As the dark nights of winter stretch on, home and business owners will be focused on keeping their properties protected. Neil Baldwin, Sales Director at ESP, looks at one of the options that installers should be considering to maximise this opportunity.
The longer winter nights may lead to an increase in the number of domestic burglaries and vehicle thefts as intruders use the dark of night to try and conceal their activity. For some home and business owners, it may be a case of starting from scratch with the provision of security, for others a case of replacing old and corroded equipment or upgrading to a more sophisticated and reliable system.
CCTV’s expansion
Estimated to be worth in the region of £2.4 billion, the UK security market continues to grow, fuelled by the continued development of technology which is driving replacement levels and allowing more sophisticated systems to be brought to market.
CCTV accounts for the biggest slice of the security market, with a 50% share, and therefore represents a significant opportunity for expansion for installers, who will already possess the necessary skills to operate in this complementary and growing sector.
The development in technology means more sophisticated, yet simple to install CCTV systems are being brought to the market. The retrofit market is a real opportunity for installers. Upgrading a customer’s older analogue CCTV system to HD will take just minutes as all the existing cabling can be utilised.
One of the issues with CCTV systems in the past has been poor image quality. It’s estimated that 50% of cameras in privately-owned CCTV systems generate poor images – they’ve never been updated and this then presents a huge problem for the police as they cannot use the images for evidence to help make convictions.
With the latest technology, however, the challenge of poor image quality can be overcome.
Image conscious
AHD (Analogue High Definition) technology is the most newly developed solution for transmitting full 720P and 1080P HD digital video in a CCTV surveillance system. The core concept of AHD is to deliver high definition video using digital TV (DTV) transmission. AHD leverages the extremely robust AV transmission capability of DTV to easily and seamlessly upgrade an analogue CCTV surveillance system to digital full HD.
With the focus on smart solutions, wireless CCTV systems are becoming an increasingly popular choice and are a quick and easy solution to updating a customer’s security provision. There are a range of wire-free CCTV kits available, offering speed and ease of installation and operation, with remote monitoring possible via a Smart phone or tablet, using the relevant App.
When discussing options with customers, it’s worth mentioning that the level of security they opt for can impact on their insurance premiums – the higher the level of security a property owner has, the lower they can expect their premiums to be as many insurers will give discounts based on security measures that are in place.
For more information about ESP’s range of security equipment visit: www.espuk.com
