Reliable CCTV Security Cameras

Looking to monitor what’s going on in the workplace? a CCTV security camera might be the best solution for your business.  Ask our Houston surveillance and security specialists for a complimentary assessment.

How Do CCTV Security Cameras Work?

The signals from CCTV security cameras are not publicly distributed but monitored.  The primary application for a CCTV option is surveillance.

Strategic placement of cameras in the workplace is very important, someone will be responsible for monitoring the camera’s input on a monitor elsewhere.

CCTV Surveillance System Features

Although an IP security system is considered as the modern choice.  Some business owners and property managers prefer the CCTV surveillance system, here is a list of common features:

• Sends video back to a base station or DVR (digital video recorder) via coax or UTP cabling
• Video is recorded on a physical DVR which can be connected to the internet for remote viewing capabilities
• Power and network cables run between each camera and the base station
• Because cabling is required, CCTV cameras all have to be in one location
• Cameras typically offer lower resolution of 960 x 480, but some systems offer HD resolution
• Primarily provides video surveillance without advanced features
• There is a physical limit to the number of cameras that can be added to the network, usually fewer than 12
• 2-way audio for communication with people on the other end
• Uses television broadcast signals instead of Wifi or Broadband signals used by IP surveillance

Our company has over 20 years of experience in surveillance and security solutions specifically for commercial, government, and business use.

Before you decide on a system, rely on our experience to provide you with a detailed assessment and proposal to help you make an informed decision.

If you’re in the Houston area, give us a call and we’ll be glad to help you with your next security and surveillance system.

What a system like this actually costs

The honest answer is that it depends on camera count, resolution, how much of the site is outdoors, and whether you need analytics. But businesses deserve a real range rather than a runaround, so here is ours. A small commercial system covering entrances, a register area and a back door typically lands between $3,500 and $7,000 installed. A mid-sized warehouse, dealership or multi-tenant building running eight to sixteen cameras usually falls between $6,000 and $14,000. Large industrial sites, multi-building campuses, or anything requiring thermal, license plate recognition or fiber runs go up from there.

What moves the number most is rarely the cameras themselves. It is cable runs through finished ceilings, trenching between buildings, conduit on exterior walls, and the storage required to hold the retention period you actually need. That is precisely why we survey before quoting: the same eight cameras can differ by several thousand dollars in installation cost depending on what is between them and the recorder.

Questions worth asking any contractor

Ask for the Texas license number, and verify it. Ask whether the quote includes the storage needed for your stated retention period or whether that is an add-on discovered later. Ask who services the system in year three, and whether that is the same company standing in front of you. Ask to see footage from a comparable installation at night, not a daytime demo. Those four questions eliminate most of the bad outcomes in this industry.

Why Houston businesses choose Texas Surveillance

We have been a family-operated Texas company since 1993 — 33 years, Texas license B04080401. Over that time we have designed, installed and maintained commercial and industrial surveillance systems for the Houston Rockets, NRG Stadium, the George R. Brown Convention Center, the Houston Police Department, several municipal governments and fire departments, and many hundreds of warehouses, plants, dealerships, restaurants and storefronts across the region.

Two things set a commercial install apart from what you can buy in a box. The first is specification: cameras chosen and positioned against your actual sightlines, lighting and risk, rather than a package applied uniformly to every building. The second is service. Security contractors in this market appear and vanish constantly, and a system with nobody behind it becomes a liability the moment it fails. A large share of our work is maintaining and expanding systems we installed years — in some cases decades — ago.

What every system includes

Commercial-grade, weather-sealed hardware specified for Gulf Coast heat, humidity and storm season. Secure remote viewing from phone, tablet or desktop. Storage sized to the retention your risk actually requires rather than the minimum the recorder ships with. Full handover training so your people can find and export footage without calling us. And a free on-site survey before any of it — because a quote produced without walking the property is a guess.

Explore related solutions: IP cameras, 4K and megapixel systems, thermal imaging, mobile surveillance trailers, and our Texas service areas.