Such a wide range of skills are needed in the installation of a contemporary home security camera monitoring system. Here are some of the tasks involved to take full advantage of a DVR-based, multi-camera monitoring system:
- research which system is right for you – this is difficult, as there are many on the market from manufacturers that are not well known. The choice is especially tricky if you need Mac compatibility.
- pick the location of the DVR unit and decide whether you want its own computer monitor, your television, or internet only (depending on your model) viewing. A network wire will likely need to be pulled from your router to the DVR. Also, many of the wired systems only come with pre-made camera video and power wires of a certain length (usually 40-60ft).
- figure out the general locations for the cameras and run the wires for the cameras to the DVR. It is actually a good idea to view what kind of image you will get for each of the cameras before finalizing their locations
- get the DVR unit on your network, give it a static IP address, it is a good idea to plug the DVR into a battery backup also.
- connect the DVR unit to a monitor or television for viewing/setup
- make sure all cameras are working, configure the DVR – this normally includes quality level for each camera, as well as frame rates
- set up port forwarding on your internet router to be able to view the cameras from outside your network.
- install either the app for your phone and/or tablet that the company that your security camera is from produces, or research a third party app that will work with your camera system and configure it
- figure out your home IP address and which ports to open and type that into your browser to view the cameras from outside your network – this may involve customizing your browser security settings or loading a plugin
- In a recent case, the firmware of the DVR needed updating to be viewable using Apple’s Safari browser, so the manufacturer needed to be contacted for the new firmware, it needed to be put onto a USB thumb drive using a specific file structure, and then the DVR unit could be updated
- there is usually lots of training needed for one of these systems, as there are a lot of features and functions to play with and figure out
- lots of fine tuning and small configurations are possible with these units, such as setting up motion detection, recording scheduling, email alerts, pan tilt zoom memories
If you are thinking of installing a security camera system at your home or business, or have purchased a system and are at a loss for how to get it set up completely, call us, we can help.