Industry View

The CCTV Project Planner

CCTV implementations face a lack of product standardization, a confusing bidding process, and a limiting market structure. Here is expert guidance on critical considerations about bandwidth, frame rate, image quality and more

By Jason Cowling

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Delving a bit deeper into the comparative difficulties in CCTV system evaluations is helpful, especially focusing attention on the relationships between product manufacturers, product resellers, and product installers. Generally, CCTV product manufacturers sell their products to resellers, who then sell to installers, who are providing the quotations on your system. Additionally, installers often take on relationships with manufacturers to buy directly, and in some cases manufacturers do not sell their products at all through reseller channels, but only to product installers. Within these relationships are factors that result in end-user difficulties. Product installers make choices to install particular systems based on prices they get from resellers and manufacturers and their installation force's training and certification on product lines.

Given these relationships, it's easy to see why actual front-line product offerings are limited, so let's take a look at how these limitations translate into the end-user project: The effect manifests in several ways. For example, each of your bidders are likely to have preferences for your system that are based in part on their relationships with resellers and manufacturers, and in part by the best match amongst those limited offerings for your individual application. Even if your bidders are able to provide you with quotes for duplicate equipment, it's likely that their price points will reflect their volume of purchasing with that equipment manufacturer or reseller, and may not reflect the best price, or system, they could provide you.

Some vendor relationships are based in volume. So, your installing company may be able to provide a quote for the system you're evaluating, but they may get second- or third-tier technical and customer service support. They may also have limited access to replacement inventory and certified technicians for the system, both which can create significant pricing, implementation, and ongoing systems support issues for end-users.

Generally speaking, CCTV product installers don't reinvent the wheel with each individual system implementation. They choose from between probably 3 to 5 product offerings, and probably would prefer to install no more than one or two. Since these product installers generally operate in a very overlapping geographical area, they are likely to be familiar with their competitors and with how to compete with them.

As a result of this overall market structure, the end-user is hard-pressed to make quantitative comparisons between product offerings, and has a relatively limited amount of viable product choices. And because there is no way for an end-user to change the nature of these relationships, it is best to learn to structure your projects in light of them, rather than against them.