IP Surveillance and VoIP: Is History Repeating Itself?

By David Wedel

As IP-based surveillance systems continue to gain ground, we can’t help but be reminded of the challenges IP telephony – or VoIP – faced 10 years ago. The adoption parallels are certainly intriguing. VoIP systems offered vastly better features and functionality than PBX systems, but once the frenzy among early adopters wore off, retailers adopted VoIP at much slower rates than expected. 

A decade later, the same dynamic is occurring with IP-based surveillance technologies. Retailers recognize the benefits of IP vs. analog, but many have been hesitant to switch. In fact, the questions many retailers have when converting to IP surveillance are nearly identical to the ones they had when switching to VoIP:

I already have an analog surveillance system. When is the right time to switch to IP?