How Much Does a School Security Camera System Cost?

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A security camera system for your school offers an extra layer to your overall safety practices and procedures. Adding video surveillance helps deter disturbances, and create valuable evidence regarding common school safety issues, including unauthorized visitors, altercations between students, and complaints lodged against teachers.

The Benefits of Security Cameras on Campus

Wireless IP security cameras offer a wide variety of benefits, the first of which is their visibility. In many cases, the sight of a camera discourages negative behavior. Unauthorized people are less likely to set foot on a campus when they know they're being filmed. Students and staff are less likely to engage in improper behavior.

Communities regularly spread interesting education news; the knowledge that your campus installed security cameras will soon get around, further helping discourage unwelcome visitors.

Today's technology allows networking of cameras from across campus and even other campuses within a district. This makes it easy to view footage remotely, allowing anyone authorized to view your security footage to do so, instantly seeing what's happening in multiple campuses and multiple classes using only a smartphone. You can even make live footage available to law enforcement.

Security footage also comes in handy after the fact. You can use this evidence to determine the truth of everything from injuries sustained on school grounds to charges of assault. Present the evidence to students denying wrongdoing, or parents who insist their child would never.

With live feeds and remote viewing capabilities, you can monitor visitors as they enter campus, making it easy for administrators and front office staff to ensure everyone signs in and follows your school's safety procedures.

Finally, newer security camera systems make install and setup a breeze. There's no need for drilling or placing miles of cable throughout school grounds, and you probably won't even need a pro to handle your install. What's more, these systems easily grow with you, so adding new cameras to an existing system requires little effort.

What Difference Does the Camera Quality Make?

The total cost of your system depends entirely on the number and quality of cameras required to fulfill your needs. Your basic security camera comes in at around $100 on average, and tops out at around $2,000. As the price rises, of course, so does the quality of the camera and number of features.

Your basic models come in at around 1080P/2MP resolution. Commercial-level models record around 15 frames per second, with USB backup and download, as well as remote viewing capabilities, the same as their more expensive counterparts. What you're really missing is resolution and zoom capabilities.

For example, basic models allow you to recognize someone from a distance of 50 feet, and identify someone from 25 feet. In this instance, "recognize" is similar to thinking, "I've seen that person before. "Identification" means you have the ability to easily point out identifiable traits. For example, you could describe the person well enough that a sketch artist could craft a credible likeness based on your description. More advanced models improve both recognition and identification distances. The highest quality cameras allow recognition from 125 feet, and identification from 75 feet.

How Much Does a Campus Video Surveillance System Cost?

When you buy a complete security camera system, you get a bundle that includes a certain number of cameras as well as a storage unit. All price ranges offered below are "starting" numbers, as packages are customizable. MP stands for megapixels and is used to describe resolution.

4-Camera Systems

• 2MP, 50' recognition, 25' identification, digital zoom only, average starting price approximately $1,000
• 4MP, 75' recognition, 50' identification, digital zoom only, average starting price approximately $1,200
• 4MP, 125' recognition, 75' identification, digital and optical zoom, average starting price approximately $2,300

8-Camera Systems

• 2MP, 50' recognition, 25' identification, digital zoom only, average starting price approximately $2,000
• 4MP, 75' recognition, 50' identification, digital zoom only, average starting price approximately $2,350
• 4MP, 125' recognition, 75' identification, digital and optical zoom, average starting price approximately $4,000

12-Camera Systems

• 2MP, 50' recognition, 25' identification, digital zoom only, average starting price approximately $2,750
• 4MP, 75' recognition, 50' identification, digital zoom only, average starting price approximately $3,450
• 4MP, 125' recognition, 75' identification, digital and optical zoom, average starting price approximately $5,850

16-Camera Systems

• 2MP, 50' recognition, 25' identification, digital zoom only, average starting price approximately $3,425
• 4MP, 75' recognition, 50' identification, digital zoom only, average starting price approximately $4,300
• 4MP, 125' recognition, 75' identification, digital and optical zoom, average starting price approximately $7,500

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