Camera Surveillance II – A Short Guide to Advanced Systems

Whether you’ve seen other articles on the subject or not, chances are that you feel a little insecure when it comes to installing a home security system – if not, you probably would not have been reading this in the first place. Let’s keep this short and sweet, shall we? So where to start when planning and installing a home security system?

The first and foremost thing to do is to determine what kind of system is needed. Most homes and their owners will be best served with a simple system – the less details and the less components, the less things that can go wrong, and the easier to install. On top of that, if you manage to keep everything simple, there will be less money out the window on techies and service people down the line. Set out to see how many cameras you need. Most homes will be in need of no more than four cameras overall, in order to “paint” the outside of the home, or the “shell”, as it is called. You have to make sure that the cameras are placed so that they will see all entries and exits that is on your house. Entries and exits also includes windows of course, since burglars not necessarily will use your front door.

Remember that cellar windows count as well, if you have those. Do a walk around of your home, see what corners will facilitate one camera for two walls, what kind of mounts you need, and if the cameras will require weather protection, and so on. The next thing you should do is to determine what kind of cameras you want and need.

There are a few things to consider. Are the cameras going to be mounted outside? Then you will have to think about weather protection, both for your camera and whatever means of image transfer you are going to use. In the case of outside cameras, you will have the most success with cabling, as they are less prone to failure due to environmental disturbances. Are your cameras going to be mounted inside?

Then consider wireless transfer. That means less clutter, less work and less money spent. Next, perhaps the most important camera – your front door monitoring setup. Ideally, your front door camera will be hidden from direct view, to prevent tampering.

There are many, many cases where robbers have simply gone up to the front door and knocked, after disabling the peephole or camera mounted there, and worst case scenario is that because you opened the door to them, they will get a lower sentence if they’re ever caught. That is, if you survive the encounter and live to call the cops. Bolt cameras are a good way of sorting this problem out. Mount a bolt camera either above or beside your door, and it will look almost like a normal screw or bolt fastened in the wall, and even if it differs slightly, a robber or burglar will not stop to inspect every little detail on your house – he or she is in a hurry, remember.

Take the time to set up a live view monitor inside your front door – this should be a secondary monitor since it is important that the feed from the hidden camera is also recorded. This way you can glance at the screen when someone rings the bell, and you can determine at your leisure whether to open the door or not.