Home Security Cameras, Video Surveillance & CCTV Systems

home security cameras

Thanks to huge leaps for­ward in tech­nol­o­gy, Video Sur­veil­lance for Home Own­ers has nev­er been more afford­able or bet­ter qual­i­ty. PROTECTION PLUS® now offers options mul­ti­ple options for video sur­veil­lance for your Greater Toron­to Home.

Why do you need Security Cameras in Toronto?

1. Bur­glary and Van­dal­ism are the num­ber one rea­son most peo­ple install video cam­eras. Video cam­eras and CCTV often deter crim­i­nals from attempt­ing rob­beries. If there is an inci­dent, such as car key­ing or graf­fi­ti, a well-placed video cam­era can pro­vide the nec­es­sary evi­dence for Police to arrest and charge the per­pe­tra­tors.

2. Neigh­bour and Neigh­bour­hood dis­putes are anoth­er pop­u­lar rea­son for Secu­ri­ty Sur­veil­lance Cam­eras. Whether or not a recent inci­dent has spurred your desire to keep an eye out for any­thing out of the ordi­nary, secu­ri­ty cam­eras can help alle­vi­ate any con­cerns and show you what is tak­ing place in front and behind your home. A prop­er­ly installed out­door video sur­veil­lance CCTV cam­era can record all activ­i­ty and give insight into what is going on when you’re not look­ing.

3. Out­door secu­ri­ty risks. Whether you have a swim­ming pool in the back yard or expen­sive patio fur­ni­ture and equip­ment at risk, a cam­era sys­tem can secure the prod­ucts and pro­vide you with alerts and peace of mind. Has the deliv­ery ser­vice left the pack­age at the door?

4. Fam­i­ly and Chil­dren mon­i­tor­ing. Many par­ents install video sur­veil­lance to ensure the safe­ty of their fam­i­ly mem­bers. There are a vari­ety of prac­ti­cal appli­ca­tions, includ­ing real-time video look-in to check on the Nan­ny, or the teenagers left home alone for the week­end. The abil­i­ty to have alerts and video clips sent when events occur also pro­vides peace of mind.

  • Bur­glary and Van­dal­ism are the num­ber one rea­son most peo­ple install video cam­eras. Video cam­eras and CCTV often deter crim­i­nals from attempt­ing rob­beries. If there is an inci­dent, such as car key­ing or graf­fi­ti, a well-placed video cam­era can pro­vide the nec­es­sary evi­dence for Police to arrest and charge the per­pe­tra­tors.
  • Neigh­bour and Neigh­bour­hood dis­putes are anoth­er pop­u­lar rea­son for Secu­ri­ty Sur­veil­lance Cam­eras. Whether or not a recent inci­dent has spurred your desire to keep an eye out for any­thing out of the ordi­nary, secu­ri­ty cam­eras can help alle­vi­ate any con­cerns and show you what is tak­ing place in front and behind your home. A prop­er­ly installed out­door video sur­veil­lance CCTV cam­era can record all activ­i­ty and give insight into what is going on when you’re not look­ing.
  • Out­door secu­ri­ty risks. Whether you have a swim­ming pool in the back yard or expen­sive patio fur­ni­ture and equip­ment at risk, a cam­era sys­tem can secure the prod­ucts and pro­vide you with alerts and peace of mind. Has the deliv­ery ser­vice left the pack­age at the door?
  • Fam­i­ly and Chil­dren mon­i­tor­ing. Many par­ents install video sur­veil­lance to ensure the safe­ty of their fam­i­ly mem­bers. There are a vari­ety of prac­ti­cal appli­ca­tions, includ­ing real-time video look-in to check on the Nan­ny, or the teenagers left home alone for the week­end. The abil­i­ty to have alerts and video clips sent when events occur also pro­vides peace of mind.

How do you pick the right video surveillance system for your home?

