I'm trying to put together a good camera system for my business, and I'm looking to spend somewhere around $2500 for it. There is about 1500 sq. feet indoors that needs to be covered, and about a quarter mile outdoors for the property. I was thinking about having a 16 camera system and was hoping to get some assistance in assembling one. I'd read some good things about Hikvision, but I have no experience in determining what NVR or cameras to get. Night vision is a must, and I would like to receive audio if possible. I'll have a television in the main office and am looking to run Cat-5 cables for the length of the cameras. I read that wired cameras were the way to go for this sort of thing, but I'm not sure where to begin.
Looking for IP Camera system for Business
- Thread starter RS229
- Start date
Remember that you are limited to 300ft. on your cable runs. You will probably need to put switches in or you can go with PoE extenders as another option. Post up a google earth view of the property and maybe post some pictures of where you'd like to mount cameras. That way we can recommend camera types, mounts, etc.
Google Maps
This is the Google Earth of the property.
I'm wanting to put around 7 or so cameras inside the building with the red roof. On both the front and the back of the same building I'd like to have cameras pointing down to the ends to see vehicles entering and exiting. Also, I would like to run a few cameras down either end to get a view the length under the end of the sheds.
This is the Google Earth of the property.
I'm wanting to put around 7 or so cameras inside the building with the red roof. On both the front and the back of the same building I'd like to have cameras pointing down to the ends to see vehicles entering and exiting. Also, I would like to run a few cameras down either end to get a view the length under the end of the sheds.
zero-degrees
Known around here
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2015
- Messages
- 1,350
- Reaction score
- 847
Lot of options here but there are a lot of questions in order to recommend a system.
What are we dealing with inside? 8' ceilings or 15'+ ceilings?
What are you trying to accomplish inside? Are you dealing with a flea market type setup, a store with a lot of aisles, etc?
These are just some of the general questions you need to consider. HIK has quality products but some of their products do lack when it comes to night vision/IR depending on the location and what you are trying to accomplish.
As for the distance - POE is certified to around 330' and then you need to run another switch - meaning if your camera will be placed 330'+ away from the NVR/Switch it may not work (when it comes to textbook). HOWEVER plenty of people have run cameras 500+' with no issues using quality cable - Ebiquiti TOUGHCable has some great first hand testimony here.
Cameras with Matrix IR's are going to give you much better IR night images instead of domes with IR clusters, however depending on where you are mounting these you might need security domes if they are within reach/accessable by customers. Just assure NO security domes are used outside in the elements as if they get rain or snow on them the water spots will becoming blinding by the IR.
What are we dealing with inside? 8' ceilings or 15'+ ceilings?
What are you trying to accomplish inside? Are you dealing with a flea market type setup, a store with a lot of aisles, etc?
- Watching over the entire area just to see business flow and general views?
- Wanting to ID every face that comes in and out?
- Watch POS/Cash Registers and the transactions that occure?
- Just ID make and Model of car?
- Read License plates of every car as they enter/exit?
- Just simply see customer traffic walking outside?
These are just some of the general questions you need to consider. HIK has quality products but some of their products do lack when it comes to night vision/IR depending on the location and what you are trying to accomplish.
As for the distance - POE is certified to around 330' and then you need to run another switch - meaning if your camera will be placed 330'+ away from the NVR/Switch it may not work (when it comes to textbook). HOWEVER plenty of people have run cameras 500+' with no issues using quality cable - Ebiquiti TOUGHCable has some great first hand testimony here.
Cameras with Matrix IR's are going to give you much better IR night images instead of domes with IR clusters, however depending on where you are mounting these you might need security domes if they are within reach/accessable by customers. Just assure NO security domes are used outside in the elements as if they get rain or snow on them the water spots will becoming blinding by the IR.
