SHOULD YOU PURCHASE SECURITY CAMERAS ONLINE OR LOCAL?

It is true that you can find a wide variety of security cameras online and they should be less expensive than what your local installation company can offer. There are a number of reasons for this price difference. You will need to decide what is important to you and if the limitations are worth the potential savings.
Below is list of services that your ONLINE camera supplier will NOT provide. All these services come standard when purchasing through Watchdog Loss Prevention Inc. and many other local installation companies:

• Internet sales companies don’t spend hours doing complementary site visits and preparing well-thought out proposals with a variety of options designed for your budgetary needs.
• Internet companies don’t offer site-specific recommendations for camera types, lenses and positioning.
• Internet companies don’t install, so they don’t require well paid technicians, service vehicles or spare parts.
• If a camera or recorder quits under warranty, internet sales companies don’t come to your site and trouble shoot the equipment.  Internet sales companies certainly don’t install loaner equipment if your recorder or camera needs to be removed for repair.
• Internet companies don’t train you or your staff on how to use the system.
• Internet sales companies don’t ensure that you are using the latest firmware in fact the equipment they are selling is often out of date.
• Internet sales companies often are not even authorized sales representatives for the equipment they are selling.
• Internet companies don’t set up networking or work with your IT department to put the system on your phones or home computers.
• Internet companies will never give you the pros and cons of the equipment; in fact because they operate basically on selling cheap instead of right; they won’t point out facts like you are being better off with dual voltage cameras then 12 VDC cameras.  24 VAC power is more reliable and will carry over longer distances than 12 VDC power.

All the above value-added services are included when purchasing from a local company like Watchdog. The services are provided by highly-trained and experienced technicians that are paid well above the minimum wage offered to the order pickers at the online suppliers.

If you decide that you want to take the chance of saving some money and order your equipment online, you will still need to have the system installed. There may be less experienced installers that offer installation for a reduced rate but you need to make sure that they are legally allowed to install security cameras systems. In our jurisdiction, they must be licensed by the safety authority, hold a valid security worker’s license and have a business license in the city they are performing the work in.  And don’t forget the Workers Compensation or what ever is required in your area.  If a worker hurts themselves on your property and is not covered by compensation you can be held liable.
 
Often installing equipment purchased online can take longer because the technician will need to familiarize themselves with the setup and operation. If the equipment does not work out of the box, the tech may have to spend additional hours trying to get support which many times is non-existent or extremely limited especially if the installers are not authorized. Often an issue that an experienced company is familiar with and can solve in minutes can takes hours of time or is never solved by a company unfamiliar with the equipment. Unless your installation company is authorized by the manufacturer, they may not even be able to get tech support.   

With a properly trained and experienced company, setup will be faster and cost you less money. At Watchdog, we only install equipment that we know has good customer service and technical support from the manufacturer.  

The online security camera supplier carries virtually no-risk; if their product fails, you need to remove it and ship it back to them and they return it to the manufacturer. If the local company installs equipment that fails, they will return and repair or replace it. The local company deals with the manufacturer technical support or RMA department.

If you want to buy your security cameras online, you should consider hiring an experienced consultant to make recommendations and custom design you security camera system. Once you have your system designed and spec’d you can easily get multiple quotes on only the best suited equipment. This way you are comparing “apples to apples”. You may find that the spec’d equipment is still cheaper online, so you will have to decide if the extra service provided by the local company adds the value that is important to you.
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In our company we too can purchase cheaper from over seas manufacturers however we believe strongly that it is best to support local business.