Surveillance Systems and You
As a business owner, decisions about security for your business can be difficult. Be sure to read a few of our articles on surveillance.
Planning a Surveillance System: Ensuring Maximum Prosecution
Category Archives: Surveillance System
What should Security and Cameras Review Next?
Planning a Surveillance System: Ensuring Maximum Prosecution
The British organization, the Association of Police Officers (ACPO), estimates that 80% of supplies surveillance footage is not usable by law enforcement. Why? Poor Cameras are certainly part of the problem but another important issue is lack of a good surveillance plan and the inability to record and export high quality surveillance footage.
Let’s start with the first problem. We have already written articles about the importance of using professional-grade cameras and why camera/DVR kits from big box retailers are not the great deal that they seem to be. There is another problem with do-it-yourself surveillance: lack of exert advice on camera placement.
When a professional surveillance company is called in by a client, they analyze the client’s needs and carefully plan the placement of each camera. This is especially important in the client is working with a tight budget and can only afford a few cameras. Camera placement is as important as camera selection but it is something that comes from experience and technical skill; it doesn’t come packed in a box from a superstore.
A surveillance professional can tell where the cameras should be placed, if hidden cameras should be used and will advise the client on how to get the most out of their new surveillance system.
The next issue with footage is the inability to record quality footage. A client’s cameras are only as good as the DVR recording the footage. The cameras can be high-end and catch every second of an event but this is useless if there isn’t a DVR capable of recording the footage at that same high quality.
This is another aspect where the surveillance professional comes to the rescue. A professional surveillance consultant can match up cameras to DVR, as well as training the client so that they are able to call back important footage and export it in a portable format, such as CD-ROM or DVD.
Check out our other articles on how much a surveillance system should cost and whether fake cameras will save the client money.
Case Study
Small Retail Business Surveillance Plan
Business: Small Gift Shop, 800 square foot storefront
Budget: Since this is a very small business, the surveillance budget is small. The owner wants quality cameras but wants the surveillance system to be as economical as possible.
See our article How Much Should a Surveillance System Cost? for more details on surveillance system prices and how to get the most out of your surveillance budget.
Solution: Given the store’s size and budget, a four-camera setup with a four-channel DVR is the best option.
Cameras and DVR: The recommended camera for this situation is the IC Realtime ICR300h 600tvl dome camera. Four of these cameras will be installed in the store, carefully placed to get maximum coverage. Because the store owner cannot afford to add hidden cameras, special attention is given to camera placement in order to capture the faces of anyone committing a crime in the store.
Of course, cameras are only as good as the DVR they work with. An IC Realtime 4-Channel Flex DVR will be able to capture the image quality required for prosecutable imagery.
Finally, the store owner must be trained in the use of the new cameras and DVRs. The goal is to make the business owner able to call back the footage they need, as well as record it to a portable format.
How good should your surveillance footage be? Just what do we mean by “Prosecutable Imagery”? Will discount surveillance systems work for you?
If you have been a regular reader of this website, you will see the phrase “prosecutable imagery” crop up again and again. Just what does this phrase mean? Isn’t any surveillance footage a good thing? Brand X cameras may not be perfect but they get the job done, right?
Wrong! You see, quality security camera footage is a key component is finding the bad guys and making sure that they are prosecuted for their crimes.
Let’s say that you have a retail store and are using a camera and DVR set from a big box retailer. The worst case scenario occurs and the store is robbed after closing hours. In this case, surveillance footage is the best evidence you have to find and prosecute the robbers.
I think we are all familiar with the cliched surveillance crime footage. The jerky images, those grey blobs that are supposed to be the prime suspect… And this, in a nutshell, is the problem with choosing the cheapest cameras on the market: The footage that you get is so poor there is almost no point in having cameras at all.
Now let’s compare the footage from a higher quality camera. In this article, we will be showing the IC Realtime Super Night Vision Outdoor AF 22X Zoom Camera. This is a nighttime shot.
Now, compare that to jittery footage that we see on the evening news. I think it’s pretty obvious which surveillance footage will nab the suspects.
In the end, this is what we mean when we write about prosecutable imagery. Footage that is good enough for the indentification of suspects and their vehicles.
In order to ensure high quality surveillance footage, it is important to remember that the cameras must have at least 500 lines of resolution. Also, the surveillance system DVR must be able to record at that quality level. It won’t do your client any good to have high quality cameras if the DVR is unable to record the footage at the highest quality as well.
