Security cameras for your business: how to choose without wasting money

The question I get most about video surveillance is “how many cameras do I need, and how many megapixels?”. The answer starts with another question: what do you want to see, and why? I’m Hikvision-certified in CCTV, and at Cosmos we install cameras, video walls and monitoring centers; many problems come from systems that were bought on price and installed without a plan. This is what I would check before spending a peso.

1. Decide what you need to see

Detecting (someone is in the parking lot), recognizing (it’s the usual delivery guy) and identifying (you can clearly see a face or a license plate) are not the same thing. Each level needs more detail: a wide camera on the ceiling is enough to see movement in the store, but to identify who comes in you need a camera at the door, at face height and a few meters away. Draw a floor plan and mark what you want to achieve at each point before you think about brands.

2. IP or analog

Analog HD (over coaxial cable): cheaper, and it reuses old wiring. Fine for small, simple installations.
IP (over network cable): higher resolution, a single cable for data and power (PoE), analytics with artificial intelligence, and easier to expand. If the business is new or you are wiring from scratch, IP is almost always the better choice.

3. Megapixels, lens and night

2 MP (1080p) is enough for close general views; 4 MP is a good middle ground; 8 MP (4K) is for large areas or license plates.
The lens matters as much as the megapixels. A 2.8 mm lens is wide (about 100°) and covers the area but loses detail at a distance; a 6 mm lens is narrower and sees farther.
At night, infrared cameras record in black and white; “color at night” cameras need some light. A good floodlight often improves the image more than extra megapixels.

4. How many days of recording (and how much disk)

Cameras record to an NVR (or a DVR, if they are analog) with surveillance hard drives. A quick rule: a camera’s GB per day is its recording rate in Mbps times 10.8. A 4 MP camera with H.265 compression usually records at 2 to 4 Mbps, so roughly 20 to 45 GB per day. Eight cameras for 30 days at 3 Mbps need about 8 TB. To make the disk last longer, use H.265 and record on motion or events where you don’t need all-day recording.

5. Blackouts

If the power goes out and the NVR, the switch or the router shut down, the cameras stop recording right when you need them most. Put those three devices on a UPS or an inverter, and make sure the system starts recording again on its own when power returns.

6. Cybersecurity: the part almost nobody does

A camera connected to the internet is one more computer on your network. The minimum:

Change the factory password on the NVR and on every camera, and don’t share it over WhatsApp.
Update the firmware whenever the manufacturer releases it.
Don’t open ports on the router to watch the cameras from outside: use the manufacturer’s official app or a VPN.
Put the cameras on their own network, away from the computers at the register.

There are more ideas for protecting the rest of the office in 5 cybersecurity habits and in the episode with Nelk Valerio (in Spanish).

7. Privacy

A person’s image is personal data, and in the Dominican Republic Law 172-13 protects that data. Don’t point cameras at bathrooms, changing rooms or your neighbor’s house, put up a sign saying the area is under video surveillance, and decide who can view and download the recordings.

8. Artificial intelligence has reached the cameras

Cameras with analytics can tell people and vehicles apart from a moving leaf or a cat, so the alerts on your phone are finally useful. They also let you search for “everyone who came through this door between 2 and 4” in seconds. We talked about it in depth with Eduardo Polanco on Tech Talk (in Spanish).

Keep going

Cosmos’s camera and video surveillance options are on cosmossat.com, and you can ask for a quote from the Cosmos page. A good installation starts with a site visit: that’s where you decide where each camera goes, before buying anything.