Taking care of your video surveillance system is crucial. There are several things you can do to maintain your system.

Purchase two books. Use one of the books to keep track of maintenance and the other to record repairs. When you make use of two books it will be easier to keep good records.

You should always record certain information about your video surveillance system. Write down the model, make, and serial numbers of all equipment including the cameras, DVR’s, time lapse VCR’s and multiplexers. You may need this information if the police are called for a problem.

Take the time to review the camera position set-ups. This will ensure that your video surveillance camera is in the best location and that the focus is correct.

The camera focus can be adjusted to focus in on the area most likely to capture a suspect or to show an area that you need to monitor. The lighting should be considered also because it won’t do you any good to use video surveillance if the lighting is poor. You don’t want the light sources aimed incorrectly at the camera either because this will cause interference.

Another lighting situation to keep in mind is “back lighting.” When you are adjusting the camera angle of your video surveillance camera you do not want a dark outline that does not allow you to see important identifying details. If you have a camera in an area with sunlight that comes in through the windows you can be faced with this problem if the light is directly in the line of the camera lens.

These tips will help you maintain your video surveillance system. Part two will give you even more ideas.