On the inside, the main thing I'm attempting to do is watch the merchandise and the people closely enough so that I can identify if a theft has occurred and identify. Also, we have a POS system and I would like to be able to monitor what is going on with transactions and, if ever necessary, see if money is making its way into the register correctly. However I am also putting this system up in case of any break-ins at night. Historically this has never happened, but if such a thing did happen I'd like to provide as much evidence to the police as possible.
The outside is a little bit different. For the most part I am wanting to see vehicles as they enter and exit and have quality enough to see the license plates. Night vision is also a necessity here. I understand that it's likely too difficult to read a license plate number as a vehicle leaves, but I would like to see the numbers as they pass by the camera in close range.
I suppose since you said an "all of the above" answer doesn't exactly suffice for this situation, then it might be easiest to say on the inside I need one camera to watch the POS system, and the rest to be able to reasonably identify a face in case of stolen merchandise. On the outside the two cameras on both the front and back of the red building (as I stated I wanted to put up in my earlier post), need to be the highest quality because they are specifically for identifying cars. I'd like for all of the cameras to be night vision if possible.
The outside is a little bit different. For the most part I am wanting to see vehicles as they enter and exit and have quality enough to see the license plates. Night vision is also a necessity here. I understand that it's likely too difficult to read a license plate number as a vehicle leaves, but I would like to see the numbers as they pass by the camera in close range.
I suppose since you said an "all of the above" answer doesn't exactly suffice for this situation, then it might be easiest to say on the inside I need one camera to watch the POS system, and the rest to be able to reasonably identify a face in case of stolen merchandise. On the outside the two cameras on both the front and back of the red building (as I stated I wanted to put up in my earlier post), need to be the highest quality because they are specifically for identifying cars. I'd like for all of the cameras to be night vision if possible.
zero-degrees
Known around here
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2015
- Messages
- 1,350
- Reaction score
- 847
For license plate reading know that camera will do NOTHING other then read plates, so for every camera you have capturing plates, know that it will not do anything else.
Inside, consider Matrix IR cameras (Turrets) You will want 4mm or 6mm pointing at the door to get nice ID shots when people walk in.
For the POS you will want a camera over the register so you can see transaction activity and see money being placed in the physical register. To many times cameras are behind or over the shoulder and you can no see the physical money enter the cash register. This camera will not provide ID of anything as it will be pointed down. Some NVR's have a POS intigration option so it will over lay the transaction on the video of a camera, however compatibility between systems is limited. If your POS is windows based / there are a few software programs out for sub $99 that turn your screen into an ONVIF compliant channel and simply stream your screen to the NVR as if it was a camera so in playback you simply playback 2 cameras (the screen and the physical camera) to acheive the same thing as an overlay. Only downside to this really is that it takes up another camera stream
Now you'll want another camera most likely 4mm pointing from behind the counter at the register so you can see people / ID as they approach to pay.
Cameras throughout will need to all be 4mm if you want to see ID/physical theft. 2.8 and 3mm cameras will provide you a nice over watch to see a lot and even provide some ID possibilities, however it will have its limits.
Outdoors, you will want Bullet/Box cameras with mult IR matrix sensors and you may want to consider adding additional IR lighting to assist with your night vision. You can very easily wire in some IR lights on the building i'm sure to help provide additional IR light at night.
Inside, consider Matrix IR cameras (Turrets) You will want 4mm or 6mm pointing at the door to get nice ID shots when people walk in.
For the POS you will want a camera over the register so you can see transaction activity and see money being placed in the physical register. To many times cameras are behind or over the shoulder and you can no see the physical money enter the cash register. This camera will not provide ID of anything as it will be pointed down. Some NVR's have a POS intigration option so it will over lay the transaction on the video of a camera, however compatibility between systems is limited. If your POS is windows based / there are a few software programs out for sub $99 that turn your screen into an ONVIF compliant channel and simply stream your screen to the NVR as if it was a camera so in playback you simply playback 2 cameras (the screen and the physical camera) to acheive the same thing as an overlay. Only downside to this really is that it takes up another camera stream
Now you'll want another camera most likely 4mm pointing from behind the counter at the register so you can see people / ID as they approach to pay.
