Avoiding Analysis Paralysis

By Hedgie Bartol, Business Development Manager for Retail, Axis Communications

Three Easy Steps for Migrating to IP Video

If you think the road from analog to IP video would be a daunting journey, you’re in for a pleasant surprise. Migrating to IP video is easier than you might imagine. Once you recognize the logical stepping stones for your organization, you can avoid the analysis paralysis that is holding you back from reaping the benefits of this modern technology.

Step 1: Unbundle your components

The first step is to realize that you don’t have to forklift upgrade your entire enterprise overnight.  Even its current state, your analog surveillance is well on its way to becoming an IP video system. Let’s start with the existing DVR which is basically video management software, storage and encoding in a box. Its job is to turn your analog camera’s signal into a digital signal and store it on a digital medium of a hard drive. While you can connect a DVR to the network, the conversion of analog video to digital is already downgrading the image. So when the DVR fails – and it will since most DVRs only last three to five years – take the opportunity to replace this archaic technology with components that will help you transition to an IP video solution. Once you unbundle that DVR, you can connect your analog cameras to an intelligent network video encoder. This transforms your proprietary analog system into one based on open platform architecture. You achieve greater scalability and now have the ability to incorporate additional open standards technologies going forward.

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