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What to Look for In A Commercial Video Surveillance System

Are Your Security Cameras Up to Standard?

What to Look for In A Commercial Video Surveillance System

Whether you own a clothing store or an office building, you’ll want to ensure employees, clients and customers feel safe inside your building. With a cash register or merchandise for sale, you are especially vulnerable to theft and will need protection. According to the FBI’s 2017 robbery data, 26.7% of all robberies occurred in a commercial building, including banks, gas stations, convenience stores, and commercial spaces.  

If you haven’t invested in commercial video surveillance, or if you’re unhappy with your current system, your business may become a vulnerable target. Luckily, surveillance technology is more intelligent than ever with plenty of options. You can rest assured that the presence of cameras alone will deter many criminals, and if anything were to happen, the footage can be sent right to the police.

To choose the right security cameras, continue reading to understand what aspects to look to keep your Dallas, TX, business safe.

SEE ALSO: Improving License Plate Capture Technology

Image Quality

To accurately view playback footage, your security cameras should be at least 720p resolution and ideally an IP camera rather than analog. Video essentially stitches images together to create a motion picture, and “frame rate” is used to measure the frequency a snapshot is taken. The lower the frame rate, the less frequently an image is taken. A higher-frame will create a clearer picture, and “real time” is usually measured at 30 frames per second. For better quality, look for at least 30 frames per second.

Camera Model

There are numerous security camera models you have probably seen in stores and offices before. Bullet cameras are small rectangular boxes that usually protrude from corners or exterior walls. Dome cameras are round and typically hang from the ceiling. Pan-tilt-zoom security cameras allow you to adjust the field of vision by remote control. The type of camera you choose depends on your business’ layout and where you will want to place them. A mixture of all three is also possible!

Indoor or Outdoor

Specific cameras are made exclusively for the indoors and won’t function properly outside. Make sure you purchase a weatherproof camera with low-light infrared to record nighttime video. The more infrared LEDs a camera has, the better it will be able to capture images at night. This is especially helpful for cameras at entrances to catch potential late-night break-ins.

Recording and Storage

Image quality is essential, but you’ll need storage to watch video feed! The amount of storage you will require depends on the number of cameras recording, the resolution, and amount of footage you intend to keep. You can schedule recorders to overwrite the oldest footage once you reach capacity, but you’ll need to be careful it doesn’t cover valuable footage.

While you can store feed onto the recorder, you can also save video to the cloud. With a cloud, you’ll have remote access to videos and more storage space. If your hardware is ever damaged or stolen, you’ll still have access to video archives.

There’s a lot to consider when installing a commercial video surveillance system. ASAP Security Services in can find the right solutions for your Dallas, TX, building and install the perfect system for your needs. To get started, call (877) 418-ASAP or fill out our contact form here.

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