Cisco's first IP security camera

IRVINE, Calif.--Through Linksys, its division focused on wireless and networking hardware for the consumer, Cisco has released its first IP camera with physical security applications. This broadens Cisco's entry into physical security, which began with the purchase of SyPixx earlier this year. While SyPixx makes sophisticated software and hardware for enterprise surveillance operations, Linksys' camera provides entry into the consumer and small commercial market, bypassing the installer channel. "Video surveillance is the entry point," said Steve Collen, Cisco's director of product marketing, "and we'll be looking at other entry points into the physical security market." Linksys' Wireless-G is a PTZ camera with audio recording capabilities, which does not need to be hooked up to a PC to function. It has its own IP address and can be configured as an edge device as part of a network. Further, the camera features motion-detection, recording video and audio upon detection and sending an alert to e-mail, pager or cell phone. The camera is priced at $299, has an LCD screen displaying the IP address and can be accessed with a URL "name," all of which are designed to make security surveillance easily accessible to the end user. "The real key," said Dan Dunkel, President of New Era Associates, a consultant helping companies navigate the IP marketplace, "is that the system integrator needs to understand that the decision to go with IP networks is a competitive advantage." If they let IT integrators set up the network, and choose to stick solely with physical security, the security portion of the system will simply become devices that live on the network, like printers or scanners. "We've designed a camera that provides small businesses the tool they need to monitor their office during business hours or while they are away," said David Tucker, Linksys senior director of product marketing, in a written statement.