Believe it or not, this month’s cover story actually marks the first time I have ever written a feature story on video surveillance. I have been in this industry for decades and assigned and edited countless stories on video, but always shied away from doing my own deep dive due to time constraints and my own — as it turns out false — idea that I didn’t have enough background in video.

So the process of researching this article was both new and fascinating for me, as a writer. One of the things I found most interesting was the common thread running through all of the top trends discussed in this year’s State of the Market: Video Surveillance report: the use of video beyond security. Not surprisingly there was a lot of discussion around key trends, such as AI and analytics, cloud and hybrid cloud, edge computing and video monitoring — all of which are helping propel the video market forward.

But in each and every case, the reasons behind why these technologies are attractive to customers was that it is allowing them to use video for something more than just security.

 In each and every case, the reasons behind why these technologies are attractive to customers was that it is allowing them to use video for something more than just security.

“More analytics tools are coming to the market for things like people and object recognition, allowing companies to be more proactive instead of reactive,” says integrator Tim Hobbs of Owl Services in the article. “It gives you tools to say, ‘My store is too busy; I am understaffed,’ or ‘get to spills faster.’ AI, smart and edge tools will drive the continuous growth.”

It is the same thing with cloud, according to Eric Salava at Verkada. “Cloud-based solutions are transforming how organizations use video data, unlocking new and deeper levels of visual intelligence and insights that empower organizations to make faster, smarter, data-backed decisions for applications outside of traditional security.”

None of this was particularly surprising, as over and over again at shows and conferences last year I heard both manufacturers and integrators talk about business intelligence and proactive security being the wave of the future. And video surveillance in particular is at the forefront of that wave. But it was interesting to delve into the reasons behind each of the key trends, the challenges and the opportunities they present for the security industry.

As usual with these types of articles, I ended up with a lot more material than I could possibly impart here, so if you are reading this article in the eMagazine, you might want to get comfortable and settle in for a long read. But if you want to read it over time, check it out on our website, where it will be presented in three installments: The main article, including the top trends and sidebars first, followed by an article on the challenges, and finally, opportunities.

And if you are so inclined, let me know how you prefer to read these cover stories — all at once, or over time?