What type of CCTV system is best for business?

Whether your business is a farm, a corner shop or an engineering manufacturer, having a well-designed, professionally-installed and reliable CCTV system in place is important to ensure the security of your business’s physical assets and people.
For farmers and landowners looking to protect your livestock and crops, a modern CCTV system can let you know, from anywhere in the world, who’s on your farm or land at any time of the day or night and provide evidence of any incident.

For business owners and managers with premises to protect, a well-designed CCTV system will deter intruders, protect against employee crime, increase their safety and confidence and deter or help catch shoplifters.

 

10 things to consider

To ensure the system you buy meets all your needs as best as possible, here are the questions you need to consider before approaching a professional installer with the specification you have in mind:

 

1. Will the security cameras be indoors or outside?

While most cameras are suitable for both environments, it’s important to think about where they’ll be mounted and any housing required to protect them.
If the camera is to be used in a cold environment, like a food processing unit, you need to have one which is durable and has an inbuilt heater.
Other environmental factors to take into account include the weather conditions the camera is likely to encounter, any nearby vibration from equipment and dust or heat from industrial equipment.

2. Do you want the cameras to act as a visual deterrent or be hidden?

The location, what you need to monitor and for what will help decide whether you should have visible or concealed cameras.
Larger cameras remind people they’re being monitored, reducing the chance of theft. Smaller dome-shaped cameras are more discrete. Pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) cameras are a good choice if you want to be able to follow subjects and cover a large area.

3. How big is the area you want to monitor?

This is an important factor in camera choice. PTZ cameras are best for larger areas as they’re generally more powerful, with the ability to view a wide area and zoom in on specific activity. Using PTZ cameras can also reduce the number of cameras needed, reducing overall cost while capturing high-quality images.
Conversely, static cameras are usually sufficient for smaller areas.

4. Do you need audio capability?

Having audio capability in your CCTV system makes it possible for your security team to hear and speak with possible intruders.
Sound can also be used as an independent activity detection method - triggering recording and alarms when the sound level passes a pre-set threshold.

5. How much detail does the video need to show?

The resolution of camera output you need is determined by the area you want to cover and why.
So if you want to monitor retail premises for potential shoplifting, having a high-quality recording for identification purposes in the event of a prosecution is vital. For areas like offices, low-resolution cameras may be more appropriate, partly for reasons of privacy.
Assessing each area you want to cover individually will also be more cost effective – ensuring you only have more expensive cameras where you need them.

6. How will natural and artificial light in the area affect the CCTV recording?

It’s important to take lighting conditions into account when deciding on camera locations, especially with outdoor cameras. The variations in daylight during the darker months of the year can affect the optimal placement for your cameras.
Other lighting factors to consider include background glare from security lighting, sun or light reflected from windows facing the camera and special lighting, such as strobes in nightclubs.
Many cameras now use Infrared (IR) filters and artificial illuminators to ensure clear images day and night.

7. Will you want or need to travel to view resulting footage?

Are you based close to the site being monitored or would you need to travel far to view any footage recorded? Being able to access your CCTV system from any location in the world is handy if you’re not close by or have multiple sites to be covered.

8. Will you need to add more cameras in the future?

If you think your camera coverage needs may change in the future, you should be looking to specify a flexible and scalable surveillance system.
Traditional CCTV systems are ‘closed circuit’ - meaning everything is hard-wired and tricky to alter later.
IP (Internet Protocol) cameras connect over a wireless network and allow you to easily scale your system as your requirements change by adding new IP cameras - a simple and quick job.

9. Do you want to use cameras to gain customer data and insights?

CCTV systems using the right type of cameras in the right places can improve business profitability and the customer experience and for retailers by providing data and customer insights.
Understanding customers’ journeys throughout your store, which promotions they engage with and using facial recognition to determine the age and gender of customers can all provide significant benefits.

10. Will you need a Video Management System (VMS)?

If you plan to constantly monitor video footage, an effective VMS system is vital given that the average amount of time someone can focus on video footage effectively is only 20 minutes. The in-built analytics of a VMS will alert you to any suspicious activity.

Built-in motion detection and intelligent algorithms can also provide actionable intelligence, such as the total number of people entering a shop at each time of day - which you can compare with sales to generate time-based conversion rates and find out the best times of day for running promotions.

Get in touch

Fraser Fire & Security designs CCTV systems from scratch using the latest technology and best equipment tailored to the needs of businesses across Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Moray and Inverness. We specialise in bespoke CCTV Systems for farms .All our systems come with a warranty. For more information get in touch.