The original intent of CCTV systems was to provide store owners a measure of protection against shoplifters. This original intent has expanded and CCTV systems now provide multiple other services for business owners. The property that CCTV systems help to protect now includes physical property also.

It is difficult today to enter any store and not see at least one CCTV camera that is part of a CCTV system present. What many people don’t realize is that CCTV cameras are also present outdoors also. These cameras provide 24 hour surveillance of gas pumps, store parking lots, entrances and perimeters to plants and warehouses and the lobbies of public buildings. These outdoor cameras provide physical property protection for the building owners.

CCTV cameras that are outdoors can often be recognized. The housing that holds the camera may be the size of a loaf of bread. Alternatively the housing can be a dome that is smoked glass or glazed silver or gold. These dome housings hang like pendants from walls and light poles. The cameras that are in the domes are often mounted to pan/tilt heads and equipped with telephoto zoom lenses. These devices permit the camera to scan the entire area around the camera and are not fixed to a single location. Should trespass be viewed by the operator, the pan/tilt head can be stopped in the location of the trespass, the camera zoomed in to the trespasser and the movements of that person followed with the pan/tilt function controlled manually. This ability allows one camera to do the function of several cameras thus reducing the overall cost of the CCTV system while increasing its effectiveness.

Exterior CCTV cameras and their housings are often subject to vandalism. This vandalism may be teens attempting to destroy something “just for the fun of it” or an actual intruder attempting to deny security their identification. Manufacturers are well aware of this problem and for areas that are or may be subject to vandalism provide ballistic rated housings. These ballistic rated housings are strong enough to withstand a bullet shot at the camera housing. More expensive than standard housings, for many areas, ballistic rated housings provide a cost savings to the owners of the property.

The utilization of security cameras to secure physical property, warehouses, truck parking areas, plants and parking lots provides the owner of the property the assurance that the property is always being looked after. The property owner does not have to pay a security staff to patrol the premises. This reduction in staff will pay for itself in a short time thus increasing the profit margin of the company. Additional savings may arise from a lowered insurance rate due to the CCTV system that is in place.

CCTV systems today can even be monitored remotely through the Internet. This ability permits the owner to no longer have a full time security staff at the plant after hours. Should motion be detected the images from that camera are transmitted to the central station where they can be viewed and remedial actions determined. CCTV systems still protect against shoplifting, however the job of property protection has expanded for CCTV systems and will continue to expand in the future.

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