Where to Position CCTV Cameras in Your Business

Installing security cameras on commercial premises is a key business security measure to prevent theft and vandalism throughout the year. CCTV surveillance systems supplemented by remote monitoring services give further peace of mind, allowing businesses to focus on their productivity, goods and services without having to worry about the goings-on outside the office, day or night.

However, deciding where to position CCTV cameras does require some careful consideration.

Knowing the most efficient places to position your cameras, including the best height and angles, can all be discussed when installing cameras to ensure you get the best use out of them. To help with planning your security camera placement around your property, external location or business premises, we have provided the following CCTV camera placement guidelines.

The Positioning of CCTV Cameras

Security cameras are used as a deterrent against damage and theft in your commercial property and installing CCTV cameras in certain locations can offer peace of mind when you can’t always be on-site. As surveillance technology has progressed, camera recordings now offer better imaging for identifying harmful individuals but, more often than not, this is only after the damage has already been done.

Implementing CCTV camera systems alongside a remote monitoring service is a preventative measure, providing live camera feeds that alert observation staff to movement or suspicious activity around the clock. Not only acting as a deterrent to unwanted visitors, our audio announcement warning has also been proven to discourage potential thieves and vandals from proceeding any further into the site.

Remote Monitoring Services – CCTV

To help you plan your comprehensive security solution, we have highlighted some important and commonly active areas as potential install locations for security and CCTV cameras.

Reception Area

The reception area may not seem of great importance in your commercial property but it is a high-traffic area with people regularly entering and leaving during business hours. If your reception is street-facing, it’s also likely to be the most common area for trespassers to attempt forced entry to the premises. By providing a security camera, you can keep up to date with customers and staff using the area as a walk-through whilst picking out unrecognised visitors or people who are acting unusually.

Entrances/Exits

As a business, keeping track of who enters and exits the premises while ensuring everyone is authorised and identifying potential trespassers can be resource-intensive. Security cameras positioned at the entrance/exit door offer easier tracking of who is entering the premises before exiting, along with a clear view of people’s faces – should you need to identify them later for legal reasons.

Visible CCTV cameras at the business entrance can make people aware they are under observation, reducing the possibility of someone causing damage or trespassing on your property. However, when installing the security cameras next to any door, you must consider how the available light changes throughout the day. Bright light flooding the sensors on cameras may cause dull or blackened images, resulting in the individual’s face being partially hidden or unrecognisable. Recommended placement should be above the door and pointing away from light sources or windows, to ensure the best quality images.

Want to reduce the resource of internal entrance/exit monitoring and free up your staff’s time? Farsight offers Access Control services, providing live monitoring of your access points to verify visitors and turn away unauthorised callers.

Remote Monitoring Services – Access Control

Storerooms

Every business has a storage room, whether it’s for sensitive documents, housing the server racks, or storing products ready for distribution. These rooms are very important for management and the hierarchy of the company and in some cases, access for certain employees needs to be restricted. Positioning CCTV cameras at the door to this room allows you to monitor the restricted area, watching who enters and leaves the room, and making a note of any unauthorised attempts to access that require a follow-up.

CCTV Warehouse

Warehouses are usually the chosen storage facility of products that can be worth millions to businesses and as such, they provide the perfect target for thieves. When you want to protect your stored goods, CCTV warehouse cameras are the ideal way to track who enters the warehouse, recognising people who may be trespassing or causing damage. Expansive warehouse spaces can be costly to monitor in their entirety, so businesses are recommended to keep security cameras out of sight to avoid opportunistic thieves identifying potential blind spots.

What is the Optimum Height for CCTV Camera installation?

