Security is top priority in South Africa. Whether it’s protecting your assets or your loved ones, ensuring the safety of everyone and everything sets your mind at ease. With so many security measures available, it’s hard to choose what is ideal for you and your family.
How to Keep Your Property Secure
When keeping your property secure, you need to consider the various lines of defence that are available to you:
- Boundary walls and gates- This is your first line of defence. A tall boundary wall around your property and sturdy, lockable or motorized gates are the perfect way to prevent someone entering your property. Using palisade reinforced with sharp tips enhances the security factor too. The added bonus, is that a boundary wall increases your property’s resale value too.
- Burglar proofing- This second line of defence includes bars on your windows and security gates on any entrances to your premises. Adding security gates to your passage ways also ensure that it will be harder to reach certain parts of the premises, undetected.
- Alarm systems- Alarm systems are your third line of defence. This is your security measure that helps you alert emergency assistance and can often scare offenders off. Alarm triggers can be placed all around your property, both indoors (using door and window sensors and the traditional movement detectors) and outdoors (using lazer beams or sensors on the boundaries of your property).
- Cameras- Cameras are your overall line of defence and can often assist before an intrusion actually happens. With criminal activity on the rise, globally, more criminals are learning how to breach your first three lines of defence, making cameras more reliable. Footage of an attempted, or actual, invasion also ensures that you have evidence of who has broken into your premises.
Cameras are becoming the most popular security measure to use, here are a few things to consider before choosing which security camera system to use:
Analog vs IP CCTV Systems
Analog cameras are both inexpensive and easy to install. It’s as easy placing it in an area that you want covered and letting it record as you go along. Analog cameras usually record footage throughout the day and store the footage in its on-board memory or an SD card, which can be removed and viewed at a later stage. This footage can only be accessed from one device.
IP Cameras, however, store information on a recorder or in the cloud. This, along with remote connection to your camera, allows you to access real-time and stored footage from wherever you are, not just when you’re at the office.
Wireless or Wired
Wireless connection would need a strong Wi-Fi connection with decent bandwidth. The better your Wi-Fi connection, the better your ability to monitor up-to-date, real-time footage.
A wired connection is usually the most reliable, as there is less chance of signal being lost. However, you’ll need to consider loadshedding with both options.
Indoor or Outdoor
While it’s advisable to use both options, a budget still needs to be looked at. Many businesses choose the option of indoor cameras only, particularly at entry points of the home and in areas that may contain more valuable items, like a safe.
Outdoor cameras ensure that you are able to detect movement outside your premises before any damage is done to the property itself. It also keeps an eye on any assets.
Other Features to Consider
There are a variety of additional features that you can consider when choosing your security camera system that will ensure clear and accurate footage.
- Night Vision- Most invasions take place during the night or early hours of the morning, as the dark can help conceal perpetrators. Night vision ensures that your camera footage is clear and able to detect movement in the darkest areas.
- Field of View- Field of view refers to how much area your camera lens can cover. If you’re only planning on installing a few cameras, it’s important to choose a camera with a wide field of view, preferably a range of 110° and 360°.
- Video Quality-We’ve all seen security camera footage where it’s difficult to see whether it’s a person walking and a tree moving. Whilst most footage won’t exactly be like sitting in the front seat of an IMAX theatre, it’s important to choose a camera that has a 4K resolution or higher.
- Audio Recording- Audio recording is not essential; however, it does make it easier to identify someone in your video footage. It further enhances any evidence needed, by allowing authorities to hear any conversations that took place at the time.
- Facial Recognition- This technology not only helps you to identify criminals, it also helps you to keep an eye on your business assets.
There is so many options available to you. The most important factors to consider are your budget and the function of your business security functions. Once you’ve factored in all the features that are ideal for your personal needs, you can browse through our variety of security camera options here.
