Quick answer
Most CCTV quotes start with a camera count. That is the wrong end of the problem. Start with the places where something can go wrong without anyone seeing it: the entrance, the till, the stockroom door, the parking area. Cover those first and the count follows on its own.
Indoor and outdoor are not interchangeable
An indoor dome behind a glass shopfront looks like it is covering the street. It is not. Glare and reflection wipe out most of the frame after dark, and the infra-red illuminator bounces straight back into the lens. Outdoor coverage needs an outdoor-rated unit mounted outside, under an eave where rain does not sit on the housing.
Resolution matters less than placement
A 2MP camera at the right height reading faces at the door is worth more than a 5MP camera on the ceiling recording the tops of heads. Mount at roughly 2.5 metres, angled so a person's face fills a reasonable part of the frame as they approach. Above 3 metres you get good coverage of the floor and poor identification of people.
Work out storage from retention, not from camera count
The question to answer is: how far back do you need to look? Most retail and office sites settle on 15 to 30 days. A rough planning figure for continuous recording:
- 2MP camera, continuous recording: roughly 20 GB per day
- 4MP camera, continuous recording: roughly 40 GB per day
- Motion-only recording typically cuts that by half to two thirds, depending on how busy the space is
Four 2MP cameras at 30 days retention is therefore around 2.4 TB continuous, or closer to 1 TB on motion recording. Buy the next size up: drives fill faster than the arithmetic suggests once you add a busy doorway.
The parts people forget
- A UPS on the recorder. A camera system that stops during a power cut records nothing during the hour you most want footage.
- Remote viewing set up and tested on your own phone before the installer leaves.
- A written note of who holds the recorder password.
- Cable routed where it cannot be reached from the ground and cut.
If you can only afford to do one thing properly, do the entrance. A clear face at the door beats partial coverage everywhere.
We plan camera positions on a site visit before quoting, because the right answer changes with your layout, your lighting and where your cash sits.
Tell us what you have already tried. That helps our technician arrive prepared.