IP video these days is for more than just security: people who install it for security monitoring reasons are finding other uses for it.
IP video these days is for more than just security: people who install it for security monitoring reasons are finding other uses for it. More and more end users are engaging with it for other business operations. IP video is thereby becoming mission critical. How is this measured? Basically, if the video system doesn't work properly, and the bottom line of the business is impacted, this determines that it has become a mission critical tool.
Mission critical means that companies cannot function without the video. You could even say that video technology is becoming a utility with which a company can run their daily operations. This is enhanced greatly by the increasing number of video integrations into business systems.
We know from many of our customer installations worldwide that IP video is proving to add value to the bottom line and becoming imperative to daily operations. Let's look at some examples:
Manufacturing: Production status is aided by monitoring the products with clear video images to check in fine detail for grade and quality, also overseeing the process itself. Total overview of distant sites assists with remote management of business activities. RFID with video records and tracks an item from the moment it is removed from a warehouse shelf throughout its journey as it is measured, weighed, tagged and packed for shipment.
Food industry: Video monitors equipment and personal hygiene, safety apparel, location cleanliness, proper food handling, storage, packaging, serving, and transport of goods. Timing and freshness can be critical: authorities demand adherence to regulations. Video provides evidence these are upheld, and the stamps of approval prove quality that justifies higher prices.
Healthcare: Video is becoming vital for better patient care and safety, also insuring doctors and nurses follow required hand-washing and other sanitation practices that reduce costly infections. Monitoring high-risk patients in emergency and psychiatric rooms fosters greater personal safety and faster response to alerts. Narcotics cabinet monitoring is more effective with the integration of video and access control systems.
Traffic Control/Parking Facilities: Video assists in efficient vehicle movement in airports, on railways, waterways, highways, city streets and in garages. It can be linked to traffic lights for prioritizing certain routes during rush hours, festivals, sports events, etc.
This list goes on in every sector of business. Mission critical application of video underscores its growing value and importance. And when video becomes mission critical, there should be no compromise.
No need to compromise with freedom of choice
The self-made tycoon Andrew Carnegie said: “Principles should never be compromised”. And I agree.
When you make decisions on anything that is mission critical on how to run your company or organization, you should not compromise. You don't have to compromise on business values, on more efficient operations and profitability, on ways to enable new business, and striving for happier customers.
You don't have to compromise in the company you work for or the partners and products you work with. You can choose the broadest ecosystem of professionals who are trained and certified to deliver the best in solutions and skills.
The open platform ecosystem is adding more value to end users than what one company could do alone. And each company controls the value they bring to the market. The open platform approach enables the incremental appreciation of value - as compared to the depreciation of a proprietary system that always ends with a forklift upgrade in order to move forward with new innovations that become available.
End users demand future proofing
We still see vendors trying to lock customers into a proprietary solution. Such a ‘single stack' approach means having to replace the entire system when problems occur or new innovations come along from other vendors that you cannot incorporate. These offerings may look good right now, but they are short-term solutions.
Andy Grove, previous CEO of Intel Corporation and author of Only the Paranoid Survive, wrote: “…once you buy into a proprietary arrangement, you are stuck with it. If there is a problem, you can't just throw out one part of the vertical stack; you will have to abandon the entire stack.”
Why put your company into a locked situation with no path forward? Why compromise? Choose an open platform to enable a multi-stack approach - and a flexible, more profitable future.
- By Eric Fullerton, Chief Sales & Marketing Officer, Milestone Systems