Cameras throughout will need to all be 4mm if you want to see ID/physical theft. 2.8 and 3mm cameras will provide you a nice over watch to see a lot and even provide some ID possibilities, however it will have its limits.
Outdoors, you will want Bullet/Box cameras with mult IR matrix sensors and you may want to consider adding additional IR lighting to assist with your night vision. You can very easily wire in some IR lights on the building i'm sure to help provide additional IR light at night.
Okay so I'm writing all of this down and I'm going to do some looking around based off of these recommendations. I assume that all of these recommendations are for Hikvision cameras, yeah? Also, what sort of NVR should I be looking to get?
tangent
IPCT Contributor
- Joined
- May 12, 2016
- Messages
- 4,427
- Reaction score
- 3,669
It would work better to put cameras on the building closer to the entrance/exit for license plates.
Dahua and Hikvision are the brands most people here use.
I'm assuming you're planning the DIY the installation (I got that impression but could be wrong). If that's the case take it slow. Their are a lot of things your need to learn to do it right and you'll learn from your mistakes as you go.
nayr
IPCT Contributor
Sounds like inside is where you want to focus, I agree with @tangent, get a good DVR and a couple cameras and see how they fit your situation.. play with locations/zoom levels and use temporary mounting til your happy enough to fix em permanently.. If you need something vastly different you can use those elsewhere they might achieve better results, or if you get great results you take what you learned and move on to the next couple cameras.
Get your hands on a couple of these to start testing: Dahua Starlight Varifocal Turret (IPC-HDW5231R-Z) they are varifocal so they can be adjusted to any FOV you need.
A few things to address:
termination points, do you have a secure room you can terminate all the wiring in? or will you need to install secure cabinets to hold them?
What POS system do you have? If it has an external computer display you can get devices that sit between the POS computer and monitor that converts the video into a security video feed you can then record onto your NVR.. combined with an overhead camera you can see what's being done on the register and whats happening in reality.
You say a 1/4mile outside, need more details.. do you want a cam a 1/4mile away or want a big ptz that can be used to watch the property from the building?
Check with local laws with audio recording, for commercial buildings your often required at least to post a notice.. many places consider it eavesdroping if you dont provide warning or everyone recorded has to give approval.
Get your hands on a couple of these to start testing: Dahua Starlight Varifocal Turret (IPC-HDW5231R-Z) they are varifocal so they can be adjusted to any FOV you need.
A few things to address:
termination points, do you have a secure room you can terminate all the wiring in? or will you need to install secure cabinets to hold them?
What POS system do you have? If it has an external computer display you can get devices that sit between the POS computer and monitor that converts the video into a security video feed you can then record onto your NVR.. combined with an overhead camera you can see what's being done on the register and whats happening in reality.
You say a 1/4mile outside, need more details.. do you want a cam a 1/4mile away or want a big ptz that can be used to watch the property from the building?
Check with local laws with audio recording, for commercial buildings your often required at least to post a notice.. many places consider it eavesdroping if you dont provide warning or everyone recorded has to give approval.
Thanks for helping out with this question. Let me answer some of your questions.
We have a place where we will house all of the wiring and it will be in a separate, secure room.
We use quickbooks POS. I'd like to get an overhead camera placed to do as you describe.
Quarter mile is actually a big overstatement. We need around 500 feet leading from the center moving outwards, and that 500 feet is the distance we want to put the camera itself. It needs to watch outward from there.
Thank you for informing me about the local law notice. Given what I've observed we almost certainly need to post a notice.
We have a place where we will house all of the wiring and it will be in a separate, secure room.
We use quickbooks POS. I'd like to get an overhead camera placed to do as you describe.
Quarter mile is actually a big overstatement. We need around 500 feet leading from the center moving outwards, and that 500 feet is the distance we want to put the camera itself. It needs to watch outward from there.
Thank you for informing me about the local law notice. Given what I've observed we almost certainly need to post a notice.