Businesses find comfort and an extra layer of protection against intruders, equipment and data theft, and burglary with video surveillance systems. A business surveillance system offers more than mere security, enabling the tracking of materials and staff, ensuring the safety of employees and clients, securing data, and boosting business productivity.
Whether addressing existing safety concerns or proactively aiming to enhance safety, integrating a video surveillance system for your business elevates your business’s security, efficiency, and credibility, fostering a safer and more productive environment.
Nevertheless, knowing how to choose a video surveillance system for your business is just as important as the system itself. If you installed a surveillance system that doesn’t suit your business, you may not make the most out of this important security system.
How to Choose a Video Surveillance System for Your Business Establishment
Video surveillance systems are advancing quickly, flooding the market with various security systems. Picking the right one for your business from the long list of products can be complicated. That’s where we can help. We’ve researched for you and compiled a list of points to remember when selecting the ideal video surveillance system for your business.
1. Camera Field of View
Consider the size of the area you want to monitor before getting a video surveillance system for your business. This helps determine the number of cameras and the resolution you need. Choose cameras with a wider field of view for better horizontal coverage. If a camera captures a broader angle, it covers a larger area.
A camera with at least 4 MP resolution is suitable for your business. At this resolution, images of people and objects remain clear once you zoom in and out of the frame.
2. Type of Camera
With so many cameras and surveillance systems out there, choosing can be confusing. The usual video surveillance cameras you find are bullet, thermal, dome, and pan-tilt-zoom. It’s important to consider when picking the right one for your needs. There is also the choice between analog and IP cameras. Analog cameras require a digital video recorder (DVR) because they cannot process video. Instead, the camera captures and streams the video footage — all those individual images — as analog signals through a coaxial cable to the DVR, which encodes it for storage.
On the other hand, IP cameras capture data in digital format. Therefore, IP cameras require a network video recorder (NVR), which only works with digital footage. With IP cameras, the video is encoded at the camera and then streamed to the NVR. Therefore, this type of system uses the NVR for storage and remote viewing, not processing.
What’s The Difference Between IP Cameras And Analog Cameras?
Let’s take a quick look at how HD analog cameras compare with IP cameras:
Max Resolution
IP cameras continue to advance in this department with 4K and 8K cameras. HD analog cameras, however, are progressing as well. Many manufacturers now offer 2MP and 4MP analog cameras, leaving the more traditional NTSC and PAL standards behind.
Cabling
As noted, HD analog cameras use coaxial cabling, making them a popular choice for customers who don’t want to replace their analog infrastructure. Coax cabling has a long reach and can run over 500 meters during installation.
On the other hand, IP cameras run on CAT 5/6 cabling and are limited to a maximum of approximately 100 meters. After that, you’ll experience signal loss, which can compromise your video.
Setup
HD analog cameras are essentially plug-and-play devices – they don’t require any network configurations or setting adjustments that IP cameras do. From this perspective, they are easier to set up than IP cameras.
Analytics
Analytics like people counting, dwell time, and queue length measurement can be embedded in IP cameras for customers who want to gather business intelligence. Customers using HD analog cameras face limited choices regarding analytics at the edge.
Still, they should be able to use basic analytics like motion detection and camera tampering as long as those analytics are supported on their network video recorder (NVR). This, however, could evolve, and we could start to see more advanced analytics become available in HD analog encoders and recorders.
Currently, in an HD analog deployment, all the processing power you would normally find in an IP camera resides at the NVR or encoder side, so alarms and events must all be managed and controlled by the recorder or encoder. For this reason, you’ll want to ensure your customers invest in a very reliable, high-quality recorder if they proceed with an HD analog deployment.
Price
In simple terms, HD analog cams cost less than IP cams. Naturally, the price varies based on your cam choice and its functions. As stated above, many newer HD analog cameras offer more advanced features, so the price will climb depending on your purchase.
Camera Storage
Most IP cameras offer onboard storage through SD cards for added redundancy in a network outage. Video storage is not available at the camera level with HD analog cameras.
Maintenance and Security
Cybersecurity is a major concern for businesses today, particularly when choosing a new security system.
High-definition analog cameras provide increased security because they operate on a closed circuit without an IP address. In contrast, IP cameras can be directly accessed online, rendering them more prone to security vulnerabilities.
While there will always be some level of risk when using IP cameras, there are steps you can take to harden your IP devices against attacks. I always recommend using strong passwords and firewalls and keeping camera firmware current.
HD analog cameras don’t require firmware updates since the camera has no software. From that perspective, they’re easier to maintain than IP cameras, especially if you have a large deployment.
3. Indoor and Outdoor Use
When setting up cameras, whether inside or outside, it’s crucial to consider the location before picking a camera. Use cameras that can handle tough outdoor conditions if the camera is outdoors. Opt for a system that can endure vibrations without affecting the footage’s quality.
4. Motion Detection and Analytics
A usual part of the video security setup for your business is spotting movement. The more advanced security system editions also have features for analyzing data. The analysis features recognize people (men, women, and kids), vehicles (trucks, cars, SUVs, and more), specific incidents like fights or vandalism, vehicle actions, and more.
In the advanced version of the security setup, each incident triggers a related action, like calling the cops or sending notifications to your phone. While these are typically found in certain video security systems, they’ll soon be widely used.
5. Night Vision
Night vision is a handy feature in a video surveillance setup for your business. Businesses are more at risk when fewer people are present, making it important to discourage crimes. A surveillance system can monitor your business beyond regular hours and alert you during low-visibility periods.
6. Storage Capacity
One aspect of your business surveillance system is watching, while the other is preventing and collecting evidence. As you’ll be running the system 24/7, having enough space to store the recorded footage is crucial. Consider investing in a camera system with a higher capacity to store several months’ worth of footage for review if necessary.
Consider surveillance systems with cloud storage alongside physical storage capability. This allows accessing stored footage remotely and conducting analysis. Cloud storage subscription fees may differ among providers, constituting a notable investment.
7. Wireless or Wired
Businesses commonly choose wired surveillance systems for speed, reliable technology, and adaptability to specific business needs. Wireless cameras are ideal for indoor and residential use. However, wireless is acceptable if wires compromise your business’s aesthetic.
Do you need reliable security systems that will keep your property and business establishment protected? We at Down to Earth Technology are a well-known video surveillance system provider with years of expertise and experience providing security solutions to businesses and residences. Contact our experts today if you need help selecting the right surveillance system.
