Due to an increase in crime and uncertainty in our community and convergence of technologies, Video Surveillance and remote video monitoring (or Closed Circuit Television -- CCTV) are rapidly increasing in popularity and effectiveness. The result is video surveillance being used in an increasing variety of situations and application from private homes and small businesses to large scale government and commercial applications.

Recorded video archives can be a valuable resource for determining what happened when a security breach occurs. But more importantly, video surveillance is one of the most effective tools for proactively preventing breaches in the first place. How can this be accomplished?

Larger commercial and government properties have the advantage and economies of scale. They have live guards on site 24 hours a day 7 days a week. These guards can monitor banks of video and respond to potential threats. Full time on-site guards can easily cost more than $16,000 per month which is clearly not cost effective or practical for most smaller properties. Fortunately, there are other options.

Urban Alarm’s remote video monitoring service utilizes the latest in digital video surveillance cameras, or IP Video, to view and asses activity on a property in real time. IP Cameras are programmed to connect to our central monitoring centers immediately when a defined event is triggered. These may include motion detected on specified portions of the screen, a person loitering for more than 90 seconds or an object left by a person in a crowded lobby.

When such an event is detected, our central station views the event and follows up with additional video analysis within seconds. If a threat is identified, the central station may engages the individuals or groups over a two-way intercom at the camera location. Or they can dispatch guards on the ground or the police.

Remote video monitoring starts at $95 per month making it extremely cost effective for commercial and retail applications and even for homes. To be effective, clear rules must be defined that are actionable. Watching cars pass by is not going to be useful since the monitoring center personal will not be able to distinguish a threat from a passer by. Watching a pool or playground for anyone loitering during night time hours is a good example of actionable events.

For more information on how to utilize remote video monitoring strategies on your project give us a call.

• About Us
• Residential Alarm System
• Commercial Security
• Multi-Unit Properties
• Alarm Monitoring
• Access Control
• BLOG
• Media Resources