Can Your Security Camera System Record And Play Footage?

March 29th, 2024

So you have a security system in , , and that system includes several video cameras in strategic locations.  You may have someone monitoring them at all times, although with a modern system you can do so remotely with the right app.  However, does your setup record the video feed?  Can you play it back immediately so a security guard can see what just happened while they were watching a different monitor?  While you can do a lot with well-placed security cameras and a live feed, being able to record the footage is invaluable.

Enjoy Instant Playback

Maybe something happens so fast that you don’t notice it happening the first time, or maybe your attention was elsewhere in that moment.  Maybe you know a crime just took place in , but you weren’t there to see it while your camera was.  Maybe your camera has night vision or an infrared mode that lets it see what your eyes can’t.  Whatever the case is, if you have persistent recordings and a DVR system set up, you can easily rewind the recording by a minute or whatever time you need and see what just happened.

Keep Recordings For Legal Reasons

Video recordings can be incredibly convincing in court proceedings.  While it’s certainly possible to fake footage or argue that an unclear image isn’t good evidence, having this footage available is much more useful than having a witness describe what happened and possibly get some important details wrong.  After all, it’s still harder to fake a video than it is to describe something that never happened, even accidentally.

Security camera footage can come in handy both for catching and convicting criminals and for defending innocent people.  If your security staff in , stops a person they think is a thief, recorded footage could prove it was someone else.  If a customer accuses an employee of misconduct, the recordings can show exactly what that employee did and didn’t do.  Having those recordings ready could end up saving you from going to court.

Consider Expanding Your Storage Space

You don’t need much storage space if all you want is an instant playback function, but having more hard drive space available can really come in handy if you have a lot of cameras that need recording or if you need to pull up footage from days or weeks ago.  There are a few ways you can expand your storage capability:

• Purchase a better DVR with more storage space in the device.
• Connect your security DVR to a computer with hard drives to spare.
• Set up an account with a cloud storage service and have your security devices send their footage directly to the cloud.

While a basic camera setup can help you monitor your premises in , and deter illegal actions, you should be able to make recordings if you want to do something more with it.  Recordings let you play back things that just happened, plus they come in handy during legal actions.  That’s why it’s always a good idea to make sure your setup has enough space to record everything you might need.