Saving money on video surveillance doesn’t mean your increasing your risk. It just means you’re making wiser choices. “Cost-effective” is the term one expert uses and it’s appropriate to what you’re building. Getting the right tools is what is key. You can throw all the money you have into a video surveillance system and if it doesn’t meet your needs, it is useless. Your choice of camera is the first decision you need to make.

For example, take a look at indoor dome and cube cameras, say Vance Kozik, director of product marketing, IP Surveillance for D-Link. “They are very cost-effective and just as full-featured as the box and outdoor dome cameras. They just won’t have as much light sensitivity”

For resolution and image quality, you don’t have to go much higher than $2,000, says James Marcella, director of Technical Services for Axis Communications. “If you want real good image quality, you can get 720p/1080p quality for a $400 to $2,000 camera. The image quality is the same. The $2,000 camera will have additional feature sets you may or may not use.”

Understanding what power over Ethernet (802.3a) can bring you and how it can save you money is another budget saver, says Kozik “It’s a huge advantage over analog. The analog coax is a lot more expensive than Ethernet wiring, and analog needs up to four cables: coax for the signal, and additional wiring for power, pan tilt zoom (PTZ) control, and audio. With power over Ethernet, you can use one cable for all the camera video data, PTZ control, audio, and power,” he says.