Now that you have chosen the best positions for your new security cameras around your business, you’ll need to consider the optimal height for where your CCTV cameras with be installed. There are a few things to consider before finalising the install height of the security camera, including:

• Mounted too low will be the focal point of vandalism and easily accessible for thieves
• Mounted too high or far away from the monitored location will potentially lead to pixelated images when zooming in on an area which can disrupt the identification of faces
• Mounted in a way to hide the camera could interrupt your viewing angle and block necessary line of sight

An install height of 2.5m or 5m is usually the most common for businesses, but it completely depends on the property or room you are installing them in. Security cameras at 2.5m high provide you with a better close-range view of the area and provide higher quality images as they are closer to the subject. At 5m, you increase the capacity to capture more surroundings with a wider angle but may cause image distortion when zooming in.

The Angle of the CCTV Camera

Security cameras are rarely placed at eye-level, instead installed at a high vantage point with the camera angled downwards. Pointing the lens down slightly allows you to focus on certain objects, like computers or the front door, while providing a greater capture angle of the surrounding area. Cameras that are positioned at eye-level can capture the images in better quality when pointed towards a single object but typically have a smaller angle of view and can miss events or actions in the nearby surrounding areas.

The lens size of your security camera will also influence your install position. Smaller lens sizes will increase your viewing angle but reduce your viewing depth. For example, a security camera with a 2.8mm lens will provide a wide 90-degree viewing angle but can only offer quality imaging to a depth of 3-5metres. Choosing a security camera with a 16mm lens will provide a clear line of sight up to a depth of 25metres but will restrict the viewing angle to 17/18 degrees.

Remote Monitoring Services – CCTV

Should Your CCTV Cameras Be Installed by a Professional?

Investing in your business’ security can be expensive but it will potentially save you thousands in lost/damaged equipment and reduced productivity when preventing vandalism and theft. Consequentially, having a remote security system in place will also contribute to lowering your insurance costs.

Installing CCTV cameras in your business premise is a task you can carry out yourself, however, to ensure you get the best viewing angles and prevent blind spots, choosing a professional installation can save you both time and frustration. This will also accommodate any concerns from staff or your insurance company regarding ample coverage. Battery-powered security cameras are easier for the end-user to install but many wide-spread security solutions run on mains power and must be connected to the internet to make the most of available features such as remote monitoring and alert systems.

Farsight work closely with a number of professional CCTV installation companies in the UK and are happy to discuss options with you to ensure you get the best possible service and installation for your commercial property.

If you do opt to install your own security cameras, check to ensure this will not affect your insurance policy and make sure to test your system fully, guaranteeing there are no blind spots and sensitive areas are monitored without infringing on staff.

This is a particularly important step when connecting cameras via Wi-Fi and will highlight any signal or networking issues before you have permanently fixed your camera to the wall. Both indoor and outdoor cameras will need to be maintained and cleaned. Keep this in mind for installation and make sure that cameras can be easily reached without causing unnecessary risk to employees.

CCTV Cameras and Business Intelligence

CCTV camera systems offer more benefits than simply security and can be used to help retailers, stores and commercial properties with customer footfall to identify busy areas, trends in routes and highlight problem areas that lead to bottlenecks and increase risk of shoplifting. Using video analytics with recorded footage can give stores the edge over their competitors and improve the overall shopping experience for customers, including improvement of store layouts and better line of sight for popular, top-selling products. Additionally, retailers and commercial staffing teams can be better optimised, reducing overstaffing and improving operating costs.

Read more about how CCTV camera systems can improve your business intelligence here.

Your Security Handled by Professionals

Now you know where to position CCTV cameras, why not invest in remote security monitoring for your business premises and give yourself peace of mind while saving on potential costs from damage, theft or high insurance premiums?

Farsight offers security camera remote monitoring with professional operators watching your property 24/7 or hours of your choosing. If we notice any unusual behaviour, we contact you and the emergency services immediately. We make it our goal to go beyond the industry standards and continually work towards achieving and maintaining accreditation.

Get in touch with our knowledgeable team today to find out how we could provide a comprehensive remote security camera monitoring solution for your commercial property.

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