How monitored CCTV helps identify criminals
Footage that just sits on a hard drive records a crime after the event. Monitored CCTV linked to your alarm can challenge an intruder while it's happening - and still leave police with clear evidence.
Recording a crime is not the same as stopping one
AMCO links monitored CCTV with the alarm system, so our monitoring staff can tell an intruder they've been identified and that the police are being called. That's active deterrence, rather than passive recording.
Recording-only CCTV
- Captures footage - but nobody is told while it happens
- The crime is usually discovered later, when someone checks the recording
- An intruder can take their time; nothing challenges them
- Useful evidence after the fact, with no chance to stop the loss
Monitored CCTV linked to your alarm
- Monitoring staff are alerted as it happens and can look at the cameras
- Staff can warn the intruder they've been identified and that police are being called
- Active deterrence - many intruders leave as soon as they realise they've been seen
- The same footage is recorded and archived as evidence for police
For the step-by-step of how a monitored CCTV signal is handled, see how monitored CCTV works. To see how audio fits in, read about LiveTalk.
From a picture to something police can act on
Identifying a criminal depends on two things: whether the picture is good enough, and whether it can be found again quickly. HD colour cameras with infrared help with the first; a recorder with a searchable archive helps with the second.
Because monitoring staff can see an incident as it develops, they can also tell police what's actually happening - rather than police learning about it from footage days later. If you'd like a real-world example, see our burglar alarm stories.
What a monitored system gives police
- Clear HD colour footage, with infrared cover in the dark
- A searchable archive, so the relevant moment is easy to locate
- A monitoring record of when the alert came in and what staff saw
- A warning already given to the intruder that police were being called
Four elements of monitored CCTV
Remote internet viewing
Secure software lets you, and our monitoring team, view the cameras remotely over the internet - so what's happening on site can be seen straight away.
Hard-disk recording and searchable archive
Footage is recorded to hard disk and kept in an archive you can search back through, so the moment you need for police is quick to find rather than buried in hours of video.
On-site observation with motion alerts
Motion detection watches the site and raises an alert when something moves in an area that should be still, prompting a look at the live picture.
Remote audio when integrated with the alarm
When the CCTV is integrated with your alarm, monitoring staff can also listen and speak through the site's audio - adding a voice to what the cameras can see.
Want cameras that do more than record?
Tell us about your property and we'll recommend a monitored CCTV setup, then give you an accurate, honest price.
What's in a typical monitored CCTV system
Exact hardware varies by site. See the CCTV equipment specification for current models.
HD colour cameras with infrared
Clear colour pictures by day and infrared for the dark, so faces and detail are more likely to be usable.
Weatherproof housings
Cameras built to sit outdoors and keep working in rain, cold and heat.
Recorder with hard drive
The recorder stores your footage and forms the archive that police evidence is drawn from.
Motion detection with automatic alarm
Movement can trigger an alarm automatically rather than relying on someone watching a screen.
Quad and sequential viewing
See several cameras on one screen at once, or step through them in turn.
Remote internet access
View live and recorded pictures from wherever you are.
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