Usually four to eight: one per way in, one over the till or office, and one over the yard or lot. More cameras rarely fix a bad camera placement.

How do you count the cameras for your building?

Walk your property and count three things.

  1. Every way in. Front door, back door, each overhead door, and the gate if you have one. Each one gets a camera.
  2. Where the money or the valuables are. The till, the office, the parts room, the safe. One camera, sometimes two.
  3. The outside. The parking lot, the yard or the loading area. One wide view, more if the lot wraps around the building.

Add those up and most small businesses land between four and eight.

What does that look like in a real building?

A retail store in Altona with a front door, a back door, a till and a small lot needs about five. One at each door, one over the till, one over the sales floor, and one on the lot.

A small office in Winkler with one entrance, a reception desk and a back office may only need four. A repair shop with three overhead doors and a fenced yard needs more, and is closer to the shop yard setup.

Why doesn't adding more cameras fix the problem?

Because most camera problems are aiming problems. A camera that sees the top of a hat, or a parking lot in glare, won't help no matter how many sit beside it.

What makes a camera useful:

  • It sees a face or a vehicle, not a wide blur. Door cameras sit lower and closer than most people expect.
  • It covers the path people actually take. Whatever they came for, most people use the same doors and gates.
  • Someone is told when it matters. An alert for a person or vehicle after hours does more than a tenth camera nobody checks.

On a site walk we look at the property the way someone with bad intentions would. That usually shows where one well-aimed camera does the work of three.

When do you need more than eight?

  • A yard or outdoor storage. Gates, storage rows and the far corners add cameras fast.
  • More than one building. Each one needs its own entrances covered, plus a link between them.
  • Plate reading. A camera set up to read licence plates at a gate does only that job, so it is extra.
  • A long building with blind sides. Some walls you can't see from any door.

What does that number cost?

A small office or shop needs fewer cameras than a shop with a yard. Four cameras start at $1,775 installed; a yard usually needs more. See all starting prices and what moves them.

The camera count is only part of it. The cable runs, the recorder, and how long the footage is kept make up the rest. You can also start small. Cover the doors and the till first, then add the lot or yard later. We design the first stage so it doesn't have to be redone.

Should the inside cameras or the outside cameras go in first?

The doors first, inside or out. Every person who comes in passes through one, so those cameras answer the most questions.

Do I need a camera inside every room?

No. Hallways, storage closets and lunchrooms usually don't need one. Washrooms and change rooms must never have one.

What if the front of my store is mostly glass?

Plan for glare. A camera facing bright windows often shows people as dark shapes, so we aim it along the glass or from the side and check it at the brightest time of day.