Unlocking the mysteries



You've got a surveillance system installed in your house and you're eager to know how it will work. But when there's a problem with the system, you go berserk. You hurriedly call the supplier and report your discovery. You are asked many questions: Did you use your Access Card? Check the cross talk please. You become petrified. If you don't know that the chip is an Access Card, how can you be expected to know about the cross talk? That's when you realize you have to improve your CCTV IQ.

Liberate yourself from this embarrassing ignorance of surveillance speak now that you're the owner of a brand new security system in your home. You should also encourage your wife and teens to recognize these CCTV vocabulary in case you'll have to instruct them on your mobile. There's nothing frustrating like giving instructions to people on the phone who can't understand what you're talking about. You yell and curse and describe those things that have to be retrieved and worked on, while at the other end of the line, the unfortunate person is at wit's end trying to make sense of all those words you are machine-gun spitting.

How to start

Save yourself and your family this scenario. You can go online and download information about your surveillance system and the mechanics of its operation. No sweat, really, and a no-brainer. You can start with the things you are familiar with ? like the type of surveillance cameras inside and outside the house.

Are these cameras concave? Covert? Are the lens convexed? Once you know these and observed the cameras, you'll see the light at the end of the tunnel. It's a liberating experience, really, to know the things you should know about.

Next, go check the images on the computer screen. Are the images recorded in real time? Are you on multiplex? Are the axial cables well installed? Is the white balance okay? These are questions that are most likely to be asked by the supplier/installer when you call for help.

If you've spent a lot of money on your CCTV surveillance system, you should not be relying on others to tell you that a spade is a spade and A is for Access Card, not for apple. It does not mean that you'll have to chain yourself to the post to learn all about your CCTV system. Just keep plodding on. Your supplier or installer will be thanking his stars that he got himself a smart customer like you.

Have duplicates of your downloaded FAQs and place one conveniently on your home and office tables secured safely under a heavy paper weight. When you make a distress call or if somebody asks you help, you have your CCTV manual to go.