now be used in areas with heavy winds, in weather conditions like rain, snow or hail, or near bodies of water that are in constant motion.

In indoor environments, analytics will become more accessible as it is offered as a standard feature built into midrange IP cameras for advanced intrusion detection, enforcing health and safety regulations, and analyzing behavior in retail environments.

For intrusion systems, there’s opportunity for integrators to offer incremental services to their customers. Systems that offer personal notifications of events via emails or text messages, or that integrate with IP cameras and send video snapshots of events, provide the user with greater information about what is happening at their facility.

In addition, remote command and control of systems for arming, disarming and control of connected outputs via mobile apps provides added convenience for the user. These capabilities can be sold by security dealers/ integrators to their customers as additional services.

We’ll also see greater use of the cloud in various ways that include making installation and programming easier.

If you appreciated this article and want to receive more valuable industry content like this, click here to sign up for our FREE digital newsletters!

Related Content