Anixter (www.anixter.com) has introduced a video-surveillance system that runs video, power, and control signals over a single unshielded twisted-pair (UTP) cable. The new system, called Closed Circuit Twisted Pair, or CCTP, addresses the escalating movement in corporate America to converge physical security into the information-technology (IT) domain.
"The CCTP system offers an organized, flexible approach for maintaining video surveillance networks and complex security solutions," the company said in a release announcing the introduction. "It has been designed to readily integrate into an existing IT infrastructure and is the first solution to address physical security at the network layer, using twisted-pair cabling technology to eliminate the need for multiple cables."
CCTP offers the ability to cost-effectively accommodate future moves, adds, and changes, according to Anixter. The system also provides an open-system architecture, and compatibility with existing IT infrastructures. While announcing the product to a group of cabling-system end users at the BICSI conference on January 14, Anixter produced cost models showing that CCTP provides reduced labor costs and lower total cost-of-ownership compared to a traditional coaxial-based surveillance system.
"There has been a significant industry shift in the handling and prioritization of security initiatives," said Steve Leatherwood, senior vice president of sound and security at Anixter. "With CCTP, chief security officers and IT managers no longer need to be constrained by the fragmented, compartmentalized approach to security and can create a unified, coordinated program of protecting buildings, people, and networks."
Anixter developed the CCTP system with a consortium of companies in the security and IT data-networking fields, including Philips CSI, Belden, and Middle Atlantic Products. Anixter will be the exclusive distributor of the CCTP system.
