Credit Crunch in CCTV?
With banks dropping like flies and being bailed out by our government, house prices falling but no one being able to get a decent mortgage and the economy now effectively in a recession what, if any, impact might this have on the CCTV industry?
At first thought you might think: if everyone is ‘tightening their belts’ the first thing to be scrapped from the spending list would be the new/upgraded security system, but is this really the case?
Crime Is Increasing
The crime rate is increasing so can homes and businesses afford to be without the protection of a security system or remote monitoring. And with petrol prices still high, the number of ‘drive-offs’ (people filling up theirs cars but ‘neglecting’ to pay!) has increased in kind.
New CCTV Technology
A new wave of CCTV Technology is breaking though. We’re talking about the IP CCTV Revolution of course! Though still in its relative infancy perhaps, IP technology could prove to be as impacting on the Security industry as analogue to digital.
Megapixel resolution IP Cameras, Power over Ethernet convenience, a whole host of new features and attractive looking hardware and software could well entice even the thriftiest to give the nod for a CCTV upgrade.
Not to be ignored is Video Analytics. This technology is all about artificial intelligence software. The ability for a CCTV System to detect fire, loitering teens, cars driving the wrong way up a street and even the type of clothing someone is wearing will almost certainly mean certain CCTV projects will still be looked at.
The IP CCTV Revolution:A Mega Pixel IP Camera
Money Saving Solutions
Let’s face it, CCTV has a lot of technology and features. But it’s how these features are sold to the customer that often clinch the deal. Given the current climate the term ‘money saving’ will strike a chord with most and so it could be that looking at the ways to save people money by adding certain CCTV technologies might also prove impossible for some to resist.
Remote Monitoring, for example, can be more cost effective than paying for a physical security guard on site.
Remote Monitoring: A Money Saving Solution For Some
What The Installer Says
Some of our customers say they have never really needed to do active marketing to get work. A lot of CCTV Installers get their work by word of mouth. It’s just like when you have a dodgy boiler or a leak and you ask your friends or family ‘do you know a good plumber?’ well it’s the same for a lot of CCTV Installers. The thing is, despite a ‘credit crunch’ or ‘recession’ the free advertising of ‘word of mouth’ will not stop. The question is, will people stop asking for it?
So it may now be the case that some invest in a little advertising/marketing, update their website, chuck some money at Google Adwords or renew and expand the size of their Yellow Pages ad.
Having said all of that, the maintenance side of CCTV work should remain buoyant as things go wrong and will always need fixing/upgrading etc.
Large Scale Projects
A lot of people with larger scale CCTV projects, rolling out to multiple sites/branches may still find this work continues. The point is, the customer identified a need for security and that need has not gone away just because the entire world economy is shrinking. But if the work was based on opening new branches etc, if their market is affected and profits drop will they be able to fund opening new offices?
What’s Going To Happen To The CCTV Industry?
Short answer, who knows?
Yes there may be a decline in certain customers getting new or upgraded CCTV systems but there will always be individuals, businesses and councils etc who cannot afford NOT to have security.
