What do you receommend for a seucity system?
a) Cameras
b) Alarms
We have 9 Cameras, fire and entrance alarms. All video is on hard drive, easy to search either by scan or date/time. All the employees know a camera is on our POS system and in the kitchen, I often mention events I know occurred when I wasn’t there to “let them know I’m looking at it”. Caught one server trying to steal money from the register when a lead server forgot to log out of her screen. I also got a crystal clear still photo of the video of someone helping themselves to some aluminum shelving behind my store.
That all being said, you really need to read your contract for whoever you choose to be your provider. When I was opening I was a bit overwhelmed because I was doing most of everything on my own. ADT proceeded to lock me into a ridiculous contract that I am now stuck in for 5 years. I’m trying to get out of it now but they want 7,350 to pay it off and release me.
Great system, questionable dealings. Just Google them and you’ll see all the trouble, I wish I would have done that before I signed. Just one of the many lessons I learned, please learn from my mistake, and read EVERYTHING before you sign. Before I get railed, I know I should have lol so save some typing guys. :roll:
WilliBoth
make sure you get motion sensing with your cctv. Nothing worse than knowing something happened in say 3 hours and having to watch it all (even at high speed). Much better to only have frames where something is happening. It also means that you can store more info as well.
We’ve got both in our current business and plan both again in our restaurant with the addition of a sensor that will read temps and text me/call me if they rise above a set point.
BTW…it’s related to this topic so, anyone use or hear of www.ravica.com?? looks pretty darn good to me in cost and in suitability. From what I’m reading one can install temp sensors, smoke sensors, and even motion & cameras all to the same hub.
both. Get an alarm system and cameras. Of course neither are worth a cent when the phone lines are cut or the power goes down. Most camera systems come with a battery back up good for maybe an hour. Speaking of alarm systems, you can have the best alarm system in the world but if someone cuts the phone lines, they become useless. There is always a way around that thought. Cell Phone backups. If you have cell phone backup, you need to have a cell phone always plugged in so the battery doesn’t die and the cell phone must be dedicated to the alarm. Put a camera on each entrance/exit, a camera on each register, one on any walkin freezer/ cooler doors and one or more in the kitchen. If anyone is in Missouri and would like to save some bucks on alarm monitoring, pm me. I can save you some major bucks.
Costco has some great camera package deals. Imo, it is not a good deal to get a system from an alarm company.
HUH?
I’ve seen cellular backups on alarms, but they arent a phone. They are a module that wires into the alarms communication bus.
Also, All professional alarm systems have a system backup battery to keep the system active for up to several days if utility power is lost.
I also would highly recommend a cellular backup on your alarm system.
That’s where I got an ubercool one. Maybe I will wire it around the house. 8 IR cameras, DVR, web access.
Our cell phone back up is in the ceiling and not your ordinary “cell phone”. They are provided by the alarm company and only used for the back up. Also if your phone lines are cut it sends a signal to central station that the phone lines have been cut.
We have both the alarm and camera. Our outdoor camera caught a local teen who was burglarizing area restaurants a few months ago…it was pretty cool. Luckily our outdoor IR set the alarm off so he didn’t break in our place but he was as clear as day on the camera. Went down the street and broke in another place the same night.
We are also on open and close monitoring which is nice.