Designing CCTV Systems For Security Applications.
Designing CCTV Systems – Here’s a list of questions and answers relating to general CCTV system design for end users to consider before going to market – stick with the operational needs at the beginning and get more specific about hardware and software as your needs become clearer.
For a start, consider what it is you need to protect. Is it structures, production capacity, or is it staff? How big is the site? Is it a high end jewellery business, or a solar farm? What’s the value of assets and staff to the business? What is the risk profile of your site? Are you at risk from cyberattack? Insiders? From bushfires or floods? From potential pandemic? From extended power loss? Or do you have a broad risk profile?
Try to establish a general budget you consider necessary to undertake the task. There’s no point scrimping if loss of assets or facilities threatens business continuity. Loss of operational capability that costs you a key client might present an opportunity cost of millions of dollars – if that’s the case, your solution needs additional capability to reflect that opportunity cost.
Designing CCTV Systems For Security
When it comes to hardware, thinking about how many cameras be required to provide surveillance and what type will offer the best performance. Where should these cameras be located? What will be their field of view? Will they be fixed or PTZ cameras? If there are existing cameras, can you re-use their locations, or do you need to tweak positioning? How rugged is the environment? Will artificial lighting be required?
Will there be console monitoring around the clock, or will this system rely on motion detection and event recording? Do you need face recognition and plate recognition? What depth of field is needed?
What about analytics and notification? Modern VCA solutions offer vast power at comparatively low cost – cameras can detect line crossing, speeding vehicles, listed numberplates, bushfire, intrusion events – depending on your application, such capabilities buy response time and the pay-off is probably worth making.
Can the system be managed by a single workstation, do you need a video wall, will you need remote access from other sites? How many people need access to images? Will you need real time storage of every camera? What’s the write-over policy? Will 10-15 frames per second provide adequate surveillance recording, or do you need real time?
Designing CCTV Systems For Security
If there are large camera numbers will you use NVRs, servers, or will a cloud-based solution with cameras at the edge work best? If the former, where is node zero? Is there space for its installation, or will this need to be built/seconded?
Is it important that CCTV be integrated with the alarm/access system? Will the SMS or VMS manage CCTV, or have you not decided? Do you need remote access to the system? Do you need mobile access to the system? What about backup power? What about network security? VMS is a complex area – you’ll need to think hard about your needs – now and into the future.
If it’s staff that are being protected, what are you protecting them against and do you need performance enough to allow facial recognition or is an overall view sufficient? Does the site have an existing data network offering bandwidth enough to carry required camera numbers? If not, does it provide line-of sight between all major structures?
Are there existing cable channels across the site if it’s greenfield? Can they carry AC power or are there power pits or network nodes where you need them to be? What backup power supports the site and if it does not, could a small number of solar cameras operating independently of the network via 4G deliver oversight in extremis?
In complex applications it’s likely you’ll need the assistance of a capable security consultant with expertise in video surveillance. Regardless, it pays to go into conversations with your chosen consultant having a general sense of the operational needs of your site and the system components that will deliver those needs.
You can read why you might use a CCTV consultant to help designing CCTV systems here or see more SEN news here.
“Designing CCTV Systems For Security Applications.”
