CLOSED CIRCUIT TELEVISION
PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR
SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION
PHILLIP BOYD
SYSTEM DEFINITION AND
IMPLEMENTATION OVERVIEW
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Business Requirement
Risk Assessment
Operational Concept
Requirements Analysis
Functional
Technical
Support
Budget: what resources are available?
Through Life Support: specialist skills, recurrent costs
Constraints: legal, technical, perception, commercial
SYSTEM DESIGN PHILOSOPHY
• CCTV is one part of the solution, and not a
panacea for public safety and security
• Improve public perception of safety
• Deter and displace anti-social behaviour & crime
• Provide usable, high quality evidence
• Integrated with the environment
• Consider user/corporate/statutory requirements
• Understand constraints, mitigate or design out
• Ensure support is straightforward
TYPICAL CONFIGURATION
CAMERA SELECTION
• Select camera/housing based upon:
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Areas requiring coverage, level of detail and resolution
Distance from camera to target area, and streetscape
Environmental conditions (e.g. hot/humid; cold/icy)
Vandalism risk – appraise threat, choose solution
Whether operational use by police or council required
Planned system life, durability and upgradability
NETWORK SELECTION
• Select CCTV network based upon:
– Need for centralised monitoring/recording or
stand-alone cameras
– Existing network infrastructure (optical
fibre/copper/wireless)
– Ownership of assets (lighting poles, power poles)
– Distance between cameras and recording/
monitoring site
– Potential system growth or reorientation
SYSTEM POWER
• Powering can be problematic
– Civil/Electrical works and pole leasing costs
– Trenching/traffic management/MoUs/RoW
– Is mains readily available? Is solar an option?
– Low power CCTV systems, standby modes,
movement activated in remote locations/depots
VIDEO STORAGE
• Video archiving is vital
– Evidence preservation
– Local to camera or centrally
– Recording period and video quality
– Protocols for access and release
ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS
• Trees, sculptures, temporary structures will affect
coverage – landscaping is an important factor
• Light doesn’t bend – much – so the camera must
be able to view the target
• High variance in illumination (light/shade) is not
desirable (lighting uniformity defined in AS)
• Architectural aesthetics may not favour even
discreet CCTV positioning
• Consider the effect of new or altered buildings
RUNNING THE SYSTEM
• Maintenance strategy to suit environment
(inspection, cleaning, servicing if required)
• Range of fault detection options (tamper, lens
obscuration, incorrect camera position)
• Consider bundled maintenance agreement
with well defined performance criteria