Organizations today face an increasing variety of security threats. These include direct threats to property and people, as well as indirect threats of costly litigation stemming from actual or fictitious incidents involving property or people.

Traditional security systems have used analog closed-circuit television (CCTV), along with a variety of other sensors and recorders, to record scenes and events for analysis in the case of security incidents. The use of digital components is revolutionizing security systems. Intelligent digital components enable modern security systems to be much more effective in improving security than traditional electronic security systems can be.

Furthermore, the effective integration of digital security devices with information technology enables digital security systems to be extended over wider areas, with the ability to react with intelligence to events they observe, and to be managed more easily and effectively.