Office CCTV Solution
Discussion
Our offices are over 2 floors. The downstairs is a demo/meeting/training room which having come through the front door you take an immediate right into. Straight ahead is a staircase which leads up to our offices which includes a partitioned office for the Directors and an open plan area for other staff.
For a few reasons, I would like a camera at the top of the stairs which looks down the stairs to cover the front door and the stairs themselves.
There's an unused screen in the partitioned area that I'd like a full time feed to as well as (ideally) cloud based storage and the ability to view on a phone app.
In an ideal world it could be set so that out of office hours an alert could be sent if people come through the front door and up the stairs instead of turning right into the downstairs training room. I don't mind if it alerts me to anyone coming in the front door in general as it shouldn't happen too often.
Getting power to the camera wouldn't be a problem and if it needed an HDMI running from the camera to the TV then it's about 15m above a suspended ceiling into the partitioned area.
Essentially, and the main reason for this (but not the only one), is to be alerted if people are coming into an unstaffed office when they shouldn't be and potentially if staff who work upstairs decide to pop into the office at the weekend for no apparent reason.
Any ideas appreciated.
For a few reasons, I would like a camera at the top of the stairs which looks down the stairs to cover the front door and the stairs themselves.
There's an unused screen in the partitioned area that I'd like a full time feed to as well as (ideally) cloud based storage and the ability to view on a phone app.
In an ideal world it could be set so that out of office hours an alert could be sent if people come through the front door and up the stairs instead of turning right into the downstairs training room. I don't mind if it alerts me to anyone coming in the front door in general as it shouldn't happen too often.
Getting power to the camera wouldn't be a problem and if it needed an HDMI running from the camera to the TV then it's about 15m above a suspended ceiling into the partitioned area.
Essentially, and the main reason for this (but not the only one), is to be alerted if people are coming into an unstaffed office when they shouldn't be and potentially if staff who work upstairs decide to pop into the office at the weekend for no apparent reason.
Any ideas appreciated.
pidsy said:
We’ve installed 84 meraki (Cisco systems) cameras this summer.
Very clever system - can be cloud based if you needed.
Around £900 a camera though.
Very clever system - can be cloud based if you needed.
Around £900 a camera though.
randlemarcus said:
Budget? 
Not that much! Although I'll take a look and if it makes me a coffee in the morning it'd be worth it. I've got a 'Ring' doorbell at home that would suffice in terms of picking up people coming up the stairs, with live view on demand and alerts when it's triggered, would look weird at the top of the stairs though.
Somewhere between the two would be the sweet spot. As a budget I'd say £400 on equipment, one of our guys could fit it.
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Very easy to set up and cheep, but only as good as your wifi and not sure how happy you would be knowing google control the camera.
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Honest question - is that an issue? Ive got a Ring doorbell amd Ring cam in the garden. im sure it could be viewed over the net by someone if they really wanted to. It does not concern me though.
Very easy to set up and cheep, but only as good as your wifi and not sure how happy you would be knowing google control the camera.
[/quote]
Honest question - is that an issue? Ive got a Ring doorbell amd Ring cam in the garden. im sure it could be viewed over the net by someone if they really wanted to. It does not concern me though.
randlemarcus said:
Mid point might be Ubiquiti stuff. The Unifi Protect stuff includes motion sensitivity and scheduling, which is nice. No monthly subs either, which is nice. You should be able to squeeze the controller plus a camera or two out of the budget.
We have 5 cameras using this. Very good system, easy to configure. POE to the cameras. Remote access etc etc. Reasonable price.wjwren said:
[quote=
Very easy to set up and cheep, but only as good as your wifi and not sure how happy you would be knowing google control the camera.
Honest question - is that an issue? Ive got a Ring doorbell amd Ring cam in the garden. im sure it could be viewed over the net by someone if they really wanted to. It does not concern me though.Very easy to set up and cheep, but only as good as your wifi and not sure how happy you would be knowing google control the camera.
Turning off lights on the front of the camera to tell you it’s on and recording, the camera now also flashes if you are viewing it remotely so people on the far end know you are viewing the camera.
So now everyone knows if the lights are off the camera is not working, if the camera is flashing someone is watching you.
Before google took over, you could just have the camera on without any of the lights active.
So now everyone knows if the lights are off the camera is not working, if the camera is flashing someone is watching you.
Before google took over, you could just have the camera on without any of the lights active.
AB said:
The new Ring stick up camera would be perfect I think, at £89 but it's not available yet.
I would just hook it up to my account and that would probably do the job if it worked like my doorbell with alerts.
Yup, that's a low budget one, where Ring are subsidising the hardware for your subscription donations. I would just hook it up to my account and that would probably do the job if it worked like my doorbell with alerts.
thebraketester said:
I would love to see what a £900 camera offers over a "normal" high quality hikvision for example
About 15 years ago we installed one camera that cost £50,000. I guess the equivalent would be peanuts now. I can’t think what a £900 camera would do over a £90 camera. I’m guessing the associated recording devices will also be astronomical Gassing Station | Computers, Gadgets & Stuff | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff