Chances are that if someone breaks into your business, they’ll have enough of an IQ to know that your computer may be storing surveillance data. Think like a burglar: If you really wanted to cover you tracks, you would do everything possible to destroy any computers in the premises. Surveillance data is stored in computers, VCRs, and other data-gathering equipment.
Casing the place isn’t difficult, especially if it’s small. Chances are you don’t hide your surveillance equipment effectively. And even if you did, there’s a chance that the burglar will take the time to try and find what is controlling the cameras. Wireless surveillance helps, since people doing B&Es (short for “breaking and enteringâ€) usually follow cables to track the surveillance source. However, the best place to keep your data is far, far away from you.
But you’re not going to run cables through hundreds, or even thousands, of miles from your location, are you? We have this wonderful thing called the cloud that can help solve this problem for you. You’ve worked hard to get your business afoot! The best thing you can do to protect your baby is to implement cloud-based surveillance (known as VSaaS, or “Video Surveillance as a Serviceâ€). Take a gander at a couple of solutions I’ve found for you:
- ControlByNet i-flashback Cloud - CCTV is out of style, and CloudByNet doesn’t hesitate to make that point. Their i-flashback Cloud solution caters to small- and medium-sized businesses that are looking for an affordable and manageable solution that can scale according to their needs. Their software claims to minimize the cost of running hardware and keep your data on a secure server. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get any pricing data. It probably depends on the quantity of cameras you want installed in your location.
- Smartvue Cloud Video - Here’s a really interesting offer! Smartvue tailors its product according to your needs. You don’t necessarily need  to have your video data on the cloud. You can buy one of their surveillance servers for as little as just under $300. You can also include a data plan that allows up to 100 GB of storage on the cloud for $25 a month.
- ivideon - If the other two solutions gave you butterflies in your stomach, I can’t wait until you hear about this one. Ivideon, a Russia-based company, offers secure cloud video surveillance for up to 2 cameras for free. Their pricing on other plans varies depending on how long you want information archived and how many cameras you install. The home plan, for example, gives you a live video feed and archive for $0.10/day/camera, giving you the option of archiving for up to 30 days ($0.5/day/camera), for up to 16 cameras. Their “business†plan raises the live video price to $0.2/day/camera but raises the 16-camera limit to a whopping 5,000 cameras. Added to this, you get to export videos as AVI files (to be played with VLC or Windows Media Player) and you also receive email notifications.