CCTV Systems for Your Driveway

As the prices for CCTV systems comes down and the technology available gets better, the number of people choosing to use CCTV systems to help keep their homes secure is increasing at a rapid pace. Among the most common uses for a CCTV system is driveway and home approach surveillance. If you’re looking at CCTV systems for the purpose of increasing your home’s safety, a driveway security camera should be included in your list of considerations and configurations

Why Use a Security Camera in Your Driveway?

In most homes, the driveway is the main approach to the house, but isn’t viewable from every room in the house. Having a view of your driveway allows you to monitor those who are coming to your home. Having a CCTV system monitoring your driveway provides a number of other benefits.

When you have security cameras trained on your driveway, you have more than a view from inside your home. Remote view CCTV systems, for example, allow you or a monitoring company to watch your driveway and house approach from anywhere. The latest technology in security camera systems includes ways to notify you if there is activity in your driveway. You can set up your CCTV system to send a phone message, a text or an email if there is any activity there during hours that you choose to monitor and receive alerts.

In addition, most CCTV systems not only monitor but also record activity. That allows you to go back and review the people who have come and gone while you’re not at home, and, more importantly, provides a visual record if someone vandalizes your property or steals your car. With car break-ins in residential neighborhoods at an all-time high, security camera footage from driveway CCTV systems can be an invaluable aid in capturing thieves.

What You Need for CCTV Systems for Driveway Surveillance

At a minimum, your driveway surveillance system should consist of a PC-based DVR system with a monitor and a single bullet security camera, all of which are available at a reasonable price. In fact, you can easily set up a security camera to monitor your driveway for less than $500 if you shop carefully. At that price, you’ll have a black and white adjustable security camera that you can mount outside your home, and a network enabled security system that you can monitor from anywhere that has an Internet connection.

The modern PC-based DVR CCTV systems are easy to configure so that you can fill all of your security needs. For more information about the capabilities of today’s CCTV systems, contact a dealer of security systems and CCTV cameras with your questions and needs.

CCTV Systems Protect Your Employees

Many employers in the retail and food sector consider installing CCTV systems to monitor the workplace and employee interactions with customers. There have been occasional dustups about the practice in various publications. Some experts allege that such measures – CCTV camera surveillance and security cameras trained on the employees – shows a marked lack of trust in employees and damages employee morale. While there are situations where this is true, there are many good reasons for installing a CCTV system with which your employees can agree and which they will support. If you’ve decided to install security cameras that will be monitoring employees as well as customers, these reasons can help you explain your decision to your staff in a positive light.

CCTV Monitoring Employee-Customer Interaction Protects Employees from False Claims

Everyone’s heard the dictum that the customer is always right, but we all know that it’s not true. More often than not, your employee was in the right and the customer was abusive, combative or just mistaken. A security camera that monitors employee-customer interactions can serve as a final arbiter, proving conclusively when the customer was wrong. Any cashier who has been accused of pocketing cash when a customer complains of being shortchanged should welcome the monitoring.

A CCTV Camera Can Help Weed Out Bad Apples and Reward Excellence

Most employees understand that “shrinkage” affects the entire staff. When the manager or owner suspects that part of the shrinkage is the result of employee theft, everyone is under suspicion. Mounting a CCTV camera can help pinpoint which staff member is responsible and remove the suspicion from everyone else. Even more importantly, CCTV monitoring can help you pinpoint examples of excellent service among your staff so that you can praise and reward it. You can even compile training videos from security tapes to help new employees understand the level of service and professionalism that characterizes your store.

Honesty Can Alleviate Hard Feelings Among Employees

Covert surveillance with hidden security cameras has its place, but secrecy can really damage the employer/employee relationship. Being honest and upfront about your reasons for installing a CCTV system can improve trust rather than damaging it. If everyone knows that someone is stealing from the till, for example, you won’t fool anyone by only speaking of the advantages for employees. Pointing out that the cameras are also there for their own protection certainly won’t hurt, though.

There are many configurations and types of CCTV systems that can serve your purpose. Do your research and find the best security camera system for you.

CCTV Systems and Camera SelectionCamera

The choice of camera and lens are the most important factors when you’re designing CCTV systems for security. Choosing the right lens and camera will ensure that you get the most value from the CCTV camera that you choose. Let’s walk through the most important points in lens and security camera selection to help you design the best CCTV security system for your use.

CCTV Camera Lens Types

CCTV security cameras come in three basic lens types: fixed, varifocus and zoom.

A fixed lens can not be adjusted. It’s best for applications where you only want to survey from one angle and have no need to widen or narrow your viewing angle.

Varifocal lenses are adjusted manually. Generally, you’ll set it and leave it at that setting. The range of length is usually fairly narrow, and will vary widely depending on the security camera manufacturer. Generally, you’ll find lenses in ranges from about 2mm to 50mm.

