When looking to purchase a security camera system, many people want to know how many cameras they need. This is a complicated question because there is no one right answer that we can give you. The number of security cameras you need varies depending on a variety of factors. We are going to take a look at those factors so you can keep them in mind when deciding how many cameras to use.
Access Points
As a general rule, you will want to have a camera that covers every access point to your property. That doesn’t mean you will need one camera per access point, just a minimum of one that covers each access point. For example, if you have a front door with a window and garage door next to it, one camera could potentially cover all of those access points.
Make sure to keep in mind alternative access points such as roof access or ventilation. People who are not looking for a high-security layout will typically avoid covering ventilation or roof access specifically.
Cover High-Risk Areas
Every property, whether a home or business has locations that are high-risk. Think of areas such as where you keep your jewelry or the most expensive products. Anywhere you store cash. These are areas you are going to want at least one camera to cover. The camera should be in a position where it not only covers the high-risk area both pathways in and out.
You may want to consider having a camera that covers your other camera or the approach to the camera. This may be more appropriate for a high-security property but it will help to protect the areas that are more at risk.
Package Delivery Location
Businesses and homes alike get packages and package theft is becoming an increasingly more popular crime. Taking steps to prevent yourself from being a victim of package theft is essential. A doorbell camera is a quick and easy solution but you can also use a camera place above your delivery area.
For businesses, you will want to not only cover your delivery door but the warehouse where packages are received. Plenty of stories have circulated around about people walking into storerooms and grabbing packages.
Parking Areas
Our cars are often some of our most expensive assets and for businesses, employees cars are their tools to get to work, Protecting parking areas is important and you will want to get at least one camera to cover every parking area. Larger parking areas might require you to have more than one camera in order to be able to see all cars. Parking areas are a great opportunity to use a 360° camera in order to see more of the parking area with one camera.
Common Areas
Covering common areas with security cameras can be difficult, simply because of the fact that you have to decide how much of the common area you want to cover. Even stores can have a difficult time deciding how much of their general sales floor they want to cover. When deciding how much of the common areas to cover, you decide how valuable the areas are, how much traffic it or not I have, and what kind of security cameras you can deploy an area. For example, if you can get high enough, you can deploy a 360° camera and cover much more of a room or sales floor. Then you could with a traditional camera.
In the end, the exact number of cameras that you decide to implement is up to you. There are a wide variety of different theories about camera set up, but it all comes down to the amount of security that you want in your property. Some people want a lot of security and that’s understandable. Others may only want a small amount of security to protect the crucial areas and entries. The size of the property will also determine the number of security cameras will need, the bigger the property the more cameras you’ll need.