An average person has very little knowledge in the way CCTV works leave alone having an understanding on what to expect from an installer. Every year, majority of people fall prey to rogue installers who rip them off their hard-earned income by selling or installing CCTV systems that end up being decoys in event of an incident. It is advisable to seek advice from accredited installers whenever you intend to have your property secured with CCTV system.

Any installer who starts quoting for you the camera requirements and  installation costs before surveying your property is out to fleece you or has no clue about the profession. You need a professionally designed specification that should be discussed with you before one goes ahead to “plant” his devices in your property.

The importance of having a professionally designed specification can be seen from the fact that when the police seek to use CCTV evidence in court it is found to be inadmissible in at least 80% of cases. While it is true that almost anyone can look at a location and suggest a number of Cameras, only those who have experience in this field, through an understanding of the principles of optical science, will generally be able to recommend a Camera that will give the customer a picture with the best definition or coverage. Often it is also possible to give clients “added value” by locating Cameras, and utilising lenses which are able, not only to view the area of concern, but also give peripheral vision of other points of interest.

We once visited a major tourist hotel in Mombasa County and were shocked by the way the security cameras were installed. There was no consideration in as far as camera lenses are concerned and the distances they were intended to cover. The cameras had standard lenses and were providing facial recognition for the 3.5m of corridor nearest the cameras. If a a guest came out of their room, committed a misdemeanor and then returned to their room there was no possibility of of knowing who they were. By setting the cameras to view the opposite end of the corridor and the careful choice of lenses the cameras would have been able to provide facial recognition for half of the corridor, enabling the whole corridor to be viewed with pupils being recognized. I

Our experience as CCTV Consultants is that in the vast majority of cases “quick-money” installers are simply sticking cameras on walls and pointing them in the general direction with little or no understanding the optical science necessary to correctly design a CCTV system.

If you have fallen prey to these installers, you have no choice but to do it right since remaining with faulty installation is quite deceptive and would not help you out when an actual incident. If in doubt, you can call us to audit your system in a view to getting you assured that you have a truly functional system.