Edited By Piyush Kashyap, Reviewed By Gulshan
Closed Circuit Television or more popularly known as CCTV, has gained a lot of significance in recent years for their effectiveness in monitoring and securing areas remotely.
With remote viewing ability to monitor from anywhere around the world, these CCTVs have gained a lot of prominence for businesses looking to secure areas round the clock.
On the industrial scale, these CCTV cameras are used across the organization such as banks, stores, and other activities like Crime Prevention, Traffic Monitoring, Sporting Events, Employee Monitoring, School, Private Homes, etc for keeping the areas secure from any external threats.
Installing a CCTV Camera
For personal homes & small business owners, these CCTV come with complete manuals and DIY (Do it yourself tutorials) guidance. Whereas for public areas and high-security building you need expert guidance to avoid any loopholes.
Here is the step by step guide for installing these sophisticated modern security equipments in your premises.
CCTVs are a complete system and a lot of pre-planning is must about the type of equipment, finding the right locations, wiring, setting up DVR, and monitor screens. To start with Generally, CCTV comes with a full kit consisting of
Although most people buy these readymade kit still you can also opt for buying each of this hardware separately and interconnect them to build the CCTV system. One needs to check configuration and have the expertise to buy hardware compatible with each other.
These modern pieces of scientific marvel require multiple pieces of hardware to collaborate as Camera record the videos, DVR to record and show the videos preferably for the last few days, connecting wires or wireless capabilities to share information between multiple devices for a complete CCTV system to work successfully.
Understanding Types of CCTV
Wired and Wireless are the two major types of CCTV available in the market. Wired cameras require each equipment to be interconnected for video surveillance with a lot of drilling holes and running cables but have the highest quality and uniformity across a large number of equipment.
While wireless CCTV, as the name suggests runs on battery and is quite easy to set up but their quality diminishes as they get away from the receiver. Wireless cameras although are more preferred for small buildings and homes whereas wired CCTV is recommended for large open areas.
Motion Sensing/Detection
This new integrated technology is more refined using the motion of the object to turn-on and captures the images subsequently. This preserves the energy of the CCTV to run as long as possible. Modern CCTV systems are now equipped with this motion detection technology.
Once you have finalized with the CCTV camera type and bought the equipment then comes the strategic locations to get a maximum span of your cameras.
Location
One of the foremost challenges for installing CCTV is the precise location. Every property is different in size and shape offering unique challenges. Choosing the right location of CCTV'scan be efficiently installed outside and inside the buildings or homes depending on the security needs.
Best Exterior and Interior Places for CCTV Cameras
Cameras are electronic equipment and can break down easily when coming in direct contact with rain and humidity. So exterior locations have to choose based on camera capabilities. You may choose to buy weatherproof cameras and make the system weather-resistant too.
Exterior Areas include the front door, back & side doors, garage & driveway, yard/gardens while the Interior Areas focus on Common Areas and Stairway/Hallway. Whereas in few areas one must avoid while installing CCTV Cameras such as bathrooms, bedrooms, etc.
You also must avoid the security cameras covering any part of the neighboring properties, or any specific places that interfere with their privacy.
Preparation
Once you finalize the equipment and locations then you need to have screws, cables, power adaptors, drills and other smaller tools to install the whole system.
Guidelines for Installing the Cameras
One must follow all the general instructions as you go on to install the cameras on the wall.
How to Install a Surveillance Security Camera System
Mounting Cameras on to the Wall
Once the positions are confirmed then start by drilling the holes on the wall or ceiling.
Then install the camera on the precise spot and fix the screws to maintain a stronghold of the camera bracket. Then adjust the camera within these brackets to finish with camera installation. Vertical brackets on the ceiling require more precision and offer more control with 360 views of the surroundings.
Arranging Wires and Cables
For CCTV wiring is considered as one of the toughest parts as each camera needs a separate power cord and video cables.
You have to plan for drilling holes and take the minimum routes to install cameras in a large area like the basement, attic, hallways, garage, ceiling, etc. All the wires are pushed inside the same holes for one room and conceal them to avoid wearing out.
While there are also special rooms where all the cables go to one room for monitoring.