1. There are many fac­tors to con­sid­er; the first step should be deter­min­ing what the pur­pose of the sys­tem will be. Is it specif­i­cal­ly to mon­i­tor a swim­ming pool area? The dri­ve­way? The back­yard? Keep in mind, the more areas you want to mon­i­tor, the more com­plex and expen­sive the sys­tem will become. Be real­is­tic about your pri­or­i­ties and bud­get.

2. The adage “you get what you pay for” def­i­nite­ly applies to cam­era sys­tems. Be care­ful about prod­ucts offered online at incred­i­bly low prices. Be aware that video sur­veil­lance kits from Big Box stores are gen­er­al­ly low­er qual­i­ty, old­er tech­nol­o­gy and are strict­ly “Do it Your­self”. If you are not tech-savvy or your handy­man skills are rusty, then try­ing to wire your home and prop­er­ty for cam­eras and then pro­gram the NVR or DVR will be frus­trat­ing at best, an enor­mous waste of resources at worst. Note that very few Pro­fes­sion­al Secu­ri­ty com­pa­nies will work with the equip­ment you pur­chased from a big-box retail­er.

3. Do you want images stored on-site on your own hard­ware? Or do you want stor­age online? Online stor­age is pos­si­ble, con­ve­nient and pos­si­bly more secure. But for the bud­get for a month­ly sub­scrip­tion fee and space lim­i­ta­tions.

4. Is the pur­pose of the cam­eras sim­ply to record images so they can be retrieved at a lat­er date if need­ed? Or is the sys­tem about remote access and real-time look-in ser­vice? If you are think­ing about a sys­tem for a cot­tage or sea­son­al dwelling, you need to know that you will have to pro­vide high-speed inter­net ser­vice 24/7 to have remote access and video look in ser­vice. Include that cost in your bud­get.

5. Will you need indoor or out­door cam­eras? Or a com­bi­na­tion of both? ALL video sur­veil­lance cam­eras need to be wired; there are no 100% wire­less cam­eras avail­able. Be real­is­tic about where the cam­eras will be locat­ed. Unless you have an unlim­it­ed bud­get for trench­ing and cabling, cam­eras will need to be locat­ed on one build­ing where wiring can be achieved with rea­son­able effort. Cam­eras need­ed for out­door appli­ca­tion in Cana­da need to be specif­i­cal­ly designed to oper­ate in all kinds of weath­er con­di­tions and tem­per­a­tures. A cheap­er indoor cam­era may work fine in August, but in Decem­ber there will be no images, and the cam­era may be per­ma­nent­ly dam­aged by mois­ture and freez­ing.

6. If you are not sure of your future needs, keep your options open when pur­chas­ing a Video Sur­veil­lance sys­tem. Pur­chase an NVR or DVR with excess data stor­age and the capac­i­ty to add more cam­eras at a lat­er date.

