Choosing the right locations for CCTV camera placement is really important for effective surveillance, and it almost always involves strategic planning that factors in several different things, such as the purpose of your CCTV system, the layout of the surveyed area, and potential threats. 

First and foremost:

You need to know the purpose of your CCTV system. Surveillance is a short and most obvious answer followed by “what”—as in, what is your system surveilling? You could be monitoring a theft-prone area in your store, supervising employee activity and cash flow, as well as simply providing overall security for your property. 

Next, to ensure maximum coverage, you need to understand the layout of the area you’re trying to secure, and having a blueprint of the property or an aerial image would help a lot, especially when placing outdoor cameras—which is crucial for perimeter security. Burglars are opportunistic predators by nature, and they’ll seek to exploit the most common entry point into the property—the door. 

That’s why front and back doors are primary locations to consider. Ground floor windows are also a potential access point, which should be encapsulated in the field of view. For example, cameras which are placed high on exterior walls opposing an entrance point are great, as they’re hard to reach and known down while also providing an exceptional field of view.  

Driveways, garages, and gate entrances should also be covered, and this is particularly important for residential properties, as they mostly have a private entrance. Having your gate or driveway protected will help against vandalism or theft. The same applies to storage or workshop entrances—all of these should be well-lit and covered by a security camera.

When it comes to indoor placement, the key areas of your home that you’d want to cover and monitor are entrances, exits, and any routes that lead in between those two. This mostly includes hallways, stairways, and all locations leading to a potential exit—even a second-story window. Covering your entrance and exit points help track the perpetrator’s movement in case of a break-in. 

If you keep any valuables in your residential home, such as jewelry, or expensive art, make sure that the room they’re contained in is also covered by a security camera. For commercial spaces, this may include parking and storage areas where the business keeps equipment and machinery or an area of the store where the cash register is. 

Location is very important, but there are several other factors to consider, too. Privacy is an important factor, and you must ensure that your CCTV isn’t infringing on anyone’s privacy, so avoid pointing your CCTV cameras toward areas where people expect privacy. This includes bathrooms and bedrooms for residential areas, but also restrooms, breakrooms, and personal offices in a work environment. 

Another major factor is lighting; cameras that are supposed to monitor low-light environments should have night vision capabilities to ensure quality footage. You should never position these, or any other camera for that matter, directly towards the light source because this might lead to overexposure, which will compromise the quality of the video. 

And lastly, you need to assess any potential threats in terms of crime or any other unwanted behavior. For example, placing cameras at the back of your store, where the customers are more likely to linger, or at the reception areas for offices can help deter theft or other unwanted activities. 

Summary

In the end, choosing the best place for your residence or business is perhaps best left to surveillance and security experts. They’ll perform all the necessary assessments of your property and come up with the most viable solution for maximum coverage and protection of your property.