For businesses that want to beef up security, you might have to consider which option is best for you–video surveillance cameras or security cameras? At first, you might think that they’re the same thing. Often, the two go hand-in-hand. However, there are a few distinct differences that make choosing one or the other crucial for the protection of your business. To help you decide which is best for your business, here are the differences between a video surveillance camera and a security camera as well as some of their similarities.
Video Surveillance Camera
When you think about a team of people watching videos to figure out who had broken into a building, then you’re thinking about video surveillance. These are the cameras that are continuously on and are stationed around key points in the building. All of their footage is uploaded either on-site, off-site, or to a cloud. For businesses who have their building under constant surveillance, that’s a lot of footage that needs to be stored. It’s why more and more businesses are seeking security options that come with cloud storage.
This keeps from clogging up their own memory banks with footage that might otherwise be unneeded. Video surveillance is used usually after a crime has been committed. If the business is broken into, then the police sift through the footage recordings to look for suspicious individuals. They can be used to identify suspects and potentially lead to their arrest.
The key thing to remember about video surveillance is that it is used primarily after a crime has already been committed. It can also be hidden away, so criminals aren’t aware that they’re being filmed. The emphasis is placed on catching them afterward.
For some businesses, they would prefer that the crime never occurred in the first place. That’s where business security cameras come into play.
Business Security Cameras
When you’re thinking about business security cameras, you’re thinking about alerts and alarms that go off when the camera detects movement. These alarms can be loud to ward off the criminal. Or it can be silent so that the police can be notified and make their way to your business to apprehend the criminal while they’re in the act of stealing.
The emphasis of business security cameras is that it’s used as a preventative tool. For a security camera expert, the overall goal is to lower the risk of the business for being robbed. The presence of a security camera after security camera installation wards off criminals. They don’t want to be caught. With an obvious camera over a door or window, criminals will be less likely to try their chances at breaking into the business.
Another benefit that a security camera expert will tell you is that it allows you to be notified in real-time when something fishy is happening. As a business owner, you likely want to know, too, if something untoward is happening at your business. After a quick and easy security camera installation, you can be notified when someone is attempting to enter your business. It may be harmless. Perhaps an employee forgot something at work. Perhaps your co-owner needed to stop by to do extra work.
These circumstances can be alerted to you, and you can okay their presence without involving the police. Otherwise, you can act immediately to have law enforcement arrive to handle the criminal.
Similarities
At the end of the day, video surveillance cameras and business security cameras are similar. They both record what they’re seeing. They can also be downgraded and upgraded to become surveillance or simple cameras. Choose what’s best for you.
At Dixon Security, we are security system experts. Call us at 801-455-0413 for a FREE on-site evaluation of your security camera needs.
