Q: What are key things to consider before you start installing external CCTV cameras on a medium-sized industrial site with no security manager and no security procedures?
A: Integrators need to plan CCTV installations long before techs start running around bolting things onto walls. You need discover the entry points, the access and egress routes, the areas of vulnerability, the high value assets. These details will inform angles of view. You then need to assess where power and data are located, and to establish what cables you can run and where. Get hold of the site engineer and do a tour.
Look at the routes and parking areas that might be used by heavy vehicles. These could block a poorly sited surveillance system’s views for extended periods. Look at building overhangs or locations where building projections could conceal an intruder from the camera’s planned angles of view. The location of power is going to impact the system. Consider the security patrols that may or may not take place on the site and consider the value of having cameras monitoring patrolled areas. Look at the carpark and its approaches and evaluate ambient lighting.
Getting CCTV right is going to mean understanding the site’s alarm and access control system – there’s likely to be some integration in support of areas of vulnerability. Establish what the operational considerations of management are. Then establish which solutions are going to have the capacity to support those considerations within budget.
Do the obvious things, like assessing the growth potential of trees and shrubs and ask about plans for future building extensions, too. A well-planned CCTV installation with scope for future tweaking should deliver operational value for a long time, if it’s well maintained and selectively upgraded.
In larger installation businesses, there will be dedicated system planners on the team who can take this on on the basis of the system’s operational demands and pixel counts. Smaller organisations will have to undertake planning as part of the rest of their work, including sourcing and commissioning hardware.
Some camera manufacturers have installation tools to help plan systems, which makes system planning considerably easier.
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