Businesses hiring CCTV towers should look for proven reliability, fast deployments, high-definition cameras, autonomous power sources and access to live feeds to ensure they can monitor activities from any location or device.
Whether you need wireless CCTV for short-term security at a vacant property or are considering tower-mounted surveillance to address ongoing breaches at your site, it’s essential you choose a device with the features you’ll rely on.
If in doubt, it’s worth having a security professional conduct a risk assessment to ensure you have advice on coverage, CCTV tower locations, and how to integrate wide-scope surveillance with other security assets.
Choosing CCTV Towers: Key Takeaways
- CCTV towers are primarily used in off-grid, remote, or no-mains-electricity locations, so an independent power source is vital for your surveillance to function.
- Organisations should consider where they intend to position CCTV towers, the coverage of each unit, and whether this will be sufficient to monitor all perimeters or the assets and areas they need to protect.
- Advanced CCTV towers incorporate additional capabilities, such as AI analytics, which may be crucial for high-risk sites and compounds where ongoing behavioural monitoring is a key aspect of your security approach.
What Are the Main Things to Prioritise When Comparing CCTV Towers?
All CCTV towers will incorporate surveillance cameras mounted at height, but depending on your risks, you might also need to focus on highly visible cameras that act as a deterrent and provide pre-emptive notifications of suspicious activity.
The table below shares some of the common requirements that sites and businesses look for:
| Aspect | Considerations |
| Power Source | CCTV towers can be fitted with solar panels and commercial-grade batteries, or with both. The latter is often ideal for the assurance that the towers will remain fully powered at all times. |
| Area of Coverage | 360-degree coverage offers the widest scope, whereas towers with narrower fields of view may require additional cameras to cover the full area. |
| Live Feeds | Managers and security responders often use live feeds to verify the cause of any alarm or alert, and these may also be essential for health and safety monitoring and to be able to challenge intruders. |
| 24/7 Monitoring | Ongoing monitoring by a professional response team is well-suited to higher-risk sites, ensuring that all movement or out-of-hours activity is investigated and the right action is taken. |
| Visibility | CCTV towers provide a deterrent against opportunist theft and trespass, and choosing a higher-height tower with sirens and strobes further improves this visibility. |
| Technology | Incorporating advanced tech, such as behavioural analytics, enhances the proactivity of CCTV towers, meaning that whenever anything unusual or untoward occurs, it triggers an immediate alert. |
Do I Need a Monitoring Service for My CCTV Tower?
CCTV monitoring may be vital, as it ensures that all live feeds, captures, and alerts generated by your surveillance tower are logged and investigated.
Towers connected to an Alarm Response Centre (ARC) transmit clear captures instantly when an issue is detected, enabling responders to determine the cause.
If the alarm is false, responders can stand it down to avoid unnecessary callouts. However, if there is a genuine emergency, they can deploy security guards and emergency services as required.
Sites with pronounced risks, higher-value materials, equipment and machinery, or that have identified credible security threats overnight and when the site is closed, often consider monitoring as essential as the functionality of the CCTV tower itself.
Are CCTV Towers Appropriate for My Site?
CCTV towers are used in countless settings, and are generally suited to construction sites, highways, large-scale events, and compounds and complexes that house sensitive information, valuable inventory, or critical infrastructure.
There are several reasons you may require a CCTV tower, or a set of tower-mounted cameras:
- Installing surveillance on a site without access to mains power
- Requiring security for settings with poor internet connectivity
- Creating a way to monitor large outdoor spaces and perimeters
- Needing CCTV coverage for short-term or variable periods
If you’re not sure whether a CCTV tower is the right solution or need independent advice about the number of towers you’d need to cover your boundary or perimeter, you can contact the Clearway team for further advice.
Why Does the Nature of My Site or Business Affect the Right Choice of CCTV Tower?
CCTV towers are versatile and reliable, but aspects like positioning, the number of towers and integrations with access controls will differ between locations – which is why it’s important to focus on your risks and vulnerabilities.
Sites exposed to issues like fly-tipping, for instance, [1] may need one or two CCTV towers covering potential entry points or fencelines where waste is routinely dumped.
Construction sites with multiple access routes and a higher-than-average risk of break-ins and targeted criminal activity [2] may require more advanced CCTV technology and 24/7/365 surveillance monitoring.
Clearway’s construction security team says, ‘The inView CCTV tower is considered a best practice model, with triple cameras, advanced technology and proven dependability – but adapting the usage of surveillance towers to your site is key.
Those towers must be positioned in areas that cover all the bases without leaving vulnerabilities, be equipped with night vision if risks spike overnight, and offer access to the live feeds that responders need to deploy emergency security teams where necessary.’
Frequently Asked Questions
How Can I Choose Between a CCTV Tower and a Mast Camera?
Mast and CCTV towers are two different products, and although they have similar functionality, CCTV towers are much larger and better suited as deterrents. Mast cameras are more slimline and discreet.
Can CCTV Towers Be Moved or Stolen?
No, professionally deployed CCTV towers have tamper-proof fixings that can’t be removed (unless intended to) or covered, and extra-heavy bases that ensure towers remain upright and stable in extreme weather and cannot be moved without specialist equipment.
Why Should I Look for a CCTV Camera With Night Vision?
Night vision and infrared enable CCTV cameras to identify individuals, vehicles, movements and activities in all light conditions, helping protect against break-ins and trespass during poor weather and overnight.
References:
- Moulton Parish Council: AI CCTV Camera Installed
- Construction Management: How to Cut Theft on Construction Sites
