How many security cameras does my business need?
A simple guide for scoping your camera project
Introduction
So you’ve read the arguments for security cameras - reduced crime, lower insurance bills, liability protections, and business analytics - and have decided to install cameras for your business.
That’s great! Now… how many do you need? It’s easy to find information about resolution, durability, and AI capabilities, but that still doesn’t give you a sense of what to budget for if you don’t know what number of cameras will work best to get you started.
Don’t worry; this easy guide will break down our simple best practices for camera quantity and placement for several types of small- and medium-sized businesses. Of course, one size rarely fits all, so there are also notes on additional factors you may want to consider in buying and placing cameras.
If you have questions about this guide or want some help working through the applying these suggestions to your business, we are here to help! We offer FREE QUOTES within our service area. Click below to contact us and get your site visit scheduled:
Security Camera Use Cases
No matter what industry you are in, the first step to figuring how many cameras you need is to evaluate your use cases. Do you want to prevent crime? Know what’s going on throughout your facility? Capture evidence for insurance, police reports, or private investigators? Provide a basis for rapid response to emergency situations?
At Settler, we think of camera implementations in three main categories, informed by our Four Rs model of security:
Level 1 - Repel
Level 2 - Expand Recognition and Recovery
Level 3 - Speed Response
A Level 1 installation is based on a few highly visible cameras in key locations as a deterrent to criminal or otherwise disallowed behavior. By their nature, these cameras can still send alerts, capture evidence, and support response, but with limited coverage of a facility, these functions will not be as robust.
A Level 2 installation will build on deterrent coverage to capture as much of your facility as possible. It will include automated alerts to quickly identify unexpected activity. The additional coverage will provide the best body of evidence for post-incident analysis.
A Level 3 installation will include monitoring and/or dispatch services to quickly provide human verification of any observed incidents and communication with internal or external emergency services. While this level of installation used to require onsite personnel and monitoring stations, modern AI software has significantly lowered the costs of monitoring services, so there are affordable options for almost every budget.
There are a growing number of use cases for “security cameras” outside of security. AI software enables a wide variety of automated reporting and analytical functions, such as monitoring specific objects, watching for specific behaviors, counting, and dwell time analysis. These are quickly becoming an entry-level standard for management in many industries.
General Security Camera Best Practices
Covering every inch of your business with security cameras is both expensive and unwelcoming to staff and customers. How do you prioritize? We start with entrances and places cash changes hands. Once those are covered, we move on to additional coverage for cash and valuables, and things that may be dangerous.
A basic, Level 1 installation for most small businesses includes one visible camera at:
Each entrance (including back doors and roof access points)
Each Point-of-Sale station.
This provides visibility and deterrence before entering the business and at the points cash is handled, which are flashpoints for robbery and internal theft. Of course, if you are required by regulation to surveil any aspect of your operations, those requirements are included in Level 1.
For any business that manages its own parking lot, consider at least one visible camera in the parking lot. Up to 10% of crime takes place in parking lots. You will need a sturdier unit to handle exposure to weather, but the benefits to crime reduction can be significant (up to 53% in this study run by the Urban Institute). If you have a large lot, start with a minimum of 1 camera per 200 spots.
A Level 2 installation to fully monitor a facility, mitigate liability, or provide a forensic corpus for investigation should include Level 1 cameras, plus at least one camera each for:
Customer zone
Any location cash/valuables are handled
Limited access zones (e.g. server rooms, clean rooms)
Limited access zone entrances
Hazard areas (e.g. escalators, zones for moving equipment like forklifts, etc)
Additional parking lot coverage
Large customer zones may require additional cameras. One per 500 sq ft is a good starting point for large rooms. If limited access zones cannot be surveilled due handling of sensitive items or privacy requirements, consider covering each entrance from multiple angles instead. Parking lot coverage should increase; consider a minimum coverage closer to 1 camera per 50 spots.
These are good starting points for almost any small business. Level I almost never changes. Cover entrances, parking lots, and places cash (or other valuables) change hands. Level 2 can generally be inferred from principles, but let’s look at how these work in a few specific industries.