Zoom lenses can be adjusted through the CCTV security system as you view the output on a monitor. You’ll generally find zoom lenses on Pan, Tilt and Zoom (PTZ) CCTV systems. To determine the size lens you need, you’ll need to know the width of the scene you want to observe and the distance from the camera to the scene. The basic calculation to decide the lens length is:

distance/width * 4.8 = focal length

In addition to focal length, your security camera will have any number of other adjustable settings, including back light compensation, auto iris, electronic shutter, automatic white balance and many others. Before you choose cameras for your CCTV systems, get to know what the settings do and decide which are important to you so that you can be sure to get a security camera that fits your needs.

CCTV System Information

Another one of the key differences among CCTV security system types is the way that the camera connects. Analog security camera CCTV systems are usually connected to the monitor by coax cable or another type of wire. For decades, analog systems were state of the art – and your only real choice. While they deliver high quality picture with no concerns about interruptions, they also require hard installation, generally by a professional who can run the wires. Once the cameras are installed, you ability to reposition them is very limited.

The more popular option today is an IP camera. An IP CCTV camera connects on a network, just as a PC or printer does. This provides a great deal of flexibility in positioning, because the cameras don’t have to be connected to the system by a wire.

Those are the absolute basic things you need to know when choosing among the many CCTV systems available. The more research you do, though, the better and more informed choice you can make and the better your choice will be for your needs.

CCTV Systems for Retail Security

Any retail business owner understands the problems of loss and shrinkage. Losses due to shoplifting, employee theft and employee mishandling can put a major dent in your bottom line.  Some retailers report losing up to 10 percent of their profits to shrinkage. While many retailers put the losses down to the cost of doing business, savvy business owners understand that CCTV systems and other security measures can shrink the shrinkage.

How CCTV Systems Improve Store Security

There are obvious benefits to using a CCTV system to help manage security in your store, as well as a few that are not as clear cut. If you’re deciding whether to install a surveillance camera in your retail space, these are a few of the considerations you should be taking into account.

In general, you have to count on your eyes and the eyes of your clerks to spot shoplifters, but there are often corners and out of the way spots that you can’t see at all times. A properly positioned CCTV camera puts eyes in places that you can’t generally see from behind the counter and allows you to serve your customers without compromising your store’s security.

While properly positioned mirrors can offer you part of the advantages of a surveillance camera, the mirror has one serious drawback. It can’t record what it sees. The recording can provide evidence in a court case if you choose to prosecute a shoplifter, but its usefulness extends further than that if you take the time to look over the surveillance tapes or files. Even with CCTV cameras, you might miss suspicious activity while you’re serving another customer. The retained tape, disk or file allows you to take a second look and alerts you to “customers” that need closer supervision.

No one likes to believe that his employees are stealing from him, but loss to employee theft is a major cause of shrinkage. In addition to theft, retail stores often lose profits to employees who aren’t paying attention, who make mistakes and who mishandle merchandise that later spoils. CCTV systems can be set up to allow you to observe your employees’ behavior when you’re out of sight or out of the store. Keep in mind that employee surveillance can also be used to exonerate your employees of wrong-doing, especially if a customer charges your store with misbehavior.

If you’re considering CCTV systems to enhance your store’s security, be sure to check out the newest advances in surveillance technology before you make your decision. You’ll be surprised how much security you can afford.

Pros and Cons of CCTV Systems for Workplace Monitoring

While most people think of video surveillance as a method to protect a business against burglary and shoplifting, CCTV systems also give employers the ability to more effectively monitor employees at work. There are multiple advantages and a few negatives to using CCTV systems this way. If you’re considering setting up a CCTV monitoring system in your workplace, you should fully understand both the benefits and the potential effects of using security systems to monitor your employees’ performance and behavior.

Pros of CCTV Systems in the Workplace

The pros of setting up a surveillance camera system to monitor the workplace are many. They include increased safety, decreased shrinkage, increased good behavior and evidence if there is a crime.

The main purpose of a CCTV camera system is to increase safety in the workplace. The mere presence of surveillance cameras can help discourage outside theft, which is especially important in retail businesses that are open late at night, often with only one attendant to cover the entire store. It can also discourage unsafe behaviors by employees, and actually provide protection for employees from being exploited, harassed or otherwise abused by supervisors and other employees. A manager or supervisor is much more likely to observe safety rules if they know they’re being monitored.

CCTV systems are proven methods of decreasing shoplifting, but they also can save your business hundreds of dollars a month in the form of employee theft. Employees may not even consider their actions to be “theft,” but it’s still costing you money when they snack on a candy bar, draw themselves a drink from the coffee bar without paying for it or pour a little extra into a drink for a friend. An employee monitoring system can help you pick up on those behaviors if they’re happening so that you can decide on a course of action to take.

As suggested before, the knowledge that they are being monitored will often prompt employees to engage in the behaviors you want. Employees are also much less likely to engage in inappropriate behaviors when they know that there’s a security camera watching them.

