Off-the-Shelf or Full Fledged CCTV?

These days, off-the-shelf Wireless IP cameras are easily available in the market. Consumers often find themselves in a dilemma of choosing to install a full-fledged CCTV system or an off-the-shelf solution.

In this article we will list out a few factors that you can consider before making your purchase.

​Recording Period

Recordings are most vital in the operation of any video surveillance system. As it provides user with post accident evidence and investigation. And basically user will not be able to monitor the footages 24/7 due to individual commitment. Thus, making CCTV recording one major factor to consider when installing CCTV

For a full-fledged CCTV System, recordings are always present as all the footages are being stored in the hard disk drive, which is hosted in the recorder.Our team of professionals will also advise on the hard disk space required according to your needs. Furthermore, our recorders have audio notification in the event of hard disk failure. This ensures that users are notified in any case of fault.

​As for commercial off-the-shelf solutions, video recordings stored either on SD cards or cloud-based. SD cards can be rather costly if you are going for a higher capacity SD cards. Also, one has to ensure that the purchased cameras support the SD card capacity.

For cloud-based recording, it will be good for customers who do not like to have a physical recorder at their premise. Recordings can be stored on cloud and consumers will usually need to pay a monthly subscription fee. However, the down sides are privacy and cyber security issues. Many customers have concerns of data privacy and are unsure if the footages will be accessed by unauthorised third parties. Also, another area of concern is network connectivity, users will have to ensure that their Internet uptime is at 100% to have full recordings and it also occupies bandwidth from the service provider to upload recordings to the cloud.

Wireless vs Wired

​Many consumers today love having wireless systems as it eliminates the need for cabling works. However, all wireless cameras will still require a power cable to power it up. Therefore, having a wireless camera does not really mean it is 100% wireless. Nonetheless, they are great choices if you prefer mobility or are deploying cameras near a power point so you will be able to alternate locations of the cameras every other day. With that being said, mobility does not allow the camera to be installed on the ceiling where they are more tamper proof. Criminals can easily shift the camera away or re-adjust the area of focus.

Another drawback of wireless cameras is their reliance on wireless signals. The system will only work well if you are having a strong Wi-Fi signal coverage at your place. Wi-Fi signals is subjected to drop in reception due to concrete walls or the size of your premise. With Wi-Fi Connectivity issues, cameras can be intermittent in transmission at times giving users difficulty to view the cameras 24/7.

Cost

In current times, purchasing a decent set of off-the-shelf CCTV Camera might not give you as much savings as compared to a full-fledged CCTV system installed at your place. At VIN Services and Solutions, we have put together packages as low as S$688.00 for a 2 cameras package. What is more is that the price includes installation and cabling works.

Also, with reliability and security functions in mind, it would be worth considering to install a full-fledged CCTV System instead of an of-the-shelf solutions.

If you would like to have professional advice on the application of CCTV surveillance systems, feel free to reach out to our team at VIN Services & Solutions for a non-obligatory site survey.