At first glance, many believe that a video
surveillance system is only a big investment. Whether in time, money or hassle,
installing such a system can be costly since each parameter must be carefully
studied. The position of the cameras must be perfect, in correspondence with a
suitable housing, etc. Approaching video surveillance from this angle is
discouraging for some, who unfortunately pay for it during a burglary and
regret their choice. The more favorable but above all more realistic angle
necessary to adopt video surveillance is however that of the savings of all
types that your video surveillance system will make you make. Here are some
examples of earning money through a video surveillance system:
Savings on the price of insurance
Your home is unprotected, insurance companies see
it as a great risk of having to provide for your needs in the event of burglary
or theft. These must be irreproachable in the event of a disaster of this type,
your contribution will be much more expensive without a video surveillance
system, than if you have a system that will greatly reduce the risk that your
house will be visited, and therefore that insurance has to pay to compensate
you.
Protection against scams
CCTV is not just a bulwark against burglars. It is
also a system that allows you to multiply the evidence of what you have, what
you do and who is at home. There are many scams among individuals or in stores,
whether through quarrels between neighbors or with customers. A video
surveillance system allows you to avoid unnecessary defense costs that
undermine your daily life too often.
Proof of damage to your home
When you are a homeowner, you often find yourself
facing structural problems with the house, which often appear over time.
Whether it is creaking on the walls due to the clay plate located under your
house, or creaking due to work done opposite, a video surveillance system
allows you to play your images before and after, to rebuild or renovate the
damage found free of charge.
When to install a video surveillance system?
Installing a video surveillance security camera in Chicago is an
operation that must be carefully considered, planned and studied. Your supplier
must have been the subject of research, in particular on its after-sales
service. The type of system and the location of the cameras should also be the
result of testing and research. Once all these steps have been taken, decided
to finally invest in the video surveillance system that is right for your home,
you still have to determine the period during which you wish to install a video
surveillance system. When to set up the cameras and start studying the images?
Not all periods are suitable for installing a video surveillance system. Even
if it’s better to install one at a low recommended time than not at all,
Do not install during winter
Winter is a tough time for video surveillance. The
cold, frost and humidity damage your cameras, which suffer and can be damaged
from the start. In addition, winter is a season during which we naturally go
out less. Newly installed cameras will therefore be mechanically less
inspected.
Do not
install under too mild weather
Installing cameras during a week of good weather is
not ideal. In fact, the light will be particularly good during this period. You
will therefore install your cameras according to this light, which is not very
representative of the light that your cameras will have to face during the rest
of the year. So you can unwittingly install cameras in places where the light
present on darker days is not suitable for your cameras.
Do not
install before a long absence
It can be tempting to decide to install your video
surveillance system just before a vacation period so as not to be disturbed by
the work. However, a video surveillance system installed before an absence will
not be monitored. Thinking that it is in working order and enjoying your vacation,
you may be surprised by a burglary facilitated by a flaw in your system that
you have not detected.
What is a
good video surveillance system?
There are multiple types of CCTV systems all
different from each other. Whether designed for a main home, a second home, a
hospital or even a park, video surveillance systems have characteristics
specific to their uses. These systems, made for a certain use, must remain
confined to their role to remain effective. An excellent video surveillance
system for open spaces will be poor if it comes to monitoring a home for
example. Purchasers of a new video surveillance system thus sometimes make the
mistake of favoring quality, rather than adapting the system to the situation
in question. Here are some objective criteria to determine whether a video
surveillance system is good or bad.
The quality of the cameras
Cameras are undoubtedly the main components of your
video surveillance system. Whether wide-angle or reduced field, a minimum
quality is required for your images to be processed. Especially the reduced
field cameras must be able to identify numbers or letters without difficulty.
A quality
recorder
Cameras would be useless without a recording box
allowing them to save their images. This therefore has all its importance, and
must also obey a minimum quality standard. The higher its storage memory, the
more expensive it will be. This aspect is to be preferred but also pay
attention to its external appearance which determines its robustness. Central
part of your video surveillance system, it must be faultless because if it
stops working, your entire video surveillance system is shut down.
Good after-sales service
An aspect often overlooked by new buyers is that of
after-sales service. Indeed, the quality of a video surveillance system is not
only based on its condition at the time of purchase. Very good quality video
surveillance systems require significant maintenance. A good after-sales
service guarantee is therefore very important, and strongly determines the
satisfaction that you will get from your system.
Diagnose
your video surveillance system
CCTV systems are relatively expensive investments
and require thinking about the many possibilities offered by distributors and
technological progress. These investments can, if made with the help of a
professional and in accordance with the needs of your house and your property,
last for years and amortize your initial expenditure for a long period. A video
surveillance system can, however, when it is badly installed or faulty, become
a money well and problems. Regularly, you must check the operating status of
your video surveillance system, to make sure that it still fulfills the role
that you allocated to it. Here are some checks that will help you in your
diagnosis.
Check the external appearance of your system
The optics of your cameras suffer because it is
subject to the vagaries of the weather and the vagaries of time. Dust projected
by the wind can indeed cloud the lenses, making your images unusable.
Protective cases can also split and therefore, over time, no longer fulfill
their role of protecting your cameras. An inspection of the general condition
of your cameras is therefore the first step in diagnosing your system.
Check the status of your recorder
Your recorder is the centerpiece of your video
surveillance system. Without it, no image recorded by your cameras would be
recorded or therefore used later. So first check its condition, before checking
the registration.
Do a
burglary surveillance simulation
The best way to make sure your video surveillance
system is working is to test it. Identify the sensitive points in your house
that you would like to be sure to protect with your video surveillance system.
Then pass in front of the field of each camera under several different lights
before viewing the images. You will see if your cameras have moved and if their
images record without problem.
