CCTV Surveillance, Recording and Monitoring

Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) and camera technology has advanced dramatically over the last few years. The rapid development of new digital technology and the reduced cost of ownership, has put high quality identification, capture and recording technology within the reach of all Australian businesses. Low-budget systems today, in shops, private homes and offices are capable of performing tasks which only a few years ago were limited to multi-million dollar installations such as casinos, airports and government buildings. Just some of the features of current inexpensive technology include:

  • Facial Identification - the ability to recognise faces clearly, without distortion for identification, access control, safety and collecting criminal evidence. There is a significant difference between being able to recognise "a person" and being able to extract high quality imagery of a person's facial appearance for subsequent investigation or prosecution.
  • Low Light Recording - cameras which can record in nearly total darkness in colour and black and white.
  • Cash Register and Point-of-Sale (POS) Supervision - Ensure cashiers are putting the correct amounts through and identify fraud and pilfering.
  • Monitoring and Playback over the Internet - Watch your premises or play back recordings from anywhere in the world.
  • Number-plate recognition and capture - Record number plates of moving vehicles for later review or collect these in a database and use them to automatically control boom-gates on vehicle approach.
  • Motion Detection via Video - Identify intruders in areas where other alarm detectors might be limited, for example outdoors.
  • Automatic Motion Tracking - Pan/Tilt/Zoom Cameras which automatically follow pedestrians and other moving objects.
  • Remote Video Surveillance and Alarm Verification - Improve safety and encourage immediate police attendance using video to verify whether an alarm activation is due to a genuine crime in progress.
  • Video Analytics -Automatically identify suspicious behaviour, crowd emergencies or trespassing. Very useful in anti-terrorism and crowd safety.

Like implementation of most technology however, CCTV and Recording is highly dependent on the quality of the design and installation. In most cases, CCTV is used to capture evidence of criminal activity. It is important to have a proper specification and installation to ensure you don't 'miss anything'.

Getting it Right

Thanks to our consulting heritage, Calamity are vendor-neutral and adopt a formal design process to identify the best technology and how it should be implemented. We always start with a risk-assessment, to determine customer requirements and what you are trying to achieve. We can then work out the most appropriate solution. Your system may be 'manned', by a security officer or staff member who could pan/tilt/zoom cameras to closely watch various activities. Or it could be 'unmanned' and used for forensic (after the fact) review of 'what happened'. The requirements are quite different but in both cases, you only get one chance. If a camera misses any detail, it's gone forever.

Accordingly we do not use the (all too common) approach of "we'll put a camera here, here and here" and then hope for the best. Instead, we draw a specific site-plan (or use yours if you have one) and use Computer Aided Design (CAD) and calculation tools to work out:

  • Precise camera positioning
  • focal length (F-stop) and camera lens and iris type
  • magnification ratio
  • data links, cabling, analogue, IP and wireless video transmission
  • power and backup power requirements

as well as considering other factors, such as electromagnetic interference, to ensure the live and recorded images capture enough detail to be able to see very clearly "what happened" and "who did it". We then analyse and consider recording and supervisory equipment requirements.

Integration

New technology and convergence between IT and Physical Security systems is seeing a lot of camera technology moving onto data networks and images being transmitted over IP networks. Calamity is one of very few security companies, completely comfortable in both physical and IT security environments. Our experience in IT and Information Security means that integrating IP-based video technology with your data networks can be achieved without compromising your data networks' performance or your other information and IT assets. We caution prospective buyers that lots of available technology is immature and may not achieve expectations. We are wary of vendor hype and consider all technology in terms of risk-assessments and client requirements.

Assurance

Once any system has been designed, we will discuss it with you to ensure your needs have been met. We can then commence installation or project manage your own technicians and installers as required. Commissioning, training and handover will be subject to our quality control processes and we will not be happy until you are thrilled with the product we have delivered.

Maintenance

CCTV systems, particularly cameras do require regular maintenance. In most cases, this involves checking for focus and 'back-focus', recording quality, corrosion, clearing air-filters and cleaning lenses and camera housings. Calamity can assist with this process via a Maintenance and Service Agreement or on an ad-hoc basis. This will ensure a long and happy life for your equipment and protect your investment in security - and in turn the assets being protected.

Remote Camera Surveillance and Monitoring

Calamity's high-quality monitoring capability means your cameras can be monitored off-site in the case of incidents, break-in, hold-up and other emergencies. Read about our Monitoring Service to find out more.