Video surveillance upgrade: 5 hidden costs on an obsolete system

Security systems have a way of becoming outdated over time. New developments appear every day. The older the video surveillance system, the more problematic the maintenance: suitable parts leave the market, and sometimes repairs are more expensive than replacing the entire system. In this article, we’ll break down the hidden costs of video surveillance, and find out if it’s really profitable to maintain outdated monitoring systems. 

5 hidden costs on an outdated system

If you don’t count the small costs of maintaining video surveillance, it might seem like even outdated systems don’t require a lot of money. But it doesn’t. 

If the user starts to record all expenses, purchases of consumables, repairs, and maintenance, a month will run up a decent amount. 

Often people don’t switch to digital monitoring because they think that analog allows them to save money. But this decision is a mistake. Let’s take a closer look at the cost items of video surveillance.

Maintenance and service issues

Video recorders are limited in their ability to handle large amounts of data. This leads to the fact that the storage is constantly lacking, it must either be expanded or the information erased from it. 

In IP systems, the video compression method (H.264) reduces storage requirements and gives the user a detailed image. 

Low picture quality

You do not have to wait until your company or house is robbed, take care of the picture quality in advance. Outdated cameras only produce grainy images, which reduces the chances of recognizing an intruder’s face. 

How will it help you save money? Better quality images will help the investigation, save time on constant vault cleanup, and eliminate the possibility of expansion. 

No remote access capability

Remote access only seems like an unnecessary luxury at first glance. Having video cameras without remote viewing forces you to hire operators, a security staff, or put a manager near the monitors. 

However, you won’t guess when a breach will occur, and at that time you’re paying employees to perform their duties. But the human factor is not going anywhere, the employee may overlook the theft. And that’s your hidden loss. 

Paid upgrade

A long-established security system is already out of warranty. Its further upgrade is at your expense. 

But here you may find new problems: the company that installed the system may no longer work, and contractors may refuse to update you because there may be no consumables for outdated CCTV. 

As a result, you will either overpay for the service or incur losses due to ineffective monitoring. 

Responsibility for data storage

As we said above, data storage in legacy systems is lame. There is not enough storage, the processor produces low quality images because of this. 

But one more disadvantage can be pointed out. Since in analog systems, the owner himself is responsible for the storage of information, in the case of damage or deletion, all the losses will fall on him. 

In modern cloud systems, data is stored in a secure lease space on a server. If there is a failure, all losses for data recovery will fall on the rental company. 

How to avoid spending? 

In order for a video surveillance upgrade to be economical, you need to understand right away what you shouldn’t expect from outdated video monitoring systems. 

After that, it’s worth taking a closer look at modern digital solutions. For example, Faceter’s monitoring service allows you to: 

• save money on system updates. The latest software versions are installed automatically and free of charge; 
• save money on the purchase of additional equipment; 
• eliminate the cost of complex installation and preventive maintenance of the system; 
• setting up takes about 15 minutes in the free mobile application Faceter with an intuitive interface; 
• save money on maintenance. You pay only for the selected tariff;
• you additionally get video analytics capabilities. 

You will need two cell phones or IP camera to organize the system. You can not connect analog equipment to Faceter. 

Conclusion

Technology develops for a reason. Developers are incorporating new features and capabilities into their products to improve the efficiency of security systems on the market. 

If you are worried about the high cost of monitoring content, then look at the budget alternative based on artificial intelligence from Faceter. The average price of the service is 400 rubles per month.