  • There are many fac­tors to con­sid­er; the first step should be deter­min­ing what the pur­pose of the sys­tem will be. Is it specif­i­cal­ly to mon­i­tor a swim­ming pool area? The dri­ve­way? The back­yard? Keep in mind, the more areas you want to mon­i­tor, the more com­plex and expen­sive the sys­tem will become. Be real­is­tic about your pri­or­i­ties and bud­get.
  • The adage “you get what you pay for” def­i­nite­ly applies to cam­era sys­tems. Be care­ful about prod­ucts offered online at incred­i­bly low prices. Be aware that video sur­veil­lance kits from Big Box stores are gen­er­al­ly low­er qual­i­ty, old­er tech­nol­o­gy and are strict­ly “Do it Your­self”. If you are not tech-savvy or your handy­man skills are rusty, then try­ing to wire your home and prop­er­ty for cam­eras and then pro­gram the NVR or DVR will be frus­trat­ing at best, an enor­mous waste of resources at worst. Note that very few Pro­fes­sion­al Secu­ri­ty com­pa­nies will work with the equip­ment you pur­chased from a big-box retail­er.
  • Do you want images stored on-site on your own hard­ware? Or do you want stor­age online? Online stor­age is pos­si­ble, con­ve­nient and pos­si­bly more secure. But for the bud­get for a month­ly sub­scrip­tion fee and space lim­i­ta­tions.
  • Is the pur­pose of the cam­eras sim­ply to record images so they can be retrieved at a lat­er date if need­ed? Or is the sys­tem about remote access and real-time look-in ser­vice? If you are think­ing about a sys­tem for a cot­tage or sea­son­al dwelling, you need to know that you will have to pro­vide high-speed inter­net ser­vice 24/7 to have remote access and video look in ser­vice. Include that cost in your bud­get.
  • Will you need indoor or out­door cam­eras? Or a com­bi­na­tion of both? ALL video sur­veil­lance cam­eras need to be wired; there are no 100% wire­less cam­eras avail­able. Be real­is­tic about where the cam­eras will be locat­ed. Unless you have an unlim­it­ed bud­get for trench­ing and cabling, cam­eras will need to be locat­ed on one build­ing where wiring can be achieved with rea­son­able effort. Cam­eras need­ed for out­door appli­ca­tion in Cana­da need to be specif­i­cal­ly designed to oper­ate in all kinds of weath­er con­di­tions and tem­per­a­tures. A cheap­er indoor cam­era may work fine in August, but in Decem­ber there will be no images, and the cam­era may be per­ma­nent­ly dam­aged by mois­ture and freez­ing.
  • If you are not sure of your future needs, keep your options open when pur­chas­ing a Video Sur­veil­lance sys­tem. Pur­chase an NVR or DVR with excess data stor­age and the capac­i­ty to add more cam­eras at a lat­er date.

How security cameras can minimize vehicle theft out of driveways?

1. Deter­rence: Vis­i­ble secu­ri­ty cam­eras act as a deter­rent to poten­tial thieves. Know­ing that their actions are being record­ed increas­es the like­li­hood of them recon­sid­er­ing their crim­i­nal inten­tions, thus reduc­ing the chance of vehi­cle theft in the first place.

2. Sur­veil­lance: Secu­ri­ty cam­eras pro­vide con­tin­u­ous sur­veil­lance of the dri­ve­way area where vehi­cles are parked. This con­stant mon­i­tor­ing allows for quick detec­tion of sus­pi­cious activ­i­ty, such as some­one attempt­ing to break into or steal a car.

3. Evi­dence Col­lec­tion: In the unfor­tu­nate event that a vehi­cle theft does occur, secu­ri­ty cam­era footage serves as cru­cial evi­dence for law enforce­ment. The record­ed video can help iden­ti­fy the per­pe­tra­tor, their meth­ods, and the direc­tion they fled, aid­ing in the inves­ti­ga­tion and poten­tial recov­ery of the stolen vehi­cle.

4. Remote Mon­i­tor­ing: Many mod­ern secu­ri­ty cam­era sys­tems offer remote mon­i­tor­ing capa­bil­i­ties via smart­phones or com­put­ers. Home­own­ers can mon­i­tor their dri­ve­way and vehi­cles in real-time from any­where, allow­ing imme­di­ate action to be tak­en if any sus­pi­cious activ­i­ty is detect­ed.

5. Alert Sys­tems: Some secu­ri­ty cam­era sys­tems are equipped with motion sen­sors and alert fea­tures. If some­one enters the mon­i­tored area, the cam­eras can send instant alerts to the home­own­er’s smart­phone or email, enabling them to respond prompt­ly and noti­fy author­i­ties if nec­es­sary.

6. Peace of Mind: Beyond their prac­ti­cal ben­e­fits, secu­ri­ty cam­eras pro­vide home­own­ers with peace of mind, know­ing that their vehi­cles are under con­stant sur­veil­lance. This psy­cho­log­i­cal reas­sur­ance can alle­vi­ate wor­ries about vehi­cle theft and enhance over­all secu­ri­ty mea­sures for the prop­er­ty.

