Surveillance System Design, Cleveland, Ohio
Recently we helped design and manufacture a Surveillance System for one of our customers, these are the key factors that became clear after meeting with our customer. I hope these will help you design and integrate an effective Surveillance System.
• Improvement of Public Safety – Video surveillance must enhance the effectiveness of law enforcement in obtaining timely and prosecutable data while improving the overall safety of the community.
• Capturing Evidence – Capturing crimes on digital video will have a dramatic effect on the prosecution of crimes, thus allowing the introduction of forensic imagery as evidence in a court of law. The goal is to increase the number of convictions with positive identification of criminals.
• Witness Identification – Capturing clear facial images of criminals will reduce labor cost and improve the ability to prosecute.
• Reduction in Crime in Targeted Locations – While video surveillance alone is not a deterrent, it does serve as an effective tool for reducing crime in targeted areas. Surveillance is only one piece of Public Saftey and is an important piece of a holistic approach to fighting crime.
• Proactive Intervention – Client plans on being proactive with their Surveillance approach, by monitoring live images and viewing potential criminal activity. With live viewing and law enforcement able allow for the quicker deployment of law enforcement along with deterring potential criminal behavior.
• Flexibility – The final Surveillance Solution will need to be expandable as the client’s needs change. Other issues to consider are open standards, future integration of new technology and other future applications.
• Bandwidth Conservation – Analog cameras require very little bandwidth, however Internet Protocol (IP) Video Cameras require a larger amount of bandwith. Customer needs to plan for future when considering current installation.
• Accountability and Measurement – The Surveillance System must have measurements to make sure it is being used properly and meeting the goals of the client. A Surveillance System without expectations and no accountability will not perform, due to human misuse.
• Available – Make sure the system is available to the right divisions for quick decision making. Our suggestion is that the IT department be deeply involved in the process.
• Ease of Use – The interface of the DVR or NVR should be user friendly. Can anyone save a file to the desktop or burn a cd? Is it easy to search for archived video, does the system allow for remote viewing, and have a remote viewing client?
• Disaster Recovery – Redundancy is a key factor. How will the data be saved and the ease of retrieval in the event of a long term catastrophe?
Ryan Temple is the Director of Operations for PCSurveillance.net. PCSurveillance has been serving integrators and manufacturing customized Surveillance Systems throughout the US since 2002. You can read more of Ryan’s articles at http://blog.pcsurveillance.net/ Ryan can be reached at ryan@pcsurveillance.net
