Questions we actually get · Business and large sites
How do we keep an overview of an animal shelter with several buildings, kennels and outdoor areas?
By deciding with the staff, spot by spot, what each camera is for. Security at the entrances and along the routes, and supporting views of the kennels and pens where someone wants to keep an eye on things from a distance. Every camera is cabled, including between buildings, and chosen with damp and cleaning in mind.
We get this question a lot
How a customer put it
Our site is made up of several buildings and outdoor enclosures. Staff and volunteers work all over the grounds, and not every spot can be seen from a central room. We'd like a view of the entrances and the main routes, and in some places we'd like to be able to check whether something needs attention.
Could you work out with our staff which images are genuinely useful? We need to allow for the animals, cleaning, damp, lighting and the distances between the buildings. It should also be clear which cameras are there to secure the site and which ones support the day-to-day work.
A composite example drawn from several enquiries, not a message from one customer.
An animal shelter with several buildings, kennels and outdoor pens. Staff and volunteers are spread across the grounds, and no single room gives you a view of every spot.
So the question isn’t only how you spot a burglar. It’s also how you can tell, without walking over, that something needs attention.
This is a composite example, put together from several enquiries. It isn't a message from one customer.
I start with a map of the grounds, and then I walk them with someone from the shelter. Where do visitors come in? Where’s the feed kitchen, and where’s quarantine? Which corner is pitch dark at night?
Two lists
List A is security: the gate, the car park, the doors of the buildings and the route past the outdoor pens. Those cameras always record. List B is support: a camera above a row of kennels or by a run, so someone in the office can see whether an animal is restless. That one doesn’t need to send an alert.
Damp and cleaning
Where animals are kept indoors it’s damp, and everything gets cleaned with water and detergent. We take that into account when we choose the camera and the spot, so they keep doing their job.
Between the buildings
Between buildings the cable goes underground. If digging isn’t possible, the image travels over a point-to-point wireless link. That’s only the transport: the camera itself is always on a network cable. That’s how we did it for the Dierenbescherming in Vlaardingen, part of the Dutch animal welfare society, where we’re the regular installer.
Brand
For a site like this I work with Dahua, all on cable, and you review footage on a recorder or in Nx Witness.
Ask the staff which spot they check most often by walking over to it. That's usually the best place for a supporting camera. Their legs already know the answer.
Three more questions we get about this
Do all the cameras in an animal shelter need to record?
The security cameras always record. A camera that's only there so staff can watch the kennels can play a different role. We decide that per spot, together with the staff.
Can cameras also go between separate buildings?
Yes. The cable goes underground, or the image travels over a wireless link if digging isn't possible. The camera itself stays on a network cable.
How do we start?
With a no-obligation advice call on site. We walk the grounds with you and look at what your team has to check most often.
More questions about business and large sites
All questions about business and large sitesBack to this question in the overview
Grounds with several buildings?
Book a no-obligation advice call. We'll walk the grounds with you and decide, spot by spot, what a camera needs to do.
No obligation. Afterwards you'll get a proposal that sets out how we'd go about it.