Security Cameras that Record 24/7 or by Schedule

Modern surveillance systems come with advanced features that would be unprecedented even just a few years ago. They’re able to capture higher resolutions, display footage in real-time on mobile devices, and store more footage than ever before. That extra storage necessitates features that make footage easier to access and manage.

Advanced systems by  CCTV Security Pros can be easily programmed to record 24/7, on a schedule, or automatically begin recording when they detect motion. Read on to learn more about the benefits, requirements, and limitations of each setting.

Planning a Surveillance System

There are different reasons you may want to set up a professional video monitoring system for your business. Perhaps, you want to complement your business security system, in light of your growing security concerns as your business grows. Or maybe, you simply want to keep a close eye on things when you’re away or even deter would-be thieves with security cameras that record 24/7, on schedule, or on motion detection to ensure your business assets are secure. So what recording option best suits your business and your video monitoring needs?

What to Consider First

It’s important to confirm whether your security cameras or system can satisfy your video recording needs and requirements. Consider this first:

• Can the Security Cameras Capture the Details I Want?
  Assume that you’re reviewing the recorded surveillance videos captured by security cameras that record 24/7 or on schedule, but all you can see is blurred footage without the details you want, such as faces and license plates. This means that you can’t record what you want. In order to capture the details you want from a distance, invest in at least 2MP or 4MP and higher full high definition security cameras with optical zoom function for easy identification of details from far-away objects.

  Clear surveillance footage is extremely vital for case investigation, should a crime like vandalism or workplace harassment happen. That’s why you need to opt for quality 1080p security cameras with the right storage option to meet your video recording needs.

• Is There any Video Loss When Recording Camera Footage?
  

  Video loss can be a big problem, especially for vital video footage from security cameras that record on motion, 24/7 or on schedule. If your business is vandalized, and your installed security cameras fail to capture such important events, then there’s no point of operating video surveillance. To avoid such disappointments, ensure your security cameras have no video loss issues or recording delays, especially for recording motion detection. You want to be sure that your cameras can reliably record complete events.

24-Hour Video Recording

Customer demand for continuous recording in commercial security cameras and systems has been on the rise for years, Many industries like municipal, casinos, banks, hospitals, and key government facilities require 24/7 video recording. In some cases, continuous recording is demanded due to regulations, and in others simply because their business necessitates an exceptionally secure environment.

In fact, most businesses that opt for security cameras that record 24/7 do so for evidential purposes. The fear of missing an event when it happens is perhaps the leading reason why many businesses are choosing this recording mode. Even when videos are recorded at a reduced frame rate, this option offers a sensible solution for businesses that want to record footage continuously, without spending too much on storage.

The good news is, data storage and file management are quite easy for 24/7 recording. You have multiple options - recording your videos on a  network video recorder (NVR), a digital video recorder (DVR), a PC with the Client running or in the cloud. Video recorders (NVRs & DVRs) often come with their own internal storage that could range anywhere from ITB to 12TB or more. Video recorders are your best choice but may quickly consume your data storage.

A good option to ensure longer recording time and larger save space is to lower the bitrate of your videos. Higher bitrates mean the image will be better and audio quality great, but that also means your video file size will be bigger. You can also connect 24-hour live streaming security cameras to a PC and run the client software so you can start recording using the PC as the storage point. Cloud storage is also an option for security cameras that record 24/7 but may be limited and will cost you money for more storage.

Motion Detection Recording

Motion detection recording is also fast gaining ground among business owners, especially small and medium businesses who don’t have the budget to manage the massive storage requirements of 24/7 recording. Unless you’re intentionally deleting recorded videos after a specific period of time, say weekly as many casinos do, storage savings are actually the leading reason why you may want to consider recording on motion.

Motion detection and recording security cameras are mostly installed in uncommon areas like stairwells, hallways, data centers, backyards, backdoors, storage rooms, and others where businesses would wish to have an additional layer of security. Most of these places are likely to experience any motion 30% of the time or less. Installing security cameras that record on motion detection in such areas has the potential benefits of reducing the storage hard disks needed while also increasing the overall retention period for archived video footage proportionately.

These savings are, especially substantial if you have a surveillance system with multiple motion detection security cameras. Any surveillance scene that experiences 50% motion or less will reduce hard disk storage requirements by half, saving you money. Another great benefit of motion-based recording is the reduced number of video operators needed to review the recorded footage in case an incident happens, so long as the motion detection is working well.

For businesses that want to store their surveillance videos for at least 30 days and enjoy high video quality while staying within budget for their data storage, motion-based recording is the best option. This is ideal if you have numerous security cameras deployed. In some cases, it makes more sense to record activity. So, opting for security cameras that record on motion detection only when needed, with preset recording settings is the way to go.

Storage space efficiency and access to event records easily and fast are the key sellers for this option, especially for businesses that are only open 12 hours a day. Storage options for motion detection security cameras include SD cards inside cameras, NVRs and DVRs and even cloud storage. The good news is that you get to save on storage costs and avoid the big file size burden associated with 24/7 recording.

Scheduled Recording

You can also set up a recording schedule on your DVR or NVR. With the advancement of surveillance technology over the years, video surveillance recorders now offer a variety of recording options for security cameras that record on schedule. You can easily configure them based on your surveillance requirements based on different methods like calendar-based, alarm-based, continuous-based, motion-activation based, or when there’s audio, doorbell, tampering, door unlock, or door access detection, among others.

You can configure each of these recording schedules individually for each security camera or copy them to all cameras. In order for each of the following detection functions to work properly. Your security cameras and recording system have to be equipped with the related features. Scheduled recording is ideal for retail businesses, warehouses, loading docks and parking lots where you have different activities going on but only want to record specific activity.

Storage for security cameras that record on schedule also varies - it could be an NVR, DVR, internal SD card inside a camera or cloud storage. Video recorders are a great option due to their versatility in storage options but will need time to configure and manage recording schedules and videos. Cloud storage may be flexible but can end up being costly.

The Bottom line

No matter which recording option you choose, it’s important to test each of your security cameras and recording devices on a regular basis. Sometimes, vendors may update the firmware on one component in a surveillance system that may require other components to be updated manually before it gets to work again. Check theta your recorded footage meets your surveillance requirements.

To learn more about security camera options with motion detection, 24/7 recording, and scheduled recording, don’t hesitate to talk to CCTV Security Pros.  Contact us if you have questions or visit our Learning Center to learn more.