PROTECTION PLUS NDAA Statement

The John S. McCain Nation­al Defense Autho­riza­tion Act (NDAA) for Fis­cal Year 2019 was signed into law in the Unit­ed States on August 13, 2018. The law, specif­i­cal­ly Sec­tion 889, pro­hibits gov­ern­ment agen­cies, their con­trac­tors and grant or loan recip­i­ents from uti­liz­ing or using “telecom­mu­ni­ca­tions and video sur­veil­lance equip­ment or ser­vices” from spe­cif­ic Chi­nese orga­ni­za­tions as a “sub­stan­tial or essen­tial com­po­nent of any sys­tem, or as crit­i­cal tech­nol­o­gy as part of any sys­tem.” The NDAA ban incor­po­rates media com­mu­ni­ca­tions equip­ment and video sur­veil­lance prod­ucts pro­duced by spe­cif­ic Chi­nese orga­ni­za­tions. While there is no such leg­is­la­tion in Cana­da yet, many orga­ni­za­tions are becom­ing more proac­tive about this issue and are explic­it­ly ask­ing for NDAA-com­pli­ant CCTV and sur­veil­lance sys­tems.

Home security camera

NDAA Compliant Security Cameras

The world­wide busi­ness scene is unpre­dictable, main­ly as orga­ni­za­tions grow increas­ing­ly con­nect­ed. One preva­lent issue our indus­try faces is the dan­ger – real and per­ceived – of cyber­se­cu­ri­ty and its poten­tial­ly wide-going ram­i­fi­ca­tions for secu­ri­ty and sur­veil­lance

Cyber­se­cu­ri­ty is vital to the Nation­al Defense Autho­riza­tion Act (NDAA), effec­tive August 13, 2019, explic­it­ly sec­tion 889. This sec­tion out­lines the pro­hib­it­ed uti­liza­tion of spe­cif­ic video sur­veil­lance, telecom­mu­ni­ca­tions ser­vices, equip­ment and com­po­nents man­u­fac­tured by par­tic­u­lar orga­ni­za­tions. For our clients, these reg­u­la­tions can influ­ence sup­ply chains, GSA con­tracts and even cur­rent­ly deployed tech­nolo­gies, espe­cial­ly if the cus­tomer is a gov­ern­ment-relat­ed or admin­is­tra­tive agency.

PROTECTION PLUS is com­mit­ted to com­ply­ing with all gov­ern­ment and inter­na­tion­al trade reg­u­la­tions. PROTECTION PLUS offers NDAA com­pli­ance across all of our prod­uct offer­ings, with many present­ly uti­lized in gov­ern­ment, defence and the scope of com­mer­cial appli­ca­tions. 

PROTECTION PLUS’ top pri­or­i­ty is being a good part­ner to its clients – mak­ing it as easy as pos­si­ble to work with us.

Your PROTECTION PLUS con­sul­tant can help you decide what sys­tem is best for you and your bud­get.

PROTECTION PLUS offers solu­tions from Alarm.com and Honeywell’s Total Con­nect cam­eras and smart­phone app for small­er res­i­den­tial appli­ca­tions.

Home security camera installation
Home security camera

The Hon­ey­well and Alarm.com solu­tions offers sim­ple instal­la­tion with min­i­mal wiring require­ments and a secured por­tal for view­ing and stor­ing videos.

Anoth­er Video Sur­veil­lance sys­tem option can be designed by your PROTECTION PLUS Con­sul­tant using CCTV pro­fes­sion­al-grade cam­eras, soft­ware, and NVR or DVR’s. A CCTV sys­tem is for larg­er appli­ca­tions and will be more suit­able for out­door appli­ca­tions with high-def­i­n­i­tion cam­eras avail­able in weath­er­proof con­fig­u­ra­tions.

Start with a sim­ple 2 or 4 cam­era instal­la­tion, and build in space for adding more cam­eras lat­er as your needs change. Fea­tures include mul­ti­ple ter­abytes of onboard stor­age as well as smart­phone apps for remote view­ing and con­trol.