STOP…Free Guide
The 5 Things You Must Know Before You Even Think About Installing CCTV In Your Facility… Overview:
This guide will provide you with a no-nonsense approach to selecting the right equipment and more importantly the right company to partner with for the installation of CCTV and other electronic security services and a few “pitfalls” to avoid that cost you un-necessary dollars!
In the past few years the use & need for electronic security particularly CCTV security surveillance systems has increased, whether for your home or your business CCTV technologies have been proven a reliable way to increase security. The problem for consumers when selecting one of today’s DVR CCTV systems is not having the proper information and knowledge. But let’s face it; you’re not the security expert; your busy running your business or managing your hotel on a day to day basis. So when you’re unfamiliar with the latest equipment and how its features may benefit your particular situation, it’s easy to not get what you need. Sadly, you won’t really know until it’s too late, and that’s not the time to find out!
1. Knowing Your Needs: Most importantly have an understanding of what the issues are that are leading to your decision to install a CCTV system. (External vandalism, internal theft, mandatory client requirements, general preventative measures, etc.). Sighting some key areas to be covered along with storage requirements for captured video will no doubt assist the security professional in their planning of your system solution.
2. Selecting the right partner: Notice I said partner and not vendor. There are numerous providers of CCTV services many of which claim the ability to provide equipment and install the systems. A majority of them are “glorified” installers and not trained security professionals. Yes they can run cable and hang cameras but are they really providing a solution or just pushing equipment? The true security professionals like Digital Vision CCTV, approach every installation from a safety and security perspective. On-site surveys should be conducted for every project so as to visually identify points of vulnerability, lighting situations, distances to be covered and paths to be taken for a professional installation. By doing this the provider can glean first-hand knowledge of the client site, any challenges foreseen and also potential areas where he may be able to save the client some budget dollars by leveraging existing infrastructure like cabling!
One of the biggest tricks used by some company’s is to indicate that all of the existing cabling and power supplies need to be replaced. Watch out for this, these guys are just trying to stuff their pockets and rip you off. In most cases where an existing system is already in place and needs to be upgraded, the cabling for the existing cameras is in good working order and by using it the client can save a lot of expense in materials and labor. The company would only have to upgrade the equipment and run cabling only to new camera locations being added which can be a 30-40% savings!
3. Know Exactly the Type of Equipment You’re Getting: A digital video recording (DVR) CCTV surveillance system is only as good as the equipment purchased. That may seem like a simple & obvious statement, but unfortunately, a few will try to save money by taking short cuts or purchasing cut-rate equipment. Sure you can find complete systems at your local discount warehouse for less money, but in more cases than not this equipment will fall short in meeting the client’s expectations nor will it hold up under weather conditions or daily wear and tear of use. Remember these systems run 24/7!
The true security professional will understand the capabilities of the equipment they propose and utilize the right camera for the right situation; be it lighting, distance or elements etc. A “one camera does it all” approach will lead to an unhappy customer! A CCTV camera's quality is measured by TV Lines, which is the number of horizontal TV lines the camera produces, and of course the higher the clearer and better picture. Selecting cameras with a TVL range of 420-600 will offer good quality and performance. Keep in mind that if the camera doesn’t incorporate Infrared technology, it will be useless in a dimly lit or dark area such as a bar or parking lot.
Power surges can decrease the cameras life. An excellent way to avoid this is by purchasing a distributed CCTV power supply. Many installers and CCTV suppliers will sell you a power supply for each camera. This costs less, but it can leave the power cords visible and can easily be unplugged if located next to the camera. When using a distributed CCTV power supply, power to the cameras is centrally located. Each camera is individual fused offering a greater reliability factor when compared to individual transformers.
Also, be wary of accepting a quote that may have the equipment model #’s listed but the per-unit pricing is not. All you see is a grand total for the project and you can’t tell how much anything is including installation and labor. This is a good way for the providing company to “bury” a lot of unnecessary costs into the project. It also makes it increasingly difficult to really do an apple to apples comparison when having to solicit multiple bids. Digital Vision has always provided fully itemized quotes and invoices to its clients so that they know exactly how much each piece of equipment costs. I wouldn’t accept a bundled quote and neither should you!
4. Install DVR’s With Remote Accessibility: Most of the DVR’s on the market today offer the ability to view images remotely via an internet connection. The new H.264 compression carried by the latest models, (an upgrade from the MPEG-4 technology), even allows connection via IPhone and the new smart phones out there. What does this mean for you? Well you now have the ability to review live or recorded video from anywhere to look in on your business when you are not there. There are even functions whereby you can be contacted by the DVR when certain alarms are triggered with email alerts, etc.
Also, keep in mind the amount of storage needed to capture and store images. The new H.264 technology allows for higher compression which means faster and more storage capabilities. The HDD capacity of the CCTV DVR basically means the number of recorded previous days of video that the DVR will keep before recycling. Most CCTV systems by default record video based on motion which means if there is no motion there is no recording because practically it will be a still image rather than video. This allows management & review of incidents to be performed easier since you can isolate dates and times and review small “snippets” of video incidents rather than the entire DB. The motion-detect setting also prolongs the length of the HD storage with most systems capturing almost 30-days of recorded video on a 500GB HD. DVR’s also allow for the addition of bigger hard drives in some cases up to 2 TB. Certainly the amount of cameras running on the system has an impact on how much video is stored. The bigger the hard drive and the amount of total system frame-rate allow for more storage and clarity. The back up and recovery compatibility of CCTV camera systems give you the ability to back up a desired video period either on CD-R, DVD-R or USB storage including USB flash.
5. Invest in Service Plans: Once you have made your decision to install a CCTV system at your facility look at protecting your investment post installation with an on-site service and warranty plan. This goes back to the beginning of how you selected the CCTV partner for your project. Were they selected because they had the lowest price? What is their service record and can you get good feedback from their existing clients on how the installation went but more importantly how did they perform on delivering service after the project was completed? Let’s face it, even with the most expensive and sophisticated equipment from time to time things happen and performance is compromised.
Did the installer stand behind their work and equipment and were they responsive in a timely manner to service calls? All of the equipment is usually covered by the manufactures from anywhere from 1-3 years depending on what brands are used. Some of the bigger name brands like Honeywell & Pelco offer 3 yr warranties but keep in mind that their equipment is sometimes 1 ½ to 2 ½ times more expensive than other brands with equal specifications. Also, there are very few manufacturers if any that cover equipment failure due to lightning strikes or other acts of nature. What is also not covered is the local labor costs associated with on-site visits to troubleshoot and repair systems. This is where you can purchase an on-site service plan from your partner if they offer one that covers such activities. The Digital Vision plan even offers preventative maintenance and on-going training of the systems as needed. There is even an additional option that offers complete equipment replacement for out of warranty items and acts of nature.
Remember, cutting corners and saving a few bucks may seem reasonable at the time, yet in the end, it may windup costing you a lot more.
Next Steps:
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Because each CCTV situation has distinctive requirements, you should contact one of our trained security professionals to help with your actual conditions I promise this will not be a sales pitch, just a way for you to ask me questions and get them answered...
