All trends

Check the cameras without walking to the recorder

More sites want to see a camera from a phone. That only helps if the account, the network and the recording still work when nobody is in the building.

Rows of security cameras mounted on a grey brick wall

Remote viewing is useful. It is also a door into the site. The trend is not “more cameras”. It is being able to look, and still knowing who else can look.

Name the people who can view

A shared password on a group chat is not an access list. Each person who can open the cameras should have their own login, and that login should be removed when they leave.

Keep a recording, not only a live view

A phone can show what is happening now. It does not replace a recorder that keeps the pictures when the network drops. Check that playback works, and that the recorder has power protection.

Treat the picture as private

Cameras see staff, customers and neighbours. Place them for the job, say that they are there, and do not point them where the business has no reason to look.