TANSTAAFL

I learned the word ‘tanstaafl’ during my macro-economics class in college.  While it’s used as a word, it’s actually an acronym.  If you don’t recognize it, prepare yourself: There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch.

Box chain stores carry surveillance cameras that are a couple bucks.  Here at VoIP Supply you’ll see them run into the several thousands.  Truth is there is a whole lot of quality difference.  Don’t worry, this article shouldn’t be preachy…too preachy.

Simple:  If you want to keep an eye on the house while you’re away or just need to monitor the front door of the office, a good IP camera would be right for you, such as Grandstream’s indoor GXV3615WP_HD or their new outdoor model GXV3672_HD.  The Grandstream IP cameras are easy to work with, all of Grandstream IP cameras can sync up with their Video Phones GXV3140 and GXV3175, and they come included with Gsurf, Grandstream’s free video management software. Grandstream cameras range from about $100 up to around $500.

Basic:  If your time is precious or your space is vast, look at a few other manufacturers.  You will pay more, but you’ll also get features such as auto focus (instead of having to manually adjust the image—a plus for outdoor cameras that can lose that sharp image when blown around by the wind for so long), true day and night capabilities, tamper detection, and ePTZ.  The Panasonic WV-SF548 has several outstanding features but skipped others such as 2 way audio and weatherproof casing which brought the price down about $300 from the WV-SF549, which includes all of those features (most of Panasonic’s IP cameras can be monitored on their KX-UT670 touch screen multimedia VoIP phone, which is pretty cool).

Don’t forget to consider if you pay a little more for one camera, you might not need as many; Vivotek’s FD8161 has a field of view six times larger than traditional VGA cameras which greatly reduces the number of cameras needed.  For these types of IP cameras, they’ll run you anywhere from $400 to $1200

Advanced:  Finally, if you need your camera to auto-track a person entering a restricted area, identify license plates from a street lamp, compensate for backlight, survive Arizona heat/Alaska cold, or even control other devices based on motion detection, consider a sizable budget.  For these tasks, question anything promising all this for less than $1000.  I’m not saying it doesn’t exist, but it might not be up to your standards: perhaps it doesn’t come with a lens, it fell off the back of a truck in which there is no support available, the list goes on.  If you need these features for security, evidence, or proof, don’t skip just because the price tag might be daunting.  You simply won’t be happy.  Trust us.  We’re the experts.