Restaurants are fast-paced, low margin businesses in a cut-throat industry where few succeed and fewer still flourish. Many factors make it difficult for restaurants to succeed, without even taking into account the erosion that can be caused by untrustworthy employees, fraudulent lawsuits or dine-and-dash customers. At least these factors can be abated with a quality security camera system. As an owner or manager, you can’t always be at the restaurant 24/7. However, with security cameras in place, managers or owners can keep an eye on what is happening all the time from anywhere in the world. The latest security camera systems even employ the ability to watch your cameras right on a tablet, PC, laptop, iPhone, Android, BlackBerry or other PDA device from anywhere in the world with High Definition TV Video streams so that you can zoom in live or after the fact to really see what is going on at your business. There are several different major styles of security cameras systems for restaurants, ranging from traditional CCTV cameras to High Definition MegaPixel IP Cameras. Each style of system provides benefits for the restaurant owner, and can deliver various features and benefits. Traditional CCTV systems provide great flexibility for lower budget applications, while High Definition HDTV IP Security Cameras deliver higher quality video that allow for zooming in on live video or playback, allowing owners to use less cameras with higher quality video.
Many security camera systems are on the market today, and are available in several different system types that offer varying features and quality. Traditional CCTV security cameras are still very popular for restaurant security camera installations, as they provide great quality video up to 720×480 resolution with excellent day and night vision and motion detection video recording. These systems are very popular for their relatively inexpensive nature, digital motion detection recording and remote viewing capabilities (which vary per system). Traditional CCTV systems are available in PC Based systems which record onto a PC with a DVR card, and Standalone DVR systems which have a separate video recorder and range in price dependent on the features of the system.
The newest style restaurant security camera system designs include the new HD quality IP cameras. These systems employ IP style cameras that can record at much higher resolutions (7-25 times the resolution of traditional cameras). There cameras have a built-in network card and video processor, to send the video directly over the network to a computer running an NVR software. The NVR software will allow you to record from multiple cameras in high definition, perform motion detection recording, forensically zoom in on live and pre-recorded footage and remotely view your cameras in high definition over the internet. While slightly more expensive than the traditional CCTV security camera systems, High Definition IP camera systems deliver much higher quality video than CCTV cameras, so less cameras are needed to provide more coverage in higher detail. The cables used for these new High Definition camera systems are also smaller and less expensive, making it much easier to install a camera system. Just one CAT-5 network cable is needed for each IP camera, and in many cases, can carry the power from a PoE switch to the camera, and connect the camera to the network to deliver the video to your NVR recorder. With reduction of cameras, and reduction of cabling costs, HDTV security camera systems come into range even for smaller restaurants and chains. With professional-grade IP camera NVR software, multi-location restaurants can even backup the video over the internet to a home office location, where video can be easily reviewed when needed.
Whether you are looking for a basic coverage of your restaurant, or want to be able to see details in high definition, security cameras are a great choice for your restaurant. Having cameras in place provides a deterrent to employees and customers, making them think twice before conducting behavior that is inappropriate. With employees, having cameras in place can also help prevent them from sitting around when there is work to be done. If something happens, security cameras with remote access will allow you to tap in and see exactly what is occurring when it happens from an iPhone, Android, Blackberry or other PC or Laptop. See live video and play back pre-recorded footage remotely, allowing you to stay connected, no matter what happens.
