IP Vs Security Vs CCTV Vs Surveillance Camera - You Choose
We want your help choosing want term we should use to describe cameras in our industry.
Historically, we have used either IP camera or surveillance camera. However, there have been two recent trends that impact this:
- HD analog is for real, and is already fairly significantly and capturing share from IP and SD analog. In the past, we could ignore SD analog because it was in decline and not technologically competitive but HD analog is different. So we need a term to describe all cameras in our industry, not just IP.
- The term 'surveillance' has really taken a negative connotation due to government surveillance (monitoring emails, text messages, phone calls, etc.) that have nothing to do with our industry.
Here is what Google shows for trends across those 4 terms. Note the terms searched were 'IP camera', 'Security camera', 'CCTV camera' and 'Surveillance camera':
Interestingly, the term 'IP camera' has gained substantially over the past decade and is now the most frequently searched for of the group. Security camera is a close second.
We'll obviously continue to use IP camera for IP cameras but we need to pick a more general term when talking about all cameras, so is it security, cctv or surveillance?
What do you think we should use?
Vote
I absolutely despise spelling surviallence, and saying it is not a whole lot of fun either.
CCTV must be rejected, if for no other reason then the maddening search result confusion with the Chinese news service. This would appear to only get worse in future.
Which leaves Security camera.
Its not perfect (since business intelligence use cases are increasing), but barring a write-in ballot of 'deez cams', it's the best candidate on the ticket...
Btw, I did not explain above but we are not going to use CCTV. I am not against but in North America, at least, CCTV is viewed as antiquated and since that is our home market, it would be a bad idea.
That said, a 4 letter acronym is better than a long, not easy to spell, word (like surveillance) so it's unfortunate. Other CCTV problems, confusion with the Chinese government TV channel and that systems are no longer 'closed circuit'.
I'd agree that CCTV is antiquated in terms of it's definition but it's still synonymous with the industry.
There a still plenty of end users who still call it CCTV and IMHO the term has transcended the definition.
With all that being said, this seems like a big non issue and what ever you roll with, people will learn to live with.
Camera Data Capture Device (CDCD)
Video Data Capture Device (VDCD)
You may not like the term 'surveillance' camera for the reasons you mention above - but this is the only adjective from your list that describes what the camera actually does... regardless of the reasons (security, pet monitoring, biz process/intel, etc) you are using it.
I voted for "surveillance"... Personally I hate when surveillance cameras are called "security cameras". Are they truly protecting anything? I don't believe so. CCTV? Man that is an outdated title, when is the last time you installed a truly "closed circuit" system? Let alone considering it to be a closed circuit television system? Surveillance cameras do exactly as the name implies, surveil or observe. Maybe once analytics become stronger and more intelligent then perhaps they are protecting and could live up to the title of security camera. I am really surprised by the result of the ipvm vote and the google trends report however I will always call them surveillance cameras.
Are they truly protecting anything?
So Security to you is just the 3 G's? Guns, Guards, Gates?
| 11/22/15 05:37am
They call the red light cameras in my city 'safety cameras' - which I take as a personal insult to my intelligence. So I share your disdain for propagandist suggestive naming conventions.
No matter what you use it for - it's an Imaging Device. So how about E.I.D for Electronic Imaging Device? Too close to IED maybe?
11/24/15 01:00am
I have no idea why people have any aversion to the term surveillance. I think the other terms are either intimidating acronyms, like CCTV or IP, or set the bar too high, security. I don't think of cameras as adding security, unless you have live operators. Otherwise, 99% of the time they are used for surveillance only.
I don't think of cameras as adding security, unless you have live operators.
Just because you don't see anything on the tape doesn't mean your security has not increased.
And when footage leads to a bad guy going away, even if the crime was not prevented, doesn't that make us more secure?
IPVMU Certified | 11/24/15 01:37pm
We use the term "video monitoring". We're our video verification service at the monitoring station and at the users computer/smartphone, we believe this term works well to begin the conversation about this service.
You have to use a mix of them all, plus about 3-4 other terms, on your website to get good SEO.
I recommend against "Security". I prefer Video Monitoring.
"Security" in a product description in 2015 means there's a good chance you don't understand why IT folks get offended at your product being hardcoded to username admin and password 1234. Or your product sells for under US$400 on normal colored Fridays in the local fix-it-yourself big box lumberyard. (Note "video monitoring" works for CCTV etc.)
Newest Discussions
| Discussion | Posts | Latest |
|---|---|---|
|
Started by
Undisclosed #1
|
1
|
less than a minute by Undisclosed #1 |
|
Started by
John Saunders
|
4
|
about 2 hours by Brian Karas |
|
Started by
Undisclosed #1
|
11
|
less than a minute by Jerome Miller |
|
Started by
John Honovich
|
7
|
less than a minute by Undisclosed Manufacturer #2 |
|
Started by
John Honovich
|
7
|
about 2 hours by Undisclosed Manufacturer #2 |
