Routine Maintenance Tips for your Whole CCTV System

Your closed-circuit television (CCTV) systems are your eyes " and sometimes your ears " to find out what is happening in your absence. Security, theft prevention, crime deterrence and other aspects rest heavily on the ability of your CCTV system to function properly at all times. If we could believe the slogan of the infomercial selling a popular brand of rotisserie a few years ago, we would all like to have systems that we can simply apply the idea of �set it and forget it� to. Yet when security is involved, there is no forgetting " as a matter of fact, individuals components of your security features will need to be tested regularly for functionality and also will need to receive scheduled maintenance to function consistently. Here are some routine maintenance tips for your whole CCTV system:

Replace parts of your CCTV system that are no longer functioning. If they can be repaired, go ahead and get them fixed, but if they cannot, you will need to replace them as soon as they break. For example, if you placed an indoor camera out of doors without a safety cover, you will probably lose the camera very shortly due to the moisture of rain water or sprinklers, or simply because the lens becomes scratched up by flying sand and other debris. Replace this camera as soon as possible!

Whenever a component fails in your CCTV setup, find out if the failure is due to a manufacturing defect, if the unit has reached the end of its useful life, or if it was perhaps not properly used or assigned tasks it was not able to handle.

Check your system setup visually. When it was first installed, you may have had a combination of wired cameras (for visibility and subsequent deterrence) and hidden cameras (for detection) installed. Are the wired cameras still visible? Are the hidden cameras still hidden? If you have used natural agents, such as trees and shrubs to incorporate your cameras into your venue�s overall appearance, the changing seasons as well as the natural growth of the plants may have altered the visibility factor. You will need to do some pruning or perhaps even relocating of key cameras to compensate for this.

Check all your wires for corrosion or small damage.

Check all visible components for signs of tampering. Has someone been doing target practice with one of your cameras? Do you see some signs of cutting alongside the wires? Are there scratches on the lens covers? These may be signs that someone has attempted to disable one component of your system and in addition to ensuring that all is still in working order, you will also want to make sure to keep a close eye on that location.

Routine maintenance is also the time to evaluate how your system is functioning overall. Do the monitors you use work for you? Is the resolution adequate? Does the brightness control add to your surveillance�s being a snap? If one component is simply not functioning according to your needs, this is a good time to switch it out for something else.

If at all possible, have a manufacturer�s representative come out and do a professional once over every so often " preferably once a year. This will guarantee that the system is in good working order from a technical point of view, rather than just the visual inspection you may be able to do on a regular basis. When you do have a technician come out, make sure you receive copies of his or her findings that you can keep as part of an ongoing maintenance journal.

It is important to remember that only a functioning CCTV system will actually do the work you have installed it for in the first place. Broken components will do precious little to either deter crime or detect it, and non-working equipment may actually give you and your employees a false sense of security. Additionally, if you should ever have to use the footage recorded with your CCTV technology to go to court, a good defense attorney will attempt to poke holes into your case " first and foremost by questioning the functionality of your system. If the jury cannot make a clear identification from the footage you provided, or if several components are out of commission, the odds are that your entire footage will be discredited.