Everything You Need to Know About Dash Cams

Summary

A dashcam is an electronic device that records the video of driving and road views around the vehicle. 

It is easy to install and has different recording capabilities. The dashcam is attached to the windshield and starts recording when the vehicle is on. It stores recordings on an SD card and has features like G-Force sensors and GPS data for emergency situations. Dashcams are useful for safety, proof of evidence, and insurance claims.

 They can monitor fleets, driver behavior, and capture incidents like theft or vandalism. Dashcams can be wired or wireless and draw power from the vehicle battery or operate on an internal battery system.

Installing a dashcam on your vehicle brings safety and security to your vehicle and persons sitting inside the vehicle, as the fleet operator can have visual monitoring with real-time clips bring enhanced safety standards to the organisational vehicles. 

If you are considering installing the dashcam in your vehicle, then you will behave numerous questions and confusion regarding the dashcam for your vehicle, we have covered everything you need to know about dashcam in this article.

What is a Dashcam?

A dashcam is an electronic device that is attached to the vehicle to record the video of driving and road views around the vehicle.

The dashcam recordings and live stream can be accessed using the software application. The vehicle owner needs to install the dashcam on the windshield to record the happenings around the vehicle on application.

In dashcam, there are many variants with 1-channel, 2-channel, to 4-channel with different recording capabilities of 480p to 1080p. As per the vehicle owner requirement, the dashcam can be chosen.

Installing a dashcam may look complex but it is easy to install on the vehicle and most of the dashcam has an in-built GPS tracking system to track the vehicle along with video streaming.

The dashcam is priced from $50 to 200$ and according to the requirement the pricing may vary but this is the standard price range for the vehicle dashcams.

How does dashcam work?

JC400P dashcam pic

All the dashcams work in a similar manner irrespective of the product pricing. But the functionality and requirements may vary depending upon the industries and vehicle owner needs. Generally, the dashcam is fixed on the windscreen to record the happenings before and cabin view (road and rearview cameras).

The supply is taken from the vehicle ignition system and also from the vehicle battery. The dashcam will start recording once the vehicle ignition is ON and the camera recording stops when the vehicle ignition is off.

If the vehicle owner is willing to record all the happenings irrespective of vehicle engine ON or OFF, the dashcam can be set in the loop mode, in that case, the video will be recorded continuously. In the local SD memory card, the old video will be replaced by the newer on once the storage reached its full potential.

The dashcam recordings are stored on the SD card. The 128 GB memory can store the data of 20 hours of video. 

In certain top-end dashcams, the device will have G-Force sensors to save the accidents recordings immediately on the occurrence of the incident. If there are any major accidents occurred on the road, the G-Force sensor detects, so that, it can protect the device to ensure there is no damage occurred to the recorded clips of the event.

The high-end model in the dashcam will record the video footage with GPS data of longitude and latitude with vehicle speed to get a clear picture of the incidents. If there is any emergency situation, the fleet operators can locate the vehicle using the in-build GPS tracking. Apart from that, the vehicle speed data will act as proof of evidence with footage clips, in case to prove the driver side of the vehicle.

There is certain dashcam models it will record the events even when the vehicle engine is OFF. If in case, anyone hits the vehicle when it is parked, it will start recording the events once the vehicle was got it. It will be useful to detect the persons or vehicles involved in such scenarios.

Who should install dashcams on vehicles?

The major reason to install dashcams on vehicles is for safety and proof of evidence.

It can be installed on personal vehicles such as cars too but mostly it is used widely on the logistics and transportation sector.

Even in that niche, the industries such as security service transportation for cash, high-end goods, health sectors such as pharma industries, employee transportation bus to ensure the safety of employees and the list goes on where safety and security is needed, then the role of dashcam raises.

The next major aspect for installing the dashcam on the vehicle is to avoid the blame game mostly drivers face on any accidents occurred on roads. To get the accidental footage and identify the reason for the accidents the role of the dashcam is important.

Finally, for insurance claims, the video footage of the installed dashcam will come in handy to recover the insurance amount from the insurance companies.

