1. Place cameras appropriately for the viewing area

Always place the cameras where they will be able to view the space you intend them to survey. Placing them at the corners of your buildings, for example, may further create blind spots and limit your cameras’ views.

2. Consider your lighting

Make sure the area to be under surveillance has consistent and sufficient lighting for the camera to be able to pick up identifying details, such as facial features. If you don’t have adequate lighting, then consider using a night-vision-capable CCTV camera.

3. Place CCTV cameras to monitor hidden entry points

Burglars typically use back windows, back doors, and basement windows and doors to break into buildings. These areas should be visible from your cameras.

4. Watch the front door

Burglars also use the front door to make entry, so install a camera to watch that area too, and also any incidents of mail or package theft.

5. Protect or hide your cables

Cables that are easily accessible should not be left exposed because they can be easily severed. A professional security camera installer will further hide the cable in the conduit. Further protecting it or at least making it more difficult to access.

6. Install only outdoor surveillance cameras outdoors

Don’t place indoor cameras outside. Leaving your camera out in the rain will expose it to moisture, bugs, and other factors. Further resulting in problems with moisture, condensation, insect nests, and so on, and the resulting reduced image quality, if you get any image at all.

7. Stick with wired security cameras

Unless you’ve got a large budget, don’t install a wireless camera system as a commercial grade of this variety can be quite expensive. Besides, the whole idea of video surveillance is to increase security. While wireless technology is better than it used to be, it is still more “hackable” than a wired camera system. Further consider your video management, retrieval, and storage CCTV cameras gather information. You need some place to send the data and a way to retrieve it. Will the data go into hard-drive storage or cloud storage? Do you have enough space to hold all the data? How will you retrieve the data should a burglary happen and you need to give the police a video file? These are important considerations you must make as you plan for your CCTV surveillance program.

8. Hire only a professional, reputable security camera installer

Don’t go for cheap when looking to hire an installer. Go for expertise. Go for established. When you do find an installer, ask for his license. Many states require CCTV installers to carry licenses. Generally, if you’re looking at installing a video surveillance system for your business location, do your homework first. Ask yourself why you think you need cameras and answer that. Determine what you want out of the system. Specifically, what is it you want to see? Armed with the above tips and those answers, you should be well on the road to determining what your security camera system should look like. Precision Tech is a state-licensed video surveillance provider. If you have any questions about video surveillance or other business technology, give us a call at 732-391-6401.