How remote monitored CCTV can save you money

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Remote monitored CCTV.

Do you use security guards? Many companies feel they have no alternative. Security guards are an excellent deterrent, they can do other jobs to , secure a premises and respond to all sorts of incidents that may occur on a secure site after hours. There is a drawback though, they cost a lot of money. At £7 per hour upwards its an expensive luxury but of course no site can realistically be left unsecured. So whats the alternative?

monitored CCTV solution
monitored CCTV

Monitored CCTV is something that has improved leaps and bounds in the last few years. The arrival of fast reliable broadband means that at a significantly lower cost, monitored CCTV can replace security guards and offer even greater deterrent value. Using strategically placed sensors and fixed beams a quality picture of an intrusion onto a secure site can be seen and acted upon by a remote central station. They are then able to offer a verbal warning or dispatch a key-holder to site to act upon reliable information to stop any losses. We recently talked about the Predator camera from 360 vision that is also able to operate a spot light to follow and deter intruders.Imagine a search light following the intruder around site, operated by a remote CCTV central station ,What deterrent value! Its only the most determined criminal that would hang around and this is the sort of person that could seek to harm a security guard anyway.

predator CCTV camera with a spotlight
Predator Camera

So what does remote CCTV monitoring cost? Well for a closed site (not a garage forecourt) you would probably expect to pay around £3k per annum for anything up to 6 CCTV cameras. To install this type of system is hard to quantify, it is always site specific, but lets say around £20k will cover most scenarios. Work this back and see what a guard costs and lets not forget , will always cost and you can see that within a year or so the CCTV system will pay for itself. Add to this the benefit that it will be able to offer health and safety and site management during the day and pretty soon it becomes clear that monitored CCTV is a pretty good way forward when looking to cut costs and ensure site security. So when you next get your guarding bill through have a think what monitored CCTV might be able to do for you………..its very easy now to see monitored CCTV as the way forward!

CCTV site survey

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So why is a CCTV site survey so important? Well quite simply its crucial to any successful CCTV installation. We know this, but so many companies think they can save money by going on line and shopping for their CCTV at  Maplins then hiring any old sparky to then put it on the wall. Not in every case but in many, this turns out to be a an expensive mistake.

Cheap CCTV

For instance does the person ordering up his kit on line know before they buy, exactly what view they will get from the camera? How lighting conditions will affect the picture? What sort of recording length and quality will be achieved? By employing a professional company with expertise and knowledge all these questions will be answered prior to the installation. Perhaps one of the most important things though is what sort of quality and longevity will be achieved by a DIY CCTV system?

Most DIY companies fail to really analyze before they plan an installation what they are actually trying to achieve and this is always the key to success. When a CCTV site survey is carried out there is so much to consider. How will the brackets be fixed? Where will the cable be run and will their be any induced interference from machinery?Do you need a day/night camera? What lens size are you going to fit? Does it need to be IP65 rated? How will you access the camera to service it? In fact who will service it when it goes wrong?

So if you are considering a CCTV installation,don’t rush out and buy the cheapest cameras that you can find on the Internet, we know that within a few months you will have a system that is hardly working , if at all and when you really need it,will the DVR actually be recording?? Seen it so many times with CCTV………………….. buy cheap, buy twice!

Do you get what YOU want? – Manufacturers and Distributors beware

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CCTV smoke and mirrors.

Speak to any CCTV manufacturer and they will always advise you use their product – why? Because they think it is the best…..they have no commercial reason to think otherwise

Speak to a CCTV Distributor, and they will always recommend ‘this weeks flavour’ – often incentivised by the aforementioned Manufacturers….

cctv poor image

So how is the installer and/or end user getting what they want?

megapixel cctv image

It has even started to filter down to the installer – ‘buy this OEM XYZ unit and we will give you an additional 5% retro discount’…….

Quickly we can see that the industry, and what is being installed, is dictated by what is the most flavourable or discountable or most cash returnable

How about being a bit radical – let’s call an amnesty on CCTV bribery – putting it simply, let’s ACTUALLY install the right product for the application

Sales Reps – get your act in order

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Sales rep works for XYZ company – ‘you don’t want to buy that ABC product, it’s not as good as mine’…………then a couple of months later……’actually, I saw the light, it was better than mine so I joined them’………just how many times can a Sales Rep say that before the customer turns and says ‘are you ever going to stay in one place longer than 5 minutes’

cctv sales

These guys are representatives – employers pay thousands in vehicles, pensions, mobile communications/computers etc to employ these guys to go out and professionally promote their products and grow their business…………whereas these ‘Representatives’ have probably got their eye on the next job that offers the slightly better car allowance/pension/commission/smartphone (delete as appropriate)

A more interesting slant has been the recent rise in the US idea of a ‘Manufacturers Rep’……… a self employed guy, who represents, as an ‘agent’, several non-conflicting manufacturers………of course, the stigma of moving to another ‘manufacturer line’ is lessened because the agent is self employed and therefore simply selecting the best product line or latest tech for his customer base…….

CCTV camera
CCTV camera kit

might stop the ‘oh, who are you working for this week then’ attitude that is sweeping the industry – I’m fed up of LinkedIn constantly updating my contact list

DVRs – good value or commodity throw aways?

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DVRs at IFSEC.

Ok, so I had an outburst about IFSEC..…. a bit harsh perhaps, but I get annoyed ……..in particular, the quantity of ‘Number 1 DVR manufacturer’ there are populating our market.

cheap dvr

But, and this is a big but, are we heading towards a scenario whereby the ‘historically’ most expensive part of the CCTV System is now considered as a commodity product? A throw away product?

In the consumer market, flat screen LCD TV’s were over £1000 NOT VERY LONG AGO……….yet now, go to a supermarket and check out a 32 or 37″ Full HD TV……sub £400 !!!!!!

With DVRs regularly priced at under £200 (without detailing quality/spec etc here) that is less than some of the cameras being used on the system!

Mind boggling to think that THE most important part of the system – you know, the bit that will play back the image of the baddie breaking in – is now considered with such little respect as to install the cheapest possible unit that can be found.

Imagine you had a Ferrari, but felt aggrieved at replacing the engine with a Ferrari unit, instead, fit it with a XYZ from the Far East – sure, it will still drive, but for how long? and with what quality? and do you actually care when it is a fraction of the price of the Ferrari?

Personally, I am amazed that SO many people entrust their installed systems on DVRs that quite frankly are here today, gone tomorrow – and leaving the playback availability to a game of chance…….

AND…….end users……..you paid for it, USE IT…….because the law according to Murphy says you’ll only know you have a problem when you damn well want to play back an incident!

Cheap DVR’s are they worth it?