Video surveillance is a big part of any business’s security system. It helps deter theft and other crimes from happening, as well as being able to provide proof if an incident does occur. It also helps to identify perpetrators of crimes once they have occurred. This blog post will outline the five steps you need to take for installing your video surveillance system so that it can be most effective.
- Assess the purpose of installing the system
The first step is to establish the nature and extent of your security problems. This ensures that you are analyzing all possible risks before deciding on a system for solving them.
Clear identification of the aims of video surveillance builds a reference system within the organization that can prove to be very helpful in the future. Defining each camera or equipment’s purpose and aligning it with the overall goal of the surveillance system will help ensure that you have a structure in place before the installation of the equipment.
- Build your video surveillance system
Once the issues to be addressed are assessed, the system must be designed. This entails figuring out what kind of equipment is to be used for surveillance, and where the cameras and sensors must be located for optimal security. If you plan to set it up for a small location like a house or a home office, designing the system yourself may be a viable option.
For businesses, however, the best way to go is to opt for a professional service provider who can analyze the requirements and suggest the best video surveillance system. There are several organizations that specialize in providing physical security consulting services that are customizable for every business. These providers have the capabilities to determine the system type, the composition of the equipment, the locations for the cameras and perform calculations for the installation and adjustment of the equipment. In other words, they can act as saviors for your organization!
- Install the required equipment
With the preliminary construction of the system done, the next step is to place the equipment in their selected locations throughout the building. This can either be done yourself, which could take a few hours. During this process, it would be best to cordon off the area so that all cameras are correctly positioned.
Businesses opting for professional help must allow them to take care of this process. Security service providers are adept at assessing which equipment is optimal and installing the necessary gadgets proficiently. These may include cameras, video management systems, network video recorders, video analytics software, and more.
- Decide how the surveillance will be monitored
It is crucial that the organization knows how and when they will be monitored. The next step deals with this question, as it may need to occur during operating hours or there might also be a 24-hour monitoring requirement for higher risk periods/days of the week like Monday through Thursday where many internal security breaches can happen without being noticed by users until much later on.
There are different types of monitoring and recording from which the organization can decide what to opt for.
- Active: Workers specifically assigned to manage ongoing surveillance of key areas or activities
- Passive: Workers are responsible for other activities, but are also given the duty of monitoring from time to time
- Record-Only: Surveillance records are stored until they are needed for incident review
- Non-recorded: Surveillance is not recorded
Video surveillance systems need to be carefully planned before the selection and positioning of the relevant equipment. While monitoring can occur remotely it is best if the operator gets up close and personal with all cameras in case anything goes wrong, or you want extra eyes on an area of the property that needs more attention than one camera could provide alone. These systems have a limited capacity to store recordings, so the storage is kept for a limited period before being overwritten. The total storage requirement for a video recorder should be estimated before installation so that a hard drive of sufficient capacity can be specified. The system should also have a suitable export facility to store files in another device.
- Determine how the equipment will be maintained
The fifth step is one of the most overlooked parts of this whole process. Most organizations pay attention to setting up the system but forget the maintenance of the system. Once all equipment is up and running, it is crucial to have plans for its on-going support and upkeep. In case something breaks down or under performs, measures should be in place to alert the relevant operators to assess and troubleshoot the underlying problem. Besides this, regular checks must be incorporated into the surveillance plan as a practice to prevent issues from arising unexpectedly.
Final Thoughts
The video surveillance system that you implement is one of the most important parts of your security plan. You can’t just build a system and leave it to run on its own. We hope this five-step guide helps you navigate through this process so you can build and run the most effective system to mitigate threats to the operation of your business.
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