Security Cameras for Offices

What worries office owners

Offices are quiet at night and full by day, and the worry sits at both ends. After hours, you picture someone in the building with your computers. By day, you want to know who walks into reception unannounced or follows a staff member through the door.

There is also the matter of respect. Your team will be working under whatever cameras you install. A good office system is deliberate about where it looks, and open with staff about it.

Where cameras belong

We prefer to watch the ways in and the places where valuable things sit, not the desks.

• Main entry and reception. One camera on the door, one looking at the reception desk, so you see who comes in and who greets them.
• Rear or fire exits. Often propped open, often forgotten.
• Server or comms cupboard. Where your network, recorder and backups live.
• Car park or shared lobby. Only where you have the right to cover it. In a multi-tenant building, common areas usually belong to someone else. See commercial properties.
• Stock or equipment room. If you