CCTV images transmitted via secure Internet.

Old-fashioned analogue closed circuit television cameras (CCTV) are quickly being made obsolete by newer versions that can transmit their images on the Internet, according to Maria Gonzalez, Vice President of Nortronics, a security integrator that designs and installs security systems for public and private facilities throughout the New York metro area.

In one of the biggest revolutions in security technology since its first deployments in the 1960s, the advent of CCTV-IP also permits security managers to manipulate cameras, causing them to pan or zoom, from any location that has internet access.

You don't have to throw out your existing cameras and coaxial cable networks to take advantage of the new capabilities," said Gonzalez. "We combine new with old in a way that minimizes costs and maximizes results."

CCTV-IP (the IP stands for Internet Protocol) gives security managers greater control over cameras. It also enables companies like Nortronics, which employ trained security professionals, to oversee security for a number of facilities from a single re mote location. That is true even if the protected sites are located in Manhattan and Brooklyn, for example, and the security manager is located in the Palisades.

The digital images transmitted by the cameras can be easily stored on any computer hard drive, just like a word processing document or any other file.

"If the security guard at a residential apartment building sees something suspicious in the image coming from the building's basement," Gonzalez explained, "he can examine it more closely. And, he can notify his boss so she can view it over the Internet, too."

"The biggest adapters of this technology are in the education, law enforcement, real estate and transportation sectors," Gonzalez says.

"The flexibility it offers makes it very useful for larger facilities and organizations."