In order to ensure the best image quality possible, it is essential to make sure that you select the right camera for your client’s needs.
Do Fake Surveillance Cameras Work?
Let’s start with the facts: Quality surveillance systems can be quite an investment for a small business or home owner. However, there is a tempting way for potential clients to save money. Fake cameras are cheap, easy to install and they can look impressive to the untrained eye. Are they a viable option for your client? No, and let me explain why.
One of the main arguments in favor of fake cameras is that surveillance cameras are mainly there for prevention of crime. In theory, fake cameras should be just as effective as the real ones.
The first major flaw with this argument is that a surveillance system is not just about prevention. It is about prosecution if a crime does occur. Prevention is great but when push comes to shove, the fake cameras are not going to be there for your client. I like to compare it to buying car insurance. Sure, buying cheap, barebones insurance will save money in the short term but what if there is an accident? Too bad. Installing fake cameras means that the client is betting on no crime ever occuring in their home or business.
The second flaw in the prevention argument is that fake cameras can look, well, fake. To the home owner or business owner they may look pretty good. To the trained eye of a security professional and, sadly, some criminals, the dummy cameras are painfully obvious.
In many cases, fake cameras are really nothing more than a placebo for the business owner. I am reminded of an acquaintance who was the owner of a small retail business. Inventory shrink was a problem since she sold many small, expensive items. To prevent shoplifting, she installed some dummy cameras and put the more expensive items in a locked display case. The expensive items in the case were safe but the rest of the items in the store continued to be stolen at the same rate as before. However, the business owner bragged about how effective her dummy cameras were because her most expensive items were untouched. The locked display case, by the way, was given no credit at all.
Of course, I realize that cameras from name brand companies like IC Realtime cost a bit more than their ersatz cousins. However, a real surveillance system also means that the client is able to determine if something untoward has taken place, offer prosecutable images to law enforcement and have a real record of any criminal activity in their home or business.
I wish I could say that there was a bargain basement answer to surveillance systems. The simple fact is you get what you pay for. Check out our article on how much a surveillance system should cost. And always remember that the real thing is always the best choice.
How much should a surveillance system cost?
How much should a surveillance system cost?
The question is a common one. How much should a quality video surveillance system cost? Customers in search of a new system can be surprised when they hear the actual answer. A quality system — quality being the core word – should usually run around $700 to $1000 per camera with installation and a digital video recorder.
For a four camera system the price should be around $2800 on the low side, and on the high-end of the scale around $4000. That range from $2800-$4000 represents the variable differences between the level of surveillance cameras you wish to use. Some surveillance cameras have night vision, vari-focal lenses, on-board computers, and such features which can add to the price and functionality of the system.
A four channel digital video recorder or DVR should cost around $800 if we separate it out from the system price, and an eight channel digital video recorder should cost around $1600. These DVRs (as we call them in the business) are actually dedicated surveillance computers which record the activity on your security cameras. Therefore, when you are buying a system, make sure the digital video recorder computer is a quality machine as well.
Now you may wonder, how would you know if it is a quality system or not — an excellent question. Essentially you can identify the DVRs pedigree by finding out how long it has been on the market. if a DVR has been around for more than a year and half, you are buying an old closeout system. Trust me here, you do not want to buy old technology. Do not be afraid to google the system before you buy and do some research about it.
The other important factor to examine about a digital video recorders is the compression scheme it is using to record its video. Compression scheme? Yep. I know it’s a fancy word, but it is actually very important. Compression is what the surveillance computer is using to record your pictures onto its hard drive system — the latest compression scheme is H.264. If you are being sold an old MPEG or JPEG based DVR, walk away. H.264 represents the cutting edge in today’s surveillance technology and will make the difference between blurry pictures and razor sharp definition.
Image quality can make all the difference. In the end, the video system is there to help the police nab the bad guy, and if your video quality is poor because you went for a “deal,” your video will not accomplish its purpose. The bad guys will get away, and you will be sitting there wishing you had spent more money on your video surveillance system. On the other hand, if you spend your dollars wisely on a quality DVR and cameras, the police will praise your foresight and reward you with attention. Ultimately because you are giving them sharp and clear video images the police will be motivated to search for the bad guys, because now they have evidence in hand and can make the crime stick.
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