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How to choose a Video Surveillance System

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Selecting a video surveillance system will depend, in part, on the nature of your home: size, layout, number of possible entry points, etc. Before purchasing a video surveillance system, figure out exactly why you need this technology and where you’d like to have the cameras mounted.

2WBut one thing’s for sure; no matter how many cameras you have, they must be able to provide a good view of prominent areas like rooftops, attics, doorways and other locations where intruders can gain entry or hide.

Another thing to consider is the hidden camera, if you want to build evidence, not just deter an intruder. For instance, who keeps stealing your milk? One homeowner wanted to find out who kept taking off with his freshly delivered milk every morning. The hidden surveillance recorded the thief in action: the neighbor’s dog.

A camera in plain sight, though, is a very effective deterrent to potential intruders and vandals.

Camera Types

  • Box camera. Nothing fancy here, but this style is very practical and cost effective, some with the capacity for interchangeable lenses. They’re perhaps the most commonly used.
  • Dome camera. Some makes have interchangeable lenses, and this type can be easily mounted in many locations and are not as bulky as the box type.
  • Bullet camera. This style can vary greatly in size, are good deterrents simply by their look, and can come with the interchangeable lens option.
  • PTZ (pan-tilt-zoom) come with more monitoring and installation choices, including a panoramic view just from a single unit. Most are remote controlled.

Indoor and outdoor cameras differ, mainly in that outdoor cameras are bigger and tougher to withstand tampering as well as the elements. However, nowadays higher-end cameras can function for both indoor and outdoor surveillance. Also, some outdoor cameras can be disguised as common items like a hose reel or a rock.

Wired or wireless? No matter what, your camera will need a wire. That wire may be “cat5” which is an internet cable also know as a “networked camera”. Or, the camera will need a power cable to plug into an outlet or hardwired back to a panel. Otherwise wired cameras are generally considered “analog” which means the video signal travels through the cable itself back to a digital video recorder. So one way or another, you have to have wires.

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to BestHomeSecurityCompanys.com discussing burglar proofing your home on Fox Boston. Disclosures.

How to Spend More Money on Home Security

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Lets face it, if you had it you’d spend it, and what better way than on your families security! In today’s high tech connected world a networked and remotely monitored home security system is the way to go.

Keyless Access: Door locks that require a pincode make it easier to access without fumbling for keys. Many keyless locks are smart and can be set to allow contractors limited one time PIN access.

Remote Control Alarms: For a few extra bucks you can add remote controls to an alarm system that allow you to activate or deactivate from the driveway or online.

Robot Cameras: New and very expensive robotic camera equipped technologies will roam your property taking full day and night video.

Remote Monitoring: Having someone monitor a video surveillance system 24/7/365 is close to having feet on the ground. These same systems come equipped with speakers used to yell at the trespassers.

Bullet Proof: If you’re especially concerned about flying bullets then installing bullet proof glass, doors and shoring up your walls with bullet proof steal is a must.

Panic or Safe Rooms: A safe room provides a space where you can survive a tornado, hurricane or home invasion with little or no injury.  Residents can hide out in a relatively bullet proof, well stocked room equipped with wireless communications and wait for law enforcement to show up.

16 or 32 Camera Surveillance System: Once you go beyond 8 cameras prices start to rise. However 16 or even 32 cameras will provide you with a bird’s eye view of every single nook and cranny of your home extending into your neighborhood.

Robert Siciliano personal security expert to Home Security Source discussing Self Defense on Fox Boston

Woman Captures Alleged Theft on Video

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Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert

If I’ve said this a bazillion times I’ll say it again, video rules! Being able to access video footage of the day’s or evening’s “goings on” provides a tremendous amount of security. The UK has always been the leader in introducing video surveillance in public.

“Public video surveillance in the UK began very unassumingly in 1986, on a single square mile industrial estate outside the English town of King’s Lynn. Three CCTV video surveillance cameras were used and their impact was immediate. In the years before the cameras were installed, there had been 58 crimes (mostly vandalism) recorded on the estate. In the two years following the installation, there were no crimes reported”

Since then, millions of video cameras have been installed all over Europe, Asia and the United States.  Residential adoption of home security cameras is growing here in the states too. People everywhere now understand the benefits of being able to record activity that goes on at your residence while you are home or away. There is a tremendous piece of mind that goes along with being able to securely and remotely monitor over the Internet, what goes on at your home.


“A Chicago woman says someone stole her boyfriend’s brand new computer that had just been delivered to her apartment building lobby. She caught the theft on videotape and police tell her there have been dozens of similar cases in the past two weeks. A security camera set up in the lobby of the building clearly shows a delivery person entering the front door of the building. The videotape shows a man walking up to the front door, apparently referring to a message on his phone and then punching in an access code to open the front door. Less than a minute later, the video shows the man leaving the building with the package under his arm, then running down the street.”


Scenes like this are playing out all over the country. In many cases, home video surveillance is a great deterrent. With posted signage to add another layer of security, a criminal will generally think twice about stealing from “that” home and move onto one that doesn’t have video. Criminals don’t want to get caught for their bad deeds, and if a camera is on them they are less likely to strike.


The benefits of installing a home security system go way beyond deterrence or catching the bad guy. When you are at work, you can check in on your family at home. If you have a babysitter or nanny at the house, you can check in from the road. Some home security surveillance systems applications allow you to check in from a mobile phone too. If you have a vacation home, having a surveillance system installed there is fantastic.  And if you have an elderly parent who is home alone, having a security camera checking on them is a wonderful piece of mind.


Robert Siciliano personal security expert to Home Security Source discussing home security on Fox Boston Show. Disclosures