The power and value of digital video security saves us from wasting loads of time watching hours of live video feeds. Rather, we can simply review recorded motion-based events whenever time permits. This time economy, believe it or not, is an important fact to consider when planning the camera placement for your small business.
Another important fact to consider is the behavior of your customers and the walking/working patterns of your employees. Take a few moments to analyze your customer’s and employee’s behavior. Because we are not typically monitoring live video all of the time, we want to place cameras in the most strategic places where they can provide detailed, recorded video of every person that visits the business.
In my small coffee shop, for example, I calculated that 80% of my customers end up at the cash register; 15% go straight to a table to meet a friend or to use the wireless Internet connection; and 5% come in to use my bathroom or ask directions. And at the end of their purchase or stay, 70% exit the front door while the rest leave through the side door.
Regarding my employee’s behavior, I learned that the bulk of their time is spent at the register, along the food prep line, and in the kitchen.
Taking all this analysis into consideration, I determined that I must have a camera focused on the register, a camera that sees the customers as they leave the store from both doors, and a camera viewing the employees on the food prep line and in the kitchen.
During the camera placement process, keep in mind that we are setting the cameras up to gather video data that will most likely be reviewed at a later time. Knowing this may help you place your cameras in locations that will guarantee you capture high-quality, close-up video of every person that visits the store on a daily basis. Using one camera with a wide angle lens may give you the most overall coverage, though it might provide little detail when reviewing recorded video.
Also consider your store’s infrastructure when placing cameras. For example, if your business is a small storefront with lots of glass windows, you should use a few of the same principals of photography when setting up your cameras. For example, don’t stand in the sun while photographing someone standing in the shade, and visa versa. Because of this, avoid mounting Indoor cameras 10’ inside the store pointing at the glass windows. To see the patrons entering your business with the least amount of glare, mount the camera from the side of the entry looking in. This angle will be more than sufficient to capture a great, quality profile video. Another camera mounted above or to the side of the front door looking into the store will also capture great video of customers as they leave, alleviating any excess backlight that would compromise video quality.
Click on the image below to see a larger view of a typical camera layout for small business. And feel free to ask me questions related to your application.