When building your I-502 system it is important to plan your security layout, contingency and congruency options. What does this mean exactly? It means planning for the worst case scenario. Planning for all foreseeable contingencies and running congruent systems to compartmentalize as much damage to the system as a worst case scenario can create. When we here at Security Camera King plot your camera layout we take many factors into account, and in doing so we account for contingency and congruency in many ways. My goal here is to further your awareness and allow for you to consider all choices with a conscious understanding of your infrastructure options when it comes to your cameras, digital video recorders, and cabling. These ideas and strategies can be applied to all your systems, including access control, loss prevention, employee accountability and even some growing strategies.
The first step is planning for contingencies and presenting the strongest defense one can have. “Preparation is key” as any good boy scout will tell you. Contingency planning is simply preparing for the worst case scenario and often the impossible or unlikely. In considering these things you will find your business encountering far fewer slow-downs during emergencies. This can be extremely important with an I-502 surveillance system. For example let us consider for a moment the unlikely scenario of a fire in a grow room: Damaged surveillance cameras could cause an entire suspension of production for the facility due to lack of CCTV coverage. Having this added issue cutting further into your profits than just the initial loss of product and damage could be a devastating blow to a business. Meanwhile having a spare camera, cable and perhaps grow equipment could bring that room back to recovery much faster than ordering replacements would allow. Neatly avoiding rush shipping which can be an expensive emergency cost if your budget isn’t prepared for it. While extremely unlikely or improbable everything is subject to Murphy’s Law and even though these events are indeed unlikely and more so improbable, they are still a very real possibility. Having extra cameras on hand or a digital video recorder and hard drive if your budget allows can benefit you in multiple ways. For example if an opportunity to expand or grow avails itself you may be able to yield an extra crop. Contingency planning and purchases can and should include other items such as generators, battery backups, and surge protectors to protect against harmful lightning strikes or power surges and failures. This will allow you to continue working and protect your product when others may lose their ability to produce. Having your surveillance system consistently running may keep you above reproach when the Liquor Control Board questions your actions or accountability during a power outage. It can also allow you more flexibility in your infrastructure as it pertains to organizing and congruency.
The second part to security/surveillance systems planning is congruency. Congruency planning is preparing and planning your system so that it can be interchanged and switched due to damage or as relevant to your operations growth and the change of the shape of your layout. It is the art of interchangeable compartmentalization.
Congruency planning is best explained and very similar to how you plan congruency in your crop as a grower or farmer. The phrase “don’t put all your eggs in one basket” is a simple and shrewd business strategy that can be applied to both your grow and your surveillance systems. Just as you have multiple rooms or greenhouses to prevent excessive sex change, so can you have multiple digital video recorder systems in case one is vandalized by a manager knowing he is about to be terminated or by an act of God. For example, having multiple small digital video recorders with one or two ports unused allows that if you need to expand or move cameras from one digital video recorder to another you are free to do so without having any loss in coverage. No fretting, no hassle, quick resolutions to emergency situations. Another part of congruency is utilizing the same hardware throughout your facility. Whether it be cameras, digital video recorders, hard drives, or cabling it can all be simplified to the same item types to allow for congruent systems. This makes any individual part of your system interchangeable with the other. Say you want enlarge one room and shorten another. Relocating a camera is far easier when it doesn’t matter which camera you move. From running multiple systems to using the same digital video recorders, congruency is an integral part of planning your surveillance system. Congruency is a simple solution for contingency planning and your most effective option.
So what can we do to help? First we take into account your needs when we give you your initial layout and quote. We leave room for you to expand your system as your business grows, from adding cameras to alarm inputs and outputs. Next we provide multiple solutions to your surveillance and security needs. We look at each case and assess whether it is more effective to utilize two 16 channel digital video recorder units or one 32 channel digital video recorder unit. In each case we carefully plan out your system to offer you the optimal solution for your layout. Not only that, we guarantee you will pass inspection if you follow our recommendations! We stand by our quotes and our assessments. Beyond that our tech support is for the lifetime of the product, available to help you adjust your set up as needed. We can also help you with your access control needs and simplify your layouts for these systems as well by maintaining equipment redundancy. Access control is just another aspect of the field we specialize in, again providing you with unparalleled service and support.
We offer you multiple solutions to your surveillance requisites, all the while remaining I-502 compliant and maintaining a cost effective attitude. To show our commitment in helping our I-502 customers anything purchased in addition to the quote and layout relating to fire replacement or spare items and cameras not included in our layout will be given an additional discount beyond the discount we normally reserve for our I-502 customers. Give us a call. We would be glad to assist you! You can also check us out on the web at www.securitycameraking.com.
