What Happens to My Security Cameras During an Outage?

Your security cameras are a valuable part of your security plan. They provide deterrence and visibility, comfort employees and customers, improve ability to quickly recognize security events, and keep key evidence for post-event analysis. Modern cameras take full advantage of connected capabilities, offering the ability to check on your sites remotely and backup important footage to the cloud. 

But what happens to your cameras during a blackout or internet outage? Does the infrastructure that enables your connected security system become a crutch? 

Without planning, a power or internet outage can be crippling for a security system, but it doesn’t need to be. For areas where these are regular concerns or for high-security applications, there are a variety of solutions for ensuring that your camera coverage stays consistent. 

In general, there are three levels of [preparedness] that be built into a system: 

1. Grid-Dependent

2. Buffered

3. Redundant

The system will only function at the level of the lowest-capability component.  For example, if power is 100% grid-dependent, redundant comms and storage won’t do any good. To build a system that is fully redundant, power, storage, and communications will all need to be planned for full redundancy. 

POWER

Dependent power is standard, utility-served electricity. When the power goes out, your equipment turns off. It can be buffered by battery backup systems. These can smooth over small interruptions in power lasting up to several hours. 

For full redundancy, additional power generation methods are required. A standby generator is technically a large buffer, as is limited by the fuel available, but if supplied with good fuel stocks will provide coverage much longer than most battery systems. For some locations, solar is a fully-redundant power supply. It may be established at a facility level or via small panels attached to specific camera installations. 

STORAGE

The utility of video cameras is significantly reduced without the ability to record video. When communications networks (especially the internet) are impacted, can your system retain footage until it can be uploaded? 

Many systems have some level of edge or local storage that builds in a small buffer for short interruptions. To plan for larger interruptions, onsite NVRs can be used instead of or in conjunction with cloud services to back up data onsite. A fully-redundant storage architecture will back up fully for some period (e.g. 30 days) to both cloud and onsite locations. 

COMMUNICATION

Unlike power and storage, communication can be cached ahead of time to provide a buffer. It can only be installed redundantly. Internet capabilities are a given for most modern installations. When that is down, onsite storage can be accessed by personnel onsite. For more robust use-cases communication capabilities can be augmented by LTE or Starlink for cameras. Old-school telephone lines can still provide basic alarm monitoring at central stations. 

BUILDING RESILIENCE

If you are planning an installation or have experienced outages and would like to be better prepared next time, please get in touch: 

We offer equipment and services that can provide buffers or full redundancy in all three areas discussed in this article (power, storage, and communications). For existing installations, many of these are compatible with industry-standard hardware and will not require extensive replacements of equipment you have already installed.