Not long ago sticking a camera on your vehicle was considered the height of sophistication. “Vehicle CCTV” was the phrase, and that was pretty much how they worked: point them at something and they record. After a certain amount of time (usually measured in hours), they will automatically record over the stored data.
In the immediate aftermath of an accident, however, you can access that footage and prove that you or your driver did nothing wrong. Or alternatively establish that they did, and respond appropriately.
That’s the theory, and it’s why millions of dashcams have been glued to millions of dashboards all over the world.
But for anyone serious about accident prevention and dealing with the fallout of those accidents that do happen, offline cameras just aren’t enough anymore. They don’t protect drivers, they don’t prevent accidents, and they don’t even do the job they are supposed to do.
I’ve got five specific reasons why it’s time for them to go, but before I get to them, let’s just be clear about the two types of camera system I’m talking about:
Not long ago sticking a camera on your vehicle was considered the height of sophistication. “Vehicle CCTV” was the phrase, and that was pretty much how they worked: point them at something and they record. After a certain amount of time (usually measured in hours), they will automatically record over the stored data.
In the immediate aftermath of an accident, however, you can access that footage and prove that you or your driver did nothing wrong. Or alternatively establish that they did, and respond appropriately.
That’s the theory, and it’s why millions of dashcams have been glued to millions of dashboards all over the world.
But for anyone serious about accident prevention and dealing with the fallout of those accidents that do happen, offline cameras just aren’t enough anymore. They don’t protect drivers, they don’t prevent accidents, and they don’t even do the job they are supposed to do.
I’ve got five specific reasons why it’s time for them to go, but before I get to them, let’s just be clear about the two types of camera system I’m talking about:
- Old-school cameras are ‘offline’ or ‘hardware only’. They are self-contained units stuck to the dash of the vehicle (or elsewhere) that record and re-record onto an SD card. They are cheap.
- Next-gen cameras are ‘online’ or ‘live’. They are connected to the cloud, automatically upload significant footage, when either the movement of the vehicle suggests that might be a good idea, or the driver makes a specific request. In the case of CameraMatics these cameras are connected to a comprehensive fleet operations platform that drives safety and efficiency across the entire organisation. They aren’t quite as cheap as old-school cameras, but they certainly won’t break the bank, and the ROI they deliver is off the charts.
So with that short clarification made, let’s look five reasons to bin those offline cameras, and move to a fully offline system.
1. They are exoneration only…
Almost by definition an offline camera is going to be of limited help when it comes to preventing accidents. Without some connection to an intelligent back-end able to identify risks and alert the driver, it is simply recording what happens in case something goes wrong.
An online system, connected to AI-powered detection of vulnerable road users, can actively scan the area around the vehicle, provide appropriate alerts to the driver, and prevent accidents happening in the first place. That’s a huge benefit over offline cameras.
2. …and they are bad at that
There’s a central truth when it comes to all offline cameras. You have to stop what you are doing and retrieve the footage whenever you want to check if something did or didn’t happen. When it comes to obvious accidents, that isn’t so much of a problem. But what about smaller incidents, or even just moments when the driver is suspicious?
The fact is that with offline cameras, if a claim is made about a minor incident that happened sometime in the past (even just a day ago), the chances are you have no defence. With online cameras, if there’s any sort of sudden movement of the vehicle, video will automatically be captured and stored for the long term. Even better, any time the driver wants to capture video he or she can push a button and know that it will happen. In other words, whenever there is doubt – you can have evidence.
And that ability has the potential to save you millions.
3. You have to hope they are working
Picture the scene. You are in a serious accident. But fear not, your camera will have recorded the whole thing. Except that for whatever reason, it didn’t. It happens a lot more often than you would think, and with offline cameras it’s a risk you are continually having to take.
You’ll have no such issues after moving online. Systems like CamaraMatics are constantly checking the health of every camera, and if there’s an issue you’ll know about it. Before it’s too late.
4. No telematics are included
Offline, ‘hardware only’ cameras are just that. Cameras. But online cameras are typically integrated into a telematics solution that provides valuable insight into your fleet performance. With offline cameras, you’ll almost certainly be looking for a telematics solution before long.
Not only that: integrated telematics uses the motion of the vehicle to identify when incidents that may require review occur. Any time a vehicle in your fleet brakes suddenly, or corners sharply, integrated telematics let the camera know to capture data around the event so you can examine what happened. Which brings us neatly to our last point…
5. They don’t provide insight that drives safety over time
An online camera system is constantly looking for ‘interesting’ things happening, and sharing associated footage and data of those things with fleet managers. These could be harsh braking (suggesting a potential accident), speeding, the driver showing signs of fatigue, or even falling asleep.
Collectively, this data gives fleet managers the need to identify issues and resolve them – before something more serious occurs. As a process, it avoids countless accidents and saves millions over time.
None of this is possible with offline cameras. Even if a camera was observing the driver, who is going to retrieve the footage when they realise they just avoided an accident after briefly closing their eyes? Nobody.
That’s five reasons. There are many more. But fleets all over the world are still using offline cameras, and still believe they provide real protection. They don’t. It’s time to throw them in the bin. And when you do, drop us a line.
