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When investing in a new security system for your home or business, it’s easy to get caught up in looking at cameras and DVRs, without considering the different options available to monitor your CCTV. After all, it’s not much use to have your property constantly monitored by cameras if nobody looks at the footage! As with many things CCTV related, newcomers can often be put off by the number of options out there, but once you break it down there are some really simple and cost effective choices available, without any fuss or complications when installing them.
One of the simplest ways of viewing your cameras- and easily the most popular choice amongst home users- is to just connect them up to an existing TV. All of our Digital Video Recorders have a selection of video outputs, enabling them to connect to almost any television out there. These include what’s known as “composite” outputs- leading to the familiar red, yellow and white plugs- and VGA connections. Running your recorder into a home TV saves on money and space, integrated the system into your existing living room. It also makes it quick to switch to your cameras if you suspect anything!
The downside of this of course, is that it’s not exactly discreet! For business CCTV it’s often essential to have the cameras on a dedicated monitor, helping limit access so only specific staff can see them. Even for this use, you really don’t need expensive specialist screens, good quality computer monitors are more than suitable. We do of course have a range of high grade flatscreen monitors on stock if you need to complete a system, from basic devices to professional grade displays from Iiyama. These make use of the HDMI connections found on the back of our flagship realtime D1 recorders in order to present footage in crisp 1080p.
Of course, these solutions rely on being around to watch the footage- no use if you are on the road or away from your property! Luckily all of our multi-camera recorders now feature the ability to connect to your network via a router. Simply put, this allows you to monitor your CCTV using a secure connection over the internet, wherever you are! The online interface even allows you to change settings remotely, for example programming in a recording schedule. This also allows mobile access, meaning you can check in on your cameras simply using an iPhone, Android, or Windows handset or tablet.
We do of course provide full instructions for how to set up this remote access, but for those without an intimate knowledge of IP addresses and routers it can be an involved process. With this in mind, we also have an expert remote DVR set up service. For a one-time fee, one of our support agents can log into your computer and get everything configured for you, along with 3 months of ongoing support!
