Make the most of your CCTV - things you probably haven’t considered

The benefits of installing a home CCTV system are plentiful but they can be enhanced greatly by these helpful tips below. This list is made up of things that are often overlooked or are just one step outside the box but they all work in giving you even better results from your home surveillance system.

Clean cameras

Keep your cameras polished. Dirty, dusty cameras do not work well as a deterrent they look unused and uncared for and do not tell the culprits that you take securing your home seriously.  As well as minimising the deterrent effect if the lens of your camera becomes mucky your video will of course suffer and identifying any vandals or burglars can become increasingly difficult. It takes little time to clean your cameras and failure to do so can present highly detrimental results, so cleaning your cameras is definitely not something to overlook.

Install signs

Installing CCTV warning signs is an obvious yet commonly overlooked part of installing a home CCTV system. It makes potential burglars and vandals aware that you have active CCTV cameras and works as a deterrent on their own. Also, the professional look of the signs demonstrates the quality of your cameras and shows people that your home security system they are better off not putting to the test. In some instances it can be a legal requirement to have a sign on display where there are CCTV cameras so it is always worth checking this beforehand.

Sensor lights

Sensor lights are a great companion to CCTV cameras. Installing a light that turns on automatically when movement is detected is a great deterrent and provides good lighting for your CCTV cameras. In addition to this many people’s natural response when they trigger one of these lights is to look in the direction of the light source, which if it is installed next to your camera maximises the chances of your camera identifying any trespassers and would be burglars. As well as allowing the camera to see the culprit it allows the culprit to see the CCTV camera which is likely enough of a deterrent to dissuade the trespasser from following up on their intent to burglar your home, siphon your cars fuel or whatever other foul act they planned on committing.

Correct date and time

In instances where your CCTV footage is needed as evidence it is essential that your recording provides the right date and time. Giving your burglars an alibi because you didn’t check the date and time undermines the purpose of having the CCTV and more importantly it prevents justice. The date and time can become incorrect for a multitude of reasons and following an array of occurrences such as a power cut, so ensure that you check that they are correct frequently.

CCTV and home security systems offer enormous benefits and bring culprits of crimes to justice which is why you should maintain them. Simply by keeping them clean and letting potential criminals know that they are being watched are great for maximising the deterrent effect an effect you should strive for as it is better to deter a crime than to ever have to catch one on your cameras. Should the deterrents not be enough make sure criminals face justice by having the date and time set correctly on your recordings. They are simple tips but they can make a big difference so please bear them in mind when installing your home CCTV system.