As technology is evolving, video surveillance cameras are becoming more affordable and cost-effective. Be it business or home, people are opting for modern and latest means of surveillance. These modes not only prevent thefts & losses, but also help in monitoring and tracking activities. From observing the customers in a retail outlet to capturing the license plate numbers of the vehicles, they do everything! But, is there anything that you may need to know before you indulge in what is called “surveillance”? Yes! There are seven important points that one must know before investing into this realm.
Here are the ‘Seven essentials of surveillance’:
1) When you are unable to hold the reins, recompense
In surveillance, there are certain things which are past our control and further hinder with the working of these systems, for instance, back light, quivering of camera, changes in light level and low light conditions. Though you can’t control them, but you can compensate their effects by using the camera’s digital image processing feature. Thus, while choosing your surveillance solution, it is very important to hand-pick the right IP camera. The apt IP camera is the one, which is proficient enough to recoup the above mentioned issues.
2) Good to Consult and Surf
Before the final purchase, make sure to do enough market research regarding what you are investing your money into. Most of the consumers are very firm about the price range when they move out to buy a system. What they try to do is save without thinking of what their real needs are. If there is a scope, then it is always good to save money, but not at the cost of performance. Though the budget matters, but the specifications of your equipment matters more. So, just think before you buy! For instance, if you are buying a surveillance system for the identification purpose and it fails to produce usable pictures, then the potential loss would be appalling.
3) Must do Product Testing
Product specifications are acknowledged and while researching for the desired equipment, most of the users seek information from the product specification chart only. Although these spec sheets prove to be quite helpful, there are certain things that are not mentioned on them like ability of the system to capture color in low light conditions, how quickly the camera adapts and stabilizes when scene lightning changes suddenly, how the camera’s noise reduction feature handles the moving subject, etc.
Talking about the information, not all the manufacturers are equally objective. Sometimes, they miss out the small details which might have made a huge difference in your purchase decision. Thus, it is recommended that before buying, do comprehensive market research and also test the product, if possible. Checking out the product physically and testing it yourself will make you more confident of your purchase.
4) All security cameras are not the same
It is very vital for a surveillance system to always work, no matter how challenging the situation is, whether it is snowing or stormy. Moreover, the cameras that can stand (come with strong casings) against illegitimate access, invasion, and vandalism, to a good extent would certainly be the best ones. It is also suggested that you should consider your locality or area before investing in surveillance equipment, so that the outcome is as per your expectations.
5) Transmission quality of the video
During monitoring process, it is pertinent to have good transmission quality. For instance, if you are supervising the authorized access of vehicles to a particular area, then you would need VTQ of higher definition that can handle low light situations compared to the video quality of cameras capturing pedestrian traffic. And, only HD recordings captured by HD cameras can offer that much of fine detailing. Thus, do talk about ‘quality’ while buying a system.
6) Imaging sensor: You can’t record, what you can’t perceive.
There is an image sensor inside the camera that senses and transmits the images. The subject will not exit unless it is captured by the surveillance camera. Hence, it is important for the sensor to capture and record each image that goes across the camera’s field of view for future purposes. These imaging sensors are responsible for the color, frame rate, resolution, and sensitivity of the scene too. Therefore, these gears would certainly play a major role in your buying decision.
7) Redundancy elimination
Most of the security departments face redundancy difficulties. This is because you can’t keep too many guards for security. And, even if you recruit enough of them, still what is the assurance that they will always respond on time and especially, during an emergency?
Redundancy can be eliminated by opting for Smart Surveillance technology that can be operated under the supervision of lesser number of guard(s), who can help in the monitoring process. This will also increase the guard’s response rate to manage the disturbances as they would know where to go and when. By using this setup, you can keep track of the events yourself too. Hence, this is an efficient and better form of enforcing security.
After reading this, I hope you are now aware of the things to be kept in mind while you are thinking of investing in surveillance.
