Cellular telephones, BlackBerries™, iPhones and PDAs are no longer just that—they’ve morphed into messaging devices and mobility is the driving force.

Video surveillance has gone mobile as well, giving the integrator, reseller or end-user the ability to receive and view live images via these messaging devices. That’s the application or software side of the market. Look for tons of growth there—according to a study published by The Nielsen Co. and commissioned by Tellabs, consumers intend to dramatically increase their use of mobile data services over the next two years with mobile Internet, mobile management systems (MMS) and software/applications (downloads) leading the charge.

I got my first glimpse of mobile video surveillance at a recent conference where I met Sri Palasamudram, chief executive officer of mobiDEOS Inc., Sunnyvale, Calif. He showed me his “ASPs,” the application service provider software called the Mobile IPCamViewer. It streams video live to cellular telephones.

Palasamudram said the service delivers video from DVR’s, NVRs, cameras, Web cams and more. “It’s software based so it fits with the existing infrastructure the users already have. The MobileIPCamViewer also offers access of cameras to multiple users simultaneously. Users can gain instant access to view and even PTZ control of cameras via cell phones. The application is custom built to the operating system of the mobile device and works on over 90 percent of phones, whereas browser-based systems only work on a fraction of available phones,” he said.

There are other products on the market but the integrator has to check if they are Software as a Service (SaaS) or browser based. Other current offerings include MISTonDemand (MoD) and Mobil Connect from MIST Innovations Inc., as well as iPhone-based iRa C3 from Lextech Labs and products from FG Engineering and Xanboo.