Security Camera Best Practices for Professional Offices
Level 1 Coverage:
1 per entrance door and/or lobby (including back doors, fire exits, etc)
1 per point of sale location (especially if cash is accepted as payment)
Parking lot as detailed above (if managed by business)
Level 2 Coverage:
1 per server room entrance
1 per server room (or server room aisle if large)
1 per hall (more for very long halls)
1 per waiting room
1 per break room
1 per elevator and stairwell landing (if managed by the business)
Security Camera Best Practices for Restaurants
Level 1 Coverage:
1 per entrance door and/or lobby (including back doors, fire exits, etc)
1 per point of sale location (especially if cash is accepted as payment)
Parking lot as detailed above (if managed by business)
Level 2 Coverage:
1 per liquor storage area
1 per Dining Room (more for large dining rooms >500 sq ft, see above)
1 per elevator and stairwell landing (if managed by the business)
1 per server room entrance
1 per stock room
1 per loading dock
1 per walk-in freezer
1 per prep line/hot line/etc
1 per break room
Security Camera Best Practices for Retailers
Level 1 Coverage:
1 per entrance door and/or lobby (including back doors, fire exits, etc)
1 per point of sale location (especially if cash is accepted as payment)
Parking lot as detailed above (if managed by business)
1 per aisle (more for long aisles)
1 per product display for hot items
Level 2 Coverage:
1 per cash handling location (e.g. counting room, safe, etc)
1 per management office entrance
1 per server room entrance
1 per break room
1 per stock room/stock room aisle
1 per trash collection area
Security Camera Best Practices for HOAs and Neighborhoods
Level 1 Coverage:
1 per entrance (vehicle or footpath)
Any shared parking lots, as detailed above
1 per office entrance (if on-site)
1 per amenity/common facility room (more for facilities >500 sq feet)
Level 2 Coverage:
Add LPR (license plate reader) support for all vehicle entrances and exits
1 per server room entrance (if on-site)
1 per server room (or server room aisle if large)
1 per trash collection area
1 per potential dumping zone
Security Camera Best Practices for Warehouses
Level 1 Coverage:
1 per vehicle entrance (with LPR support)
2 per loading dock (exterior and interior view)
1 per entrance door and/or lobby (including back doors, fire exits, etc)
1 per 200 ft of aisle length
Parking lot as detailed above
Level 2 Coverage:
1 per warehouse/office area entrance
1 per pallet/box breaking zone (more for controlled, small, or high-value inventory)
1 per server room entrance
1 per server room (or server room aisle if large)
Any non-aisle forklift pathing (or other moving machinery locations)
1 per trash disposal location
Best Practices for Security Cameras for Industrial Businesses
Level 1 Coverage:
1 per 200-500 ft of perimeter (including waterfront)
1 per vehicle entrance (with LPR support)
2 per truck or rail loading dock (exterior and interior view)
1 per building entrance door (including back doors, fire exits, etc)
Parking lot as detailed above
Level 2 Coverage:
1 per server room entrance (if on-site)
1 per server room (or server room aisle if large)
1 per elevator and stairwell landing
1 per zone for moving equipment (including vehicular arteries)
1 per business lobby, waiting room, and break room
1 per 200 ft of building hall
Minimum 1 per entrance AND 1 per 500 sq ft of storage for each facility holding:
Sensitive intellectual property (i.e. plant documentation, product formulas, etc if not included in server room)
High-value, controlled, or dangerous materials
Cash
Tool rooms
1 per waste disposal location
1 per known explosion, fire, or chemical risk (with appropriate explosion-proof rating)
1 per known fall or isolation hazard
Beyond Best Practices
These simple best practices will provide most business with a good approximation of how many cameras they will need. There are reasons why some businesses may want to consider additional cameras:
Limited visibility (e.g. parking garage instead of a lot, limited options for installation angles, etc)
Problem areas (e.g. repeated crimes, vandalism, dumping, or vagrancy)
Greater resolution (e.g. for support of analytics software, better forensics, etc)
Redundancy (e.g. for mission critical monitoring or response)
Business analytics
A well-designed system to cover Level 1 or Level 2 will leave room for expansion. Even in the case of antiquated systems, there are often options for integrating or expanding the existing system without a full teardown.
Where NOT to Put Cameras
It my seem obvious, but it is worth noting that there are some areas that should NOT have cameras.
Anywhere privacy is expected should not be monitored by camera. This includes bathrooms and changing rooms on your own property, but may include windows or sensitive areas on neighbors’ property as well. Offices and conference rooms are often included by custom.
There may be reasons to exclude some business activities from surveillance. Sensitive functions like R&D labs, product testing, task force clean rooms, or any activity subject to commercial espionage may be placed at greater risk, not less, by surveilling them with cameras. This is especially true for cameras connected to the internet or to SOCs with a lower level of access control.
Do not place cameras where they are illegal. This article is written from the perspective of Texas law, which is a one-party consent state. Other states require two-party consent and/or notification of recording. Some jurisdictions have different rules for hidden vs. visible cameras or video vs. audio surveillance. Some activities, such as certain organized labor activities and most medical treatments cannot legally be recorded. Know the local regulations before buying or installing cameras.
Don’t place cameras where they won’t work. Placing a camera in a dark or backlit location will be of limited use without changes to lighting. Placing cameras at too high an angle, too far away, or behind obstructions will limit its use. Harsh environments will wreck a camera’s lifespan if it was designed for lighter duty. It may seem intuitive, but these things happen.
Other Considerations
Besides the number of cameras, a successful system installation will consider and plan for factors like lighting, wiring, power, bandwidth, on- and off-site data storage needs, support for remote viewing and monitoring needs, reporting and analytics needs and capabilities, and allowances for maintenance and growth.
Conclusion
Hopefully we’ve been able to provide a simple framework for estimating how many cameras your business will need, as well as covering some real-life complications to watch out for.
Remember, if the real-life complications get too mess, you don’t have to go it alone! To get help with designing a system to meet your needs, please get in touch. We offer FREE QUOTES within our service area based on an expert site visit or review of your plans. We will ensure that you get a camera system that meets your needs and your budget. Call us today!