Axis' annual trends survey finds remote monitoring a key benefit for surveillance installers

Market research conducted by Agility PR on behalf of IP-surveillance market leader Axis Communications at the International IP Security Exhibition & Conference (IIPSEC 2008) last month, showed that 77% of respondents saw the ability to monitor images remotely over the network was a key end-user benefit when installing an IP-surveillance system.

The industry is also witnessing the impact of the latest technical developments in IP-surveillance:

• 52% of respondents think that improvements in quality of output and functionality of network cameras will have the most positive impact on IP-surveillance sales in 2008.

Other key findings from the survey were:

• Changes in the decision-making process when buying IP-Surveillance systems are gathering pace, with 45% of respondents stating the buying decision is moving to IT departments especially for larger installations.
• The ability to integrate different security applications using IP was also ranked highly by 51% of respondents as a technical development likely to have a positive impact in 2008.
• Lack of knowledge and skills amongst the security installer community was seen as the key obstacle to adoption of IP-surveillance by 41% of IIPSEC visitors.
• Central and local Government were considered leading the take-up of IP-surveillance, gaining 24% of responses, followed by the Education and Transport sector each with 22%.

Intelligent Video (IV) applications such as ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition), people counting and "trip-wire" zoning were being installed or planned to be installed by 44% of respondents during 2008, stressing the importance customers are placing on these new applications.

Educating the market is still seen as the key to delivering success for IP-surveillance.  Respondents were keenest for Axis and other IP-Surveillance vendors to continue to devote resources to educating the market about the benefits of IP-Surveillance (88% put this as the first or second most important element of support that Axis needs to continue to offer).  71% of respondents ranked the further development of Axis' Application Developer Partner (ADP) programme as important to ensure the right solutions are being built to meet specific market needs.

Security managers are still the lead decision maker according to 30% of respondents, though one in four decisions are being taken by financial directors, underlining their increasing influence in the decision making process.

Steve Gorski, managing director of Axis Communications (UK) Limited, commented, "This year's Axis survey shows that the reseller community is really getting to grips with IP-surveillance and understands the core benefits.  There is strong demand for quality training on IP-surveillance and we are committed to provide this and we would welcome any reseller to join our Axis Academy programmes."

"It is also interesting to see that installers want to start integrating surveillance with other security systems and are showing interest in new applications from Axis' ADP programme.  Only IP can really make this integration happen."

The findings are based on written questionnaires completed by 100 randomly selected IIPSEC 2008 visitors on 30th January 2008.  25% of respondents were CCTV installers or distributors, 6% were IT resellers/integrators/distributors, 17% were vendors/ manufacturers, 4% were end users, 17% consultants/specifiers, and 31% were other suppliers to the industry including the media, industry analysts and training providers.