Who will benefit from dashcam installation?

If you want to keep an eye on your business fleet, or children’s driving style then a dashcam is a good bet for the vehicle.

On installing the dashcam on the vehicle, in case any theft or vandalism happens to the vehicle, it will be captured on the dashcam, and based on the video footages the vehicle owner can take the next step of action.

The next most important aspect of installing the dashcam for fleet vehicles is to monitor the driver’s behaviour.

If the vehicle is met with an accident, the dashcam footage will record all the incidents occurred before and post the accident with cabin view, road view and extra channel video (if installed) around the vehicle. Using the dashcam footage if there is no fault from the driver side, then it can be provided as proof of evidence before the law.

In insurance claims also the dashcam footage can be used as proof of evidence to claim the insurance amount from insurance companies.

Wired vs wireless Dashcam

jc400-4g-dual-channel-fleet-dashcam-from-jimi

It is nothing but the storage of data using the wired device or wireless mode of the video footage from the dashcam.

1) Data stored on the memory card.

2) Data stored on the cloud using internet solution (wireless).

Most of the dashcams available in the market draws power using wired mode from the vehicle battery. There are few dashcams that are totally wireless operate with an internal battery system, but they can withstand for the limited time period.

While you might see dashcams that claim to be totally wireless, you’ll generally find that most dash cams currently on the market do require some sort of wiring to draw power. There are a few dash cams that run entirely on internal batteries but these are usually only able to record for a few minutes.

When it comes to retrieving the data from the stored memory card, the vehicle owner needs to remove the SD card and transfer the files locally every time, which is tedious and time-consuming. On the other hand, by using the cloud-based software application, all the data of the dashcam will be stored on the cloud automatically, it can be viewed and downloaded as and when required.

Benefits of using Wireless Dashcam

  1. Accessible footage in real-time
  2. Greater storage capability
  3. Secure and private footage

How and where to install dashcams on vehicles?

Dashcam on windshield

The dashcam can be installed on the vehicle on the below mentioned locations, namely

1) Dashcam mount on the dashboard

2) Dashcam mount on the Windshield

Most of the vehicle owners prefer to install the dashcam on the vehicle dashboard, though it gives a better view of the road view, it has its own limitations. The dashboard on the vehicle varies according to the vehicle and it will not be the same on all the vehicles with clear road view and cabin view.

The best place to mount the dashcam on the vehicle is on the windshield, as it gives better visibility of road view and cabin view of the vehicle on all vehicles.

Does installing dashcam drain of vehicle battery?

It depends based on the vehicle owner requirement, if the owner is willing to record the incidents that occur while the vehicle is moving alone, then the dashcam won’t impact much with the vehicle battery. If the vehicle owner wants to record the incidents that occur even when the vehicle is parked, during this period the dashcam consume the charge from the vehicle battery which drains the vehicle battery more.

If you are really concerned about the vehicle battery and at the same time want to record the incidents that occur while parking too, then you can opt for a dashcam battery. Install the portable battery dedicatedly for the dashcam to supply the power to the dashcam from this portable dashcam battery installed on the vehicle. It will record all the video clips happening on the vehicle parking mode and at the same time, it won’t affect the vehicle battery.

Does dashcam installation affect on insurance?

Insurance agencies don’t yet furnish limits for drivers with dashcams however progress is being made, and a few organizations are thinking about carrying this out soon. While you probably won’t get a month to month break on your dashcam protection yet, having a camera introduced can give basic proof to your cases. The little venture of adding a scramble cam to your security collection might actually save you great many dollars, also the head ache of managing conflicting reports in your legal or insurance claims!

Can I get expert assistance in choosing the dashcam for my vehicle?

Yes of course, we at VAMOSYS have been in this telematics and IOT Solution providers for logistics and transportation industry for over 7 years. We have installed more than 50K vehicles for vehicle tracking, fuel monitoring solutions with across globe with our authorised dealers. If you need expert assistance on video telematics i.e. dashcam, you can reach us at marketing@vamosys.com or +91-8428933333.

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