Securing your premises

Posted on 26 Oct 2004 at 11:41

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When Hindmarch spoke to Howe it found that one of the greatest advantages of digital CCTV systems is that there is no need to install the expensive coaxial cabling that analogue systems use. Thanks to wireless Ethernet you can even get away with no cables at all in some situations, although Hindmarch hasn't followed this route.

Advanced cabling can help in other ways too. It's possible that a camera will need to be installed where there's no mains power. This is no problem for surveillance because some cameras use PoE (Power over Ethernet) to take their power from the network cable. These tend to be expensive cameras with a collection of advanced capabilities you may not need, such as low-light sensitivity and an automatic iris lens. A cheaper alternative is to use a PoE adaptor to power an entry-level camera.

CANDID CAMERAS
There are many different variations of camera, with features to match specific needs. Picking the right one depends greatly on your environment. You can have hardened outdoor cameras that adapt to varying light levels. You also have the option of indoor cameras that are cheaper but require a constant light level. Infrared cameras can see in the dark, and you might want a PTZ (pan-tilt-zoom) camera to track a person. Other options include wireless cameras, motion-detecting cameras and network-powered cameras. The choice is huge.

Control-Z became a main dealer for Axis Communications (www.axis.com/uk) because it has a wide enough range of cameras to suit almost every requirement. At Hindmarch, Howe installed different models for different locations.

The cameras in the station forecourt and shop are running constantly during business hours. Their feed is relayed to a single PC that runs Milestone Systems' XProtect surveillance software (www.milestonesys.com).

Because Hindmarch's system relies on Axis cameras, you might think it strange that it doesn't also employ Axis software. The problem was that, at the time Hindmarch ordered its system, the Axis software lagged behind the competition. In particular, the software didn't support archiving: the ability to store a day's footage automatically for future reference. Archiving is now a feature of Axis' Camera Station Software and, had Hindmarch ordered its system today, Howe would install that software.

One of the incredible things about digital CCTV systems is that they don't require outlandish hardware. Although Howe recommends using a dedicated PC for the surveillance system, it doesn't have to be an expensive one. The only thing you need is plenty of disk space. The more you have, the more footage you can record, and at a higher quality.

OPERATION SURVEILLANCE
Out of business hours the surveillance system switches to standby. It records footage only when motion is detected on the forecourt or in the shop. There are two schools of thought on what you should use to detect motion. One method is a PIR (Passive InfraRed)-equipped camera. When PIR detects motion the camera starts capturing video and the software starts recording it. Although all Axis' cameras have PIR as an option, it's a significant expense.

The alternative is to leave the motion detection to the software. This is a standard feature, but the disadvantage of this technique is that the cameras have to stay on all the time, feeding the software a steady stream of unchanging scenery. This clogs your network with worthless video. On the other hand, do you really care about clogging up the network in the middle of the night?