CCTV Systems, How One Little Device Can Secure So Much Property

By Ben Sparks

When CCTV systems first came onto the market, the cameras were somewhat large, produced heat and had vidicon tubes that when trained on one subject for an extended period of time had the image of that area burned into the tube. Despite their drawbacks many businesses adopted CCTV cameras and their systems as a tool to combat shoplifting. CCTV cameras today are now smaller, produce little or no heat, have chips that gather images and don't burn in instead of vidicon tubes. The small sizes and high quality images produced by today's CCTV cameras make an attractive and affordable solution to property protection.

It is difficult today to enter any store and not see at least one CCTV camera that is part of a CCTV system present. What many people don't realize is that CCTV cameras are also present outdoors also. These cameras provide 24 hour surveillance of gas pumps, store parking lots, entrances and perimeters to plants and warehouses and the lobbies of public buildings. These outdoor cameras provide physical property protection for the building owners.

CCTV cameras that are outdoors can often be recognized. The housing that holds the camera may be the size of a loaf of bread. Alternatively the housing can be a dome that is smoked glass or glazed silver or gold. These dome housings hang like pendants from walls and light poles. The cameras that are in the domes are often mounted to pan/tilt heads and equipped with telephoto zoom lenses. These devices permit the camera to scan the entire area around the camera and are not fixed to a single location. Should trespass be viewed by the operator, the pan/tilt head can be stopped in the location of the trespass, the camera zoomed in to the trespasser and the movements of that person followed with the pan/tilt function controlled manually. This ability allows one camera to do the function of several cameras thus reducing the overall cost of the CCTV system while increasing its effectiveness.

Exterior CCTV cameras and their housings are often subject to vandalism. This vandalism may be teens attempting to destroy something "just for the fun of it" or an actual intruder attempting to deny security their identification. Manufacturers are well aware of this problem and for areas that are or may be subject to vandalism provide ballistic rated housings. These ballistic rated housings are strong enough to withstand a bullet shot at the camera housing. More expensive than standard housings, for many areas, ballistic rated housings provide a cost savings to the owners of the property.

Personnel costs are a major budget factor for any business or company. The utilization of CCTV systems permits the owners to decrease the onsite security staff and use the CCTV system to provide the security for the area. This reduction in staff saves on payroll and the use of a CCTV system insures constant reliable surveillance of the area around and inside the plant or buildings. Additionally many insurance companies recognize the value of CCTV systems on the premises and provide lower rates for those facilities that do have CCTV system coverage.

With the growth and prevalence of the Internet, there no longer is a need for a security guard to be onsite to monitor the CCTV system. Through the use of the Internet and motion detection, a camera viewing a plant can transmit the images to a central station when motion is detected. The operators at the central station can notify the proper law enforcement offices if trespass is detected. Interior cameras in stores still protect against shoplifting. Exteriors of the building or plant are now likewise protected by CCTV systems. This protection is affordable, reliable and accurate. CCTV systems will, in future years become more prevalent and more and more businesses and even cities and towns will utilize this technology. - 30201

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