Restaurant Security Cameras - A necessity?

If the register in your store is holding $Thousands at the end of the night, is it necessary to have a safe or empty the drawer? Most likely your answer is yes. Restaurant security cameras provide many valuable and needed functions for your restaurant. Restaurants are one of the first businesses to be affected by gas and raw material price increases. What is also evident, is that restaurants are one of the first hurt by an increase in the cost of living or recession...people just stop going out to eat, and when they do go out, they order less expensive and spend less money. This puts restaurant owners in a difficult position to begin with...but you already know that. Owning a restaurant is not for the feint of heart, clearly. The fact is that there are many additional factors that make it even more difficult to keep the doors of your restaurant open. From dine-and-dash customers to vandalism to less-than-honest employees, the budget of your restaurant can absorb many unexpected hits.

Restaurant security camera systems can help you keep an eye on your restaurant, watch your registers, monitor your customers, watch your kitchen and supplies and more. These security camera systems can let you record exactly what is happening, so that when problems occur you will have a complete and honest recording. There are various types of restaurant security camera systems that can help to secure your restaurant.

Restaurant Standalone DVR Systems

Standalone DVRs (Digital Video Recorders) are a great selection for smaller restaurants. These embedded style standalone dvrs provide the ability to digitally record from your cctv security cameras onto an internal hard drive, and even provide basic remote viewing capabilities. These systems are generally chosen for small installations, because they do not require a PC on location, and can still plug into a DSL or Cable broadband internet connection and allow you to watch your cameras remotely over the internet.
Standalone DVRs and Standalone DVR Systems

PC-Based Restaurant DVR Systems

For larger restaurants or installations where higher resolution video is required, PC-Based DVR Systems are a great selection. These systems in general provide higher quality recording, better quality remote viewing and additional access from Windows Mobile PDA Phones and Smartphones. These systems are the clear choice when you want to be connected to your restaurant at all times. PC-Based DVR systems are also more easily expandable for future, as well as upgradable to hybrid DVR Systems that are compatible with newer megapixel IP cameras.
Restaurant PC-Based DVR Cards and Systems

Restaurant Security Cameras

Restaurant Security Cameras are popular to provide coverage of 5 main areas of your restaurant: the customer area, the kitchen, the cash register, the storage rooms and the parking lot area. Each area has specific needs that can affect the type of security camera that is selected. That is why we have broken down each of these areas of the restaurant seperately, to provide better coverage and understanding of your restaurant's specific needs.

Restaurant Customer Area Security Cameras

Restaurant Kitchen Security Cameras

Restaurant Cash Register Security Cameras

Restaurant Parking Security Cameras

Restaurant Parking Lot Security Cameras

The parking lot of your restaurant can be an extremely important area to cover with your security surveillance cameras. A good CCTV system plan will include outdoor cameras to cover the walkways as well as parking areas to help customers in case accidents occur in the parking lot. These cameras can also be used to help get more distinguishing characteristics about customers who may attempt to steal from your restaurant by showing the direction they left as well as the vehicle that was being driven. Restaurant parking lot cameras can be analog style cctv cameras or even High Definition IP Security Cameras, depending on the resolution and quality desired.

Parking Lot Security Cameras for your Restaurant

The parking lot of your restaurant can be more important to consider for security camera coverage than you may have initially imagined. These cameras can not only help restaurants to avoid fraudulent "slip and fall" type lawsuits, by providing evidence of what occurred, but they can also provide evidence, vehicle type and color or even license plates of vehicles in the parking lot in case of accident or theft.

Outdoor analog cctv surveillance security cameras for restaurant parking lots Conventional analog style CCTV security cameras are still very popular areas for outside restaurant security cameras because of their low cost and reasonable picture quality. These cameras can be easily mounted to an overhang or wall of the restaurant to focus on the walkways or parking lots and can provide information on the vehicles in your parking lot as well as individuals who are walking up to the building. These cameras would be connected to a PC-Based or Standalone Style Embedded DVR for recording with a standard Coaxial video cable and can provide up to 720x480 resolution recording. Many analog security cameras even have built-in infrared night vision and weatherproof enclosures for direct outdoor mounting.

Arecont Vision MegaPixel Day/Night IP Security Cameras for restaurant security MegaPixel IP Security Cameras are fairly new on the market, and can deliver higher resolution recording up to 8.0 MegaPixel (6400x1200) which allows for much more detailed coverage of the outdoor areas of your business with a fewer number of cameras. These cameras connect to the network of your computers at the restaurant and transmit video over a standard CAT-5 ethernet cable with PoE (Power over Ethernet) support, and can be recorded onto a PC-Based NVR (Network Video Recorder) or onto a Hybrid PC-Based DVR/NVR System that will allow you to record from analog and IP security camera simultaneously. These cameras allow for higher than HD resolution video to be recorded, which allows you to even grab license plates with the security cameras, providing higher levels of detail for your restaurant parking lots. These restaurant IP Security cameras need to be mounted in an outdoor enclosure to protect them from rain or snow and humidity as they do not have built-in weatherproof enclosures like many of the analog CCTV security cameras.

Regardless of the type of camera you choose for the outdoor areas of your restaurant, it is certain that coverage of the parking lots of a restaurant are important, providing you with the ability to monitor customers in the parking lots, watch for accidents or attempted break-ins or even license plates in the parking lots.