Two wires run simultaneously for the CCTV cameras with one for the constant power supply and the second one for video recording respectively. The power supply can be connected from one power socket or each of the cameras uses the nearest power supply.
Once all the wires are connected with the cameras join with DVR then the corresponding monitored is turned on to check the live video surveillance. A single monitor is programmed to show multiple screens being captured by the respective cameras.
Whereas for wireless CCTV the whole wiring arrangement can be avoided only the power supply needs to lined while others also run on the batteries too.
Siamese cables are recommended for CCTV installation as two cables are attached and run parallel to avoid any wire mess. Only once you have to run the wire through the drill holes and cameras that connect power and video simultaneously.
Power supply box is used to supply multiple cameras using one outlet avoiding the chaos that comes with practicing power supply separately for each camera. There are multiple DVR ports for cameras and can handle multiple screens at once.
This system allows the CCTV monitor for using a large number of cameras using on DVR box and multiple screens.
How to Manage Cables
It is also important to hide wires completely from public view using effective measures.
Filling the holes with waterproof materials such as duct seal and silicone, bushings to conceal the holes, using junction boxes to cover the cables, connectors and the holes, and take a plastic tube for concealing the CCTV camera wires or you can staple them too.
For wireless cameras, you need to install software to load and store their videos on the DVR. You must follow all the instruction that comes with manufacturer discs for accessing the camera videos on your screen. Then customize them to store the videos in hard disks configured with DVR.
Many cameras also come with a small USB port and they must be attached properly. Make sure all settings for cameras are configured before mounting them on the wall and test them while you are preparing them.
Battery-powered cameras are the best choices to avoid any wiring and drilling of the whole structure while installing them outside your apartments or windows. These cameras are 100% wire-free either for power or video recording so just mounting them on the wall will do the trick.
Batteries then can be replaced after the specified duration to keep the CCTV system running continuously.
Connecting CCTV and Powering Them
Once the wiring is finished, it is then connected with the subsequent DVR recorder and power is turned on the controlling monitor to check the live feed. The CCTV system needs to be tested for its
live broadcasting and video recording. DVR recorder and monitor need a good power supply to accept the live feed coming from the cameras. These must be connected to strong power sockets for offering consistency.
Recording Device and monitor
To record and store all videos coming from a camera you need to set up a Digital Video Recorder (DVR). This DVR is then connected with a video monitor that offers multiple screens for monitoring and surveillance.
Most of the monitors come equipped with special software to show multiple screens at the same time. There is an input button that allows switching between camera screens to focus on a particular camera too.
Testing
Once the CCTV system is done you must test it by running live videos on your smartphone app and desktop software for its live broadcasting ability.
Along with its features like video recording, zoom in and zoom out and storing duration for complete reliability of the system. Also, try moving the cameras remotely and are recording at their highest quality along with their coverage of the surrounding area.
Troubleshooting
All the CCTV kits and devices come with troubleshooting guidelines that users must keep a sharp check to use the system continuously.
Most often loose power connections will disrupt your video monitoring so make sure to check them regularly. You can also communicate with manufacture about the various issues and ask them for solutions.
Regular upkeep and maintenance of the whole system are must too. The software needs to be upgraded with the latest version. Cameras, wiring, DVR and power sockets need regular evaluation to make CCTV securing your premises from any external threat.
Although the screen looks like TV still they differ in the way that television signals are openly transmitted while in CCTV they use point-to-point, point-to-multipoint, mesh wired or wireless links.
For a small location like a personal home or shop, one can read the instructions, manuals and install them precisely still for large areas and threat detection in public areas security experts are recommended. As they understand the precise position and get the maximum usage out of these modern CCTV installations.
You can also call a professional expert to help you with assistance and installing this complex mechanism for personal home or commercial spaces. Conclusion: CCTV is one of the most creative and versatile modern-day gadgets.
It has proven its effectiveness for personal home security as well as for public and commercial spaces. Most of the CCTV packages come with installation manuals still one must know how to use the required tools proficiently to avoid any hesitancy.
These CCTV are among the first choices for maintaining the highest level of security inside homes and commercial spaces. Most of the modern homes, apartments, flats, businesses, commercial shops, malls, and government organizations use them to secure their premises with 24x7 video surveillance.