Finally, CCTV systems provide evidence if you need to discipline or dismiss someone based on their behaviors. It’s much more difficult to dispute a dismissal that is backed up by video evidence of the employee stealing, mistreating customers or otherwise misbehaving in a professional situation.

If you do decide to implement video monitoring with CCTV systems in your workplace, implement it in such a way as to counter any negatives associated with employee monitoring. Those include potential invasion of privacy issues and lowered morale if employees feel that you don’t trust them. When you consider all the pros and cons carefully, and carefully evaluate the video monitoring needs of your business, you’ll be in a position to make the best decision for your company.

Pros and Cons of CCTV Systems for Workplace Monitoring

While most people think of video surveillance as a method to protect a business against burglary and shoplifting, CCTV systems also give employers the ability to more effectively monitor employees at work. There are multiple advantages and a few negatives to using CCTV systems this way. If you’re considering setting up a CCTV monitoring system in your workplace, you should fully understand both the benefits and the potential effects of using security systems to monitor your employees’ performance and behavior.

Pros of CCTV Systems in the Workplace

The pros of setting up a surveillance camera system to monitor the workplace are many. They include increased safety, decreased shrinkage, increased good behavior and evidence if there is a crime.

The main purpose of CCTV systems is to increase safety in the workplace. The mere presence of surveillance cameras can help discourage outside theft, which is especially important in retail businesses that are open late at night, often with only one attendant to cover the entire store. It can also discourage unsafe behaviors by employees, and actually provide protection for employees from being exploited, harassed or otherwise abused by supervisors and other employees. A manager or supervisor is much more likely to observe safety rules if they know they’re being monitored.

CCTV systems are proven methods of decreasing shoplifting, but they also can save your business hundreds of dollars a month in the form of employee theft. Employees may not even consider their actions to be “theft,” but it’s still costing you money when they snack on a candy bar, draw themselves a drink from the coffee bar without paying for it or pour a little extra into a drink for a friend. An employee monitoring system can help you pick up on those behaviors if they’re happening so that you can decide on a course of action to take.

As suggested before, the knowledge that they are being monitored will often prompt employees to engage in the behaviors you want. Employees are also much less likely to engage in inappropriate behaviors when they know that there’s a security camera watching them.

Finally, CCTV systems provide evidence if you need to discipline or dismiss someone based on their behaviors. It’s much more difficult to dispute a dismissal that is backed up by video evidence of the employee stealing, mistreating customers or otherwise misbehaving in a professional situation.

If you do decide to implement video monitoring with CCTV systems in your workplace, implement it in such a way as to counter any negatives associated with employee monitoring. Those include potential invasion of privacy issues and lowered morale if employees feel that you don’t trust them. When you consider all the pros and cons carefully, and carefully evaluate the video monitoring needs of your business, you’ll be in a position to make the best decision for your company.

Enhance Home Safety with CCTV Systems

You can’t always be at home with eyes in every room, but that doesn’t mean you can’t see what’s happening when you’re not there. Technology advances have made it possible for almost anyone to afford CCTV systems to help monitor their homes and ensure the safety of their families. With the many options available today, you can easily design a CCTV system that will suit your security needs and your pocketbook perfectly.

Why CCTV Systems for Home Safety?

People choose CCTV systems for many reasons and purposes. For some, a security camera at the front entrance gives an added sense of security and helps them maintain the privacy and safety of their homes because they can see who is approaching their property. Others use a CCTV system to monitor the home while they’re out and allow them to check in on things from a work computer. A video camera hooked up to a monitor and a PC can reassure parents that their children are being cared for well, for example. A surveillance camera overlooking areas that can’t be easily seen from the house can allow homeowners to keep a closer eye on those areas.

Types of CCTV Systems

There are many types of systems available. They may include black and white or color security systems, wireless security cameras or a vandal resistant surveillance camera for cameras that will be mounted outdoors. Some systems allow remote access and can be used as home surveillance cameras hooked into a home security system. The most basic CCTV system is a single security camera hooked into a VCR or monitor for remote viewing. The most modern CCTV systems include multiple cameras that you can position and adjust from a remote location, giving you full control over your CCTV system even when you’re at work.

While many security cameras can hook into your computer, you can also purchase monitors as part of your home security system. Security monitors for CCTV systems may have double the lines of screen resolution as regular televisions or computer monitors, allowing the system to capture far greater detail, which can be vital if you’re counting on the system as part of your home security solution.

Advantages of CCTV for Home Security

CCTV security systems are a relatively inexpensive addition to your home security system. The cameras and monitors setup give you “eyes” so that you can keep an eye on kids at home after school, nannies with infants or simply keep a watch for intruders. Even if your system can’t be viewed remotely, it can record what happens throughout the day, which can be invaluable in helping to find and convict intruders if your home is burglarized.

For more information about the latest trends in CCTV systems and home security, contact a dealer of security cameras and monitors to discuss your needs.