Why Cloud Video Surveillance?

There are a bunch of considerations when trying to decide on the right kind of video surveillance system for your home or small business. Probably the biggest is whether to use cloud video surveillance or not. Let’s walk through 3 big reasons why we believe cloud video surveillance is the way to go.

To Cloud or not to Cloud

When when we get asked: “Why do I need a cloud video surveillance system? My IP camera comes with a web-based viewer thingy, and I think I can FTP videos somewhere or just synch it with DropBox, right…?”

Maybe.

Depends on the camera, depends on your technical skills and it depends on what features you want for your video surveillance system.

We advocate a lightweight approach – pick the camera hardware that suits you best, connect it to a cloud service that works for you, and off you go. No installers need to visit your house, no monthly contracts, etc. Keep it simple. (hint: Camcloud offers one, check us out).

Our Top 3 Reasons for the Cloud

Here are the biggest 3 reasons why you should consider the cloud when setting up a video surveillance system.

1. Cloud Storage. This is probably the biggest one and where using a cloud video surveillance can really shine for a user. The basic idea is when something interesting happens while you’re away from your camera, you want to be able to capture that activity for later viewing. Having a service that automatically accepts recorded video, stores it off-site securely, and makes it available for easy viewing later is a no-brainer.

2. Security. There have been some well-publicized reports of IP cameras being hacked lately. Most of these incidents boil down to users making their IP camera available on the open internet and not changing the default admin credentials. There have been some issues related to out-of-date firmware, but in general a good cloud service provider will make sure you’re using more secure streaming protocols, strong camera access credentials, and ensuring easy hacks aren’t available.

3. Mobility. Related to #1, just about everyone will want to access their video surveillance system remotely, which means mobile access is a must. By managing access to your cameras and recordings from the cloud, mobile apps become a possibility and a good cloud vendor will offer them as part of their service.

So those are our three reasons for going with a cloud service. If you agree with our rationale, try our free plan and let us know what you think.