Industrial CCTV

Avoid common mistakes when fitting CCTV to an industrial property

It can be very confusing when trying to decide which CCTV camera and recorder are best for your industrial or commercial building. CCTV installers often charge several thousand pounds, and online suppliers like Arlo, Ring, Netatmo or Nest appear cheaper but are they any good retail outlets such as Costco, Screwfix or Toolstation that have complete systems for a few hundred pounds what's the catch? They all make great claims in terms of crystal clear images, long ranges of 30, 40 or 50 metres plus and the ability to see at night as well as in daylight. It's all a bit confusing. Some people try to play safe by spending large amounts with an installer with varying degrees of success, others go the seemingly cheaper route only to find they can't identify people when things go wrong so it was a waste of money.

CCTV is actually quite simple

Strip away all the marketing blurb and CCTV is actually really simple. CCTV records several still images every second and each image is made up of many small dots called pixels. The more pixels the more detailed the image. The obvious solution then is to choose the highest resolution CCTV system but there's a problem. The more pixels you use the shorter time your system stores footage and you do need at least 2 or 3 weeks of rolling footage. You also need continuous 24/7 recording. Sometimes the periods of inactivity are just as important, for instance, if someone claims to have made a delivery you need to be able to prove they weren't there when they claimed so ignore motion-only systems.

Avoid wide-angle cameras

The problem with wide-angle cameras is they spread the pixels apart rapidly as you move away from the camera meaning people soon become a tiny blob in the middle of the screen. If you try to electronically zoom in on footage you merely get a pixelated mess rather than a clear image. Anyone who claims wide-angle cameras have a long-range is lying, beyond a few metres they merely provide an overall view, you won't be able to identify individual people or vehicles. You might be able to recognise them if you know who it is but from a prosecution or police identification perspective, you're going to struggle.

Industrial CCTV applications involve longer distances than a front drive just long enough to park your car or someone standing by your front door. Typically cameras need to be able to identify at distances of 10, 20, 30 or even 50 metres and that requires specialist equipment. The good news is we can supply it and it doesn't have to be expensive. A good quality industrial CCTV camera costs between £80 and £150 plus Vat when purchased as part of a complete system.

Long-range optical zoom cameras

The key is to use cameras that have good optical zoom lenses allowing them to concentrate pixels on an area further away. Typically our cameras cover distances up to around 60 metres. To help you decide which cameras you need call us on 01895 233311, we can chat through your requirements whilst looking at the premises online and come up with a solution from there. There may be some general overview cameras but it's important to have cameras that allow clear identification should something happen. If you need cameras specifically designed to film vehicle number plates during the day or at night we can supply those as well.

Self-installation

All our products are designed to be self-installed by you or your electrician/handyperson. We are always on the end of the phone if you have any questions, particularly in relation to remote access. Industrial buildings usually make installation relatively straightforward as cables can be run along with the side purlins or girts. All our systems use low-voltage 12-volt cabling with mains transformers for the central DVR unit and camera 12-volt power supply. There is a single cable running between the DVR / camera power supply and the individual cameras.

Remote access

All our CCTV systems can be remotely accessed on your phone or computer. You can view live footage, previously recorded footage and even back up events remotely. Whilst the systems are designed to record 24/7 you can generate bookmarks when the system detects movement in a user-defined area. You can even have the CCTV system send an email or push notification to your phone if it detects movement.