Hooman Nissani: How to Choose the Right Security Camera & Video

Security is one of the key aspects of your commercial real estate property. Your potential clients will want to make sure that their office or retail space is secure before they consider your commercial property as being a place to move or expand their business to. It’s a superb selling point if your potential clients understand that they will not have to install a security system themselves.

There is one issue though – if you are a commercial real estate developer it’s unlikely that you’re an expert on camera and video surveillance for commercial real estate development. So, what are you supposed to do?

There is much to consider when choosing cameras and video surveillance

What’s best for your development depends on the nature of your property, the nature of your existing clients and any potential clients and the property’s location. If your property is likely to be used by a company with lots of expensive technological equipment, then you are going to need a high-tech security system. If your building is just going to be used to store inexpensive items that are not attractive to would-be thieves, then there is no point in spending cash on the best security system that money can buy.

The location of your property is just as important as its use. There are high-crime neighborhoods and low-crime neighborhoods. Determining which category the neighborhood of your commercial real estate property fits into will help you decide how much you should invest in your security system.

There are four main types of camera involved in any type of surveillance system:

• Dome Cameras – these are rotating cameras that are enclosed within a domed enclosure. Because of the domed enclosure it is impossible to tell in which direction the camera is pointing.
• Bullet Cameras – these again are rotating cameras but that are unshielded. Anyone looking at the camera will be able to ascertain in which direction the camera is pointing.
• Hidden Cameras – such cameras have no obvious external appearance; therefore, they cannot be seen.
• False Cameras – these are cameras that can rotate and give the appearance of bullet cameras or dome cameras in enclosures. They are not connected to any kind of video surveillance system and act solely as a deterrent.

Naturally, if you select any of the first three types of camera in this list you will need a video surveillance system as well. All video surveillance systems in the modern age are digitized, meaning the cameras feed digital images to a computer system or even to the cloud in certain cases.

This is a huge benefit in comparison to previous video-based surveillance systems. Because of wireless technology the computer-based surveillance system can be hosted offsite. You can have a monitored or non-monitored system. If you decide upon a monitored system and you own more than one property, then you can tie the systems from several properties into one centralized system, meaning you do not have to have staff monitoring systems at several different locations.

One additional aspect of security you need to consider is lighting. For any would-be thief, darkness is their biggest ally. You can invest in lighting which means your properties are lit 24/7, deterring burglars. Solar panel lighting is one option as you can absorb sunlight during the day which is used to power lighting once darkness falls. Motion-sensitive lighting is another option and acts as an excellent deterrent.

This blog’s author, Hooman Nissani, is a successful, self-made entrepreneur and co-owner of Nissani Brothers Enterprises in Los Angeles. To contact Mr Nissani for more information about commercial real estate development, please use the contact form available here.