A Hosted VoIP Provider’s Missed Opportunity: Surveillance
Source: smithonvoip.com
IP surveillance.
Like VoIP, IP surveillance is rapidly turning the traditional surveillance technologies on it’s ear. Legacy equipment manufacturers and VAR’s are quickly learning that the move to IP based solutions is inevitable. The same joys of IP based voice communications are realized with IP based surveillance. Lower TCO, increased scalability, more/better access to the technology and of course more functionality. As I have stated before, the parallels between the current surveillance marketplace and the voice marketplace are strikingly similar.
But unlike the VoIP marketplace, there are not a ton of players in the hosted IP surveillance game. Honestly, there are only two or three. The hosted IP surveillance model is very similar to that of hosted VoIP, yet the technology is more mature, in-demand and less sensitive to service interruptions that plague many types IP communications. With a hosted IP surveillance solution, a customer receives a set number of IP cameras (end-points) that are self-installed at their facility (or home). The control of the camera is hosted “in the cloud” accessible through an account management portal via a web browser. Customer receive the same sort of features and functionality they would with a premise based DVR or network video recorder, but don’t have to absorb the cost all at once. There is an up-front equipment fee and a monthly recurring charge for “camera management”.
In many ways, it is the exact same business model of today’s hosted VoIP providers…or maybe it is a complimentary business that presents an opportunity for current hosted VoIP providers to diversify their business model (and revenue streams) while providing an additional value.
So, with the cries for innovation, additional value and no more me-too’s, is hosted IP surveillance an opportunity that every hosted VoIP provider is currently missing out on?
