Business CCTV Buying Guide

Camera spec sheets are full of numbers that don't all matter equally. This guide focuses on what actually affects real-world performance for a Kenyan business, and what tends to be marketing noise.

What actually matters

• Resolution -- higher resolution means more detail for identifying faces or number plates, but also more storage used. 4MP is a reasonable default for most business entrances; higher resolution suits wider areas like a parking lot where you need to zoom in later.
• Low-light / night performance -- check the effective IR or white-light range in metres, not just "night vision: yes". A camera rated for 30m IR range is very different from one rated for 60m.
• Color night vision (like ColorVu) -- worth it for entrances and areas where identifying colour (clothing, vehicles) at night matters, not necessary for every camera on site.
• IP rating -- IP66 or IP67 for any outdoor-mounted camera. An indoor-rated camera used outdoors will fail faster from moisture and dust ingress.
• Compression (H.265 vs H.264) -- H.265 roughly halves storage requirements at similar quality. Worth prioritizing if storage cost matters.
• PoE vs separate power -- Power over Ethernet (PoE) cameras run power and data over one cable, simplifying installation versus needing separate power runs.

What matters less than the spec sheet suggests

• "AI" branding -- most modern cameras include some form of smart motion detection (person/vehicle detection). It's genuinely useful for reducing false alerts, but isn't a reason alone to pick one camera over another with similar core specs.
• Extremely high resolution everywhere -- an 8MP camera on a narrow corridor is often overkill; the same budget is better spent on more cameras or better low-light performance where it matters.

By business type

Business type	Priority
Retail / shopfront	Entrance and till-point coverage, colour night vision for identifying customers after hours
Office	Entrance, server room and reception coverage; internal cameras less critical
Warehouse	Wide-angle coverage of stock areas and loading bays, higher resolution for reading labels/plates
Restaurant / hospitality	Entrance, till point and kitchen coverage; audio-capable cameras sometimes useful for dispute resolution

A real example

See our Hikvision ColorVu camera page for a worked example of a real, currently-stocked camera and what its specific features actually mean in practice.

Don't forget the recorder

Camera quality is only half the system -- the NVR/DVR determines how much footage you can actually keep and how reliably it records. See our storage calculator guide to size this correctly before buying.