How To

How to Build a Surveillance Camera System

Tips straight from the CSO

By Anonymous

Step 4: Wrestle a few more issues to the ground.

• Monitoring. This is a contentious issue. The public may expect that

  cameras are monitored all the time, but it's neither practical nor possible. The best you can do is put

  your high-­priority camera images up in your command center for occasional viewing. Even better:

  Use analytics software to pinpoint an event of interest and call it up with an audible alarm.



• Decoys. It may be tempting to use dummy camera domes to suggest you have

  surveillance, this will give your public a false sense of security. Most competent programs avoid their

  use, except in specific circumstances and then only in concert with live cameras.



• Staffing. It's unrealistic to expect to be given additional staff to monitor a new

  suite of cameras, and it's equally unrealistic to expect to get different people than the ones you have

  now. For these reasons, you will want to choose a system that has a simple GUI (graphical user

  interface), provides out-of-service alarms for cameras and encoders, is low-maintenance and has high

  mean times between failures.



• Privacy. Make absolutely certain you supervise the troops who access cameras

  and images. If you don't, inevitably, your cameras will be diverted to personal, voyeuristic use, which

  can have serious, negative impacts on your company image once the antics are publicizedand

  they will be.



• Signage. Get advice from your legal counsel regarding signs to announce video

  surveillance on your property.



• Policies and procedures. If your cameras can view geography off your property,

  consult with your software provider to mask out these areas. This is especially important if you have

  line of sight to residential properties. Supervision and the application of swift discipline are very

  important to avoid inappropriate use.



• Training. The more complex your system, the more training the staff will need.

  This takes good time management because unless you have a full shift to go on training rotation, you

  will be doing training on overtime.



• Maintenance. Include in your maintenance contract a service-level agreement

  that guarantees your high-priority cameras are fixed promptly. Be sure it requires an adequate stock of

  onsite replacement cameras and network encoders and other peripheral devices so that the most

  important cameras can be restored to service quickly. Your system should open a trouble ticket

  immediately upon device failure, and you will want to review the system's performance monthly to

  ensure you are up to speed on how reliable it is and which parts are giving you the most trouble.

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This article was written by a CSO who requested anonymity to present this level of detail.

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