affordable 2 cam setup for very small office!

[thawk 0]

I'm a newbie and would very much appreciate your input and suggestions!

 

I'd like to set up 2x security cameras at my office.

no need for ptz cameras.

the cameras can connect via wifi or ethernet, poe is preferable but otherwise there's plenty of power available.

 

i'd like to:

record off site for 31 days

be able to sort through recordings by time or event.

view footage through browser or smart phone

 

as it's an office, there'll be a lot of motion in the course of a day, so i don't want to be receiving alerts every time someone moves from their desks.

the footage would only be used to review if some of our equipment went missing or if there was un-authorised access.

 

i have broadband with a static ip.

i have various cloud storage options in use already, Amazon S3, dropbox, idisk- can i utilise any of those to store footage rather than paying the excessive monthly fees that make most systems not practically affordable for a small business?

if i did that then how complicated would it be to review footage?

ideally i'd like not to spend more than $300 for this system.

[Birdman Adam 0]

Honestly $300 for a 2-camera system is a small budget.

 

I would go with a standalone 4-ch DVR with 2 cameras. Make sure it can be accessed by browsers + smartphones (most DVRs). I would just have it record 24/7, motion detection isn't perfect!

 

Any good DVR will let you set up motion-detection e-mails (which can be sent as texts to phones w/your phones number; example for verizon: 9191234567@vtxt.com).

[thawk 0]

Hi Adam,

Thanks for your reply.

Thats pretty much what i'm looking at doing.

This system from Swann looks like an affordable solution:

http://www.swann.com/s/products/view/?product=1160

 

BUT...the biggest issue i have is that if an intruder takes the dvr then everything is lost.

Do you know of any systems like this that allow me to ftp the footage offsite?

I'm not short of bandwidth or online storage.

If someone was to take equipment from my office, chances are they'd take the 5 mins to follow the cables back to where the dvr would be located and make sure to take it also...so an offsite back up is the only system that would realistically make sense.

[rory 0]

Get a Dahua 4 channel then record off site using the network software.

I had no hard drive in my DVR for months and recorded on my P4 computer over the network.

You can also FTP images.

 

eg.

http://www.qvissecurity.com/files/417d446a-458d-4d14-975c-9efa0099eed0/ZEUSMK2-N.pdf

 

Although a cheap IP camera might also be an option.

Maybe look at Vivotek, CNB, or Geovision IP cameras.

I know CNB and Geovision come with free NVR software, not sure about Vivotek.

[Birdman Adam 0]

I'd much rather hide the DVR somewhere better. What if they cut the phone/cable to stop internet, or the internet simply goes down? When you just record on the DVR, as long as you have a UPS you are good to go...

[rory 0]

I'd much rather hide the DVR somewhere better. What if they cut the phone/cable to stop internet, or the internet simply goes down? When you just record on the DVR, as long as you have a UPS you are good to go...

What if they cut the power, or burn the building down?

And when the power goes off the typical consumer UPS is useless without something like a generator.

[kelly029 0]

HI i am a newbie here thanks for the very great information it will help me so much.. " title="Applause" />

[Numb-nuts 1]

As you can see, there are varying levels of security you can plan for. If you have a safe full of diamonds then the thieves will be prepared to go to extreme lengths to destroy your evidence gathering, but i doubt they'd bother to cut the telephone lines if they just want to steal your office printer. If you do buy a standalone DVR, get a steel lockbox and keep it hidden and locked.

 

By the way, Swann are not great quality, rather look at the Dahua Appollo as suggested. I have that very model at home and it has never given me a day's trouble. I woulod suggest a minimum of 500GB hard drive, I run four cameras with a 500GB and all cameras are on Motion detection and there is plenty of capacity.

 

If you want to record equipment moving, you can set up alarms that are normally closed and the circuit breaks when the equipment is moved or doors/windows are opened, triggering recording. It is useful to have one of your cameras on permanent MD but it does mean trawling through hours of recordings looking for events. Better to use motion detection on one camera and alarm detection on the other then at least you will know what time/date to search for events.

 

For use Inside your office, there are a huge range of reasonable dome / mini dome cameras to choose from for reasonable prices. Don't ignore the IR assisted cameras which can be useful after office hours.

[heckufaguy 0]

IP cams can work. Multiple instances of Mobiscope can be run on pc's anywhere. That program will record any IP cam you load into it. From anywhere it can reach them.

Set up an IP cam, run (mobiscope) from a pc at home, another office, or both. The desktop software is free, and can even email you motion activated pictures. (And record on motion).

 

Otherwise, a 4 channel dvr, couple of cameras, and a well hidden dvr. A steel vented enclosure works well, remember... they may find it, they may cut cables, but they also know the clock is ticking and won't want to spend a long period of time grabbing a dvr.

 

I did the IP cam/ mobiscope deal for awhile with one camera at home, was very nice. Not top dollar stuff, but very functional.

 

John

[infowire 0]

Ok for cheap setup do this.

 

Get 2x Foscam Cameras (PTZ) (http://www.foscam.us) they can be bought on ebay for about 80$ each, check the foscam website for approved ebay sellers. $160

 

Get a battery back up plug in your modem/router and your cameras into it $70

 

Download Blue IRIS (torrent or you can buy it for $50 if you want to be legit or just use the software foscam gives you *FREE*)

Record at home or anywhere off site, set up dyndns account in case your IP changes. Also make sure to set Static IP's on the cameras (you can have them wireless).

 

I recommend hard wiring the cameras instead of wireless. Just hide the router like up in the ceiling.. or in a locked room or box.

 

You could get a NAS that has FTP server built in and that way you do not need a computer.

[Numb-nuts 1]

IP cams can work. Multiple instances of Mobiscope can be run on pc's anywhere. That program will record any IP cam you load into it. From anywhere it can reach them.

Set up an IP cam, run (mobiscope) from a pc at home, another office, or both. The desktop software is free, and can even email you motion activated pictures. (And record on motion).

 

Otherwise, a 4 channel dvr, couple of cameras, and a well hidden dvr. A steel vented enclosure works well, remember... they may find it, they may cut cables, but they also know the clock is ticking and won't want to spend a long period of time grabbing a dvr.

 

I did the IP cam/ mobiscope deal for awhile with one camera at home, was very nice. Not top dollar stuff, but very functional.

 

John

 

Some very good points there john, well put.