Siemens MD calls for more intelligence and careful financial planning with the growth of high definition (HD) CCTV

Rapid growth of HD CCTV is continuing strong despite current economic climate

Siemens Building Technologies Security Solutions Managing Director, Dave Pickles states that: "The growth of HD CCTV shows no signs of slowing down despite the current economic climate but warns that funding will be a major concern."

Dave explains: "Since the huge growth of CCTV in the ‘90's, CCTV has been considered a cost-effective way to combat and manage public crime and disorder. During the "boom" years the spread of control technology was funded by economic and political forces. CCTV helped combat anti-social behaviour incidents which, at that time, was attracting intense media and public attention. Progress was achieved with CCTV networks helping to rejuvenate town centres, reducing crime levels, stimulating local commerce and attracting investment."

"The expansion of CCTV and in particular HD CCTV has also been underpinned by less tangible factors such as a general decline in feelings of safety in public. Customers will continue to drive the demand for reliable, high definition video performance and the highest quality video surveillance cameras. The images of the terrorists circulated within hours of the 2007 London bombings demonstrated to the public what a powerful tool surveillance cameras can be. The appeal of HD CCTV in particular with it's ever developing ability to monitor and its capacity to generate increasingly sophisticated analytical data is driven by customer expectation. Developments in technology will continue to drive down price points and make HD affordable."

"Our industry continues to push the boundaries and offer greater value to customers. Unfortunately public sector budgets are being squeezed, there is simply less cash available for funding, making it vital for a new all encompassing approach to be taken. Organisations could consider long term finance packages that provide equipment, finance and maintenance in a single package, guaranteeing fixed annual costs and easy budgeting as a practical alternative to raising capital for projects."

Dave concludes: "One innovative example of the way we work is to offer our customers financial solutions that are tailored to meet the business needs and tax positions of their organisation. Our customers can take advantage of a range of flexible finance packages that incorporate technology, migration, user training and service in a single, affordable package. This provides the customer with greater choice, both now and in the years ahead, delivering improved cash flow, guaranteed fixed annual costs and regular upgrades. More importantly, this way of working can overcome the challenge of raising capital and enable projects to proceed, as well as freeing up capital for investment in core activities."