Technological headway in video surveillance and monitoring has made it easier to protect your offices, businesses or personal properties.
An increasing number of people are now opting for some kind of security camera systems, which are available in a wide range, tailored to your needs and budget. One can ease his mind off the perpetual fear of theft and unusual activities in and around the premises by making an imperative decision of picking the right kind of security cameras and attaining the freedom of viewing the videos both on CCTV cameras of the building and away on your PC or phone.
But how do you ensure what is the right choice of security camera for you?
Investing in a surveillance system is an important decision, and you might want to base your judgment on the following questions.
Am I going to place it indoor or outdoor?
A lot of contrasting factors come into play when deciding whether to put a camera indoor or outdoor. You might want to consider a more robust design with inbuilt heater for variable weather conditions of outdoor.
For indoor cameras, your focus should be on lighting conditions, amount of humidity, dust and smoke. For less bright places, look for the light sensitivity rating of the camera.
While most outdoor cameras can easily be used indoors too, the opposite is somewhat not convenient.
Do I want the cameras to be hidden or visually apparent?
This mostly depends on what is the purpose of your surveillance. If you want to clearly remind people that they are being scrutinized and cut the chances of robbery and bizarre activities, Box cameras will do the work.
To use under concealment, dome cameras are best owing to their compact size and shape. If your concerned area is highly important or if you want to closely monitor somebody, Pan Tilt Zoom (PTZ) is one of the ideal picks.
How much area and details I need covered?
The size of the area you need covered will determine the resolution of the camera and network system that you require.
A rough estimate of the floor in scale can help you determine the number and type of camera needed. A PTZ camera with its wide angle view of up to 112 degrees allows you to supervise large areas. On the other hand, a static camera will be sufficient for a small space or an office.
Is expandability important to me?
Scalability and flexibility is often an important guiding factor in choosing security cameras. If you wish to add more cameras to your systems in the coming time than traditional hardwired, closed circuit systems will certainly cause a hindrance.
Although they send more stable and secure video signals via a cable but wouldn’t allow you to grow your surveillance system.
In contrast to this, wireless security cameras provide an advantage of placing the camera anywhere and adding up more cameras without having to deal with the existing cable runs.
Do I want the audio of the video too?
While most security cameras lack the option of audio recording, there are a few manufacturers that have allowed it in their cameras.
They come with either of the two options; a built-in microphone or an audio input connector to connect additional microphone. These cameras are mostly used after consent of the concerned parties. Some cameras also permit two way conversations between the person watching the camera and the one on the receiving end of the video.
For the purpose of surveillance, some cameras are prompted to initiate recording when a determined acoustic threshold is crossed, making it one the most desirable features of a good security system.
How do I plan to view it?
What you really need to resolve here is whether you want to view the footage on premises i.e. in the office or home or you want to be able to have a remote view too?
In most circumstances, CCTV monitors work just fine but there might be instances where you want to keep an eye of things from remote areas. This is where you need internet cameras or network cameras. These internet enabled cameras can be easily connected to your computer and smartphone, giving you peace of mind wherever you are.
Various surveillance mobile application systems have now made it considerably easy to keep a check on everything, everywhere and all the time on the screens of your mobile phone. Night Owl HD is one such renowned application that uses the internet to link your DVR security system to your mobile device.
You can also get its connection on your laptop, whether on windows or apple for convenient viewing of your security cameras.
This application has one of the best features of having saved videos in case you missed something. You can simply watch it later in saved videos with options to play, pause, forward, rewind and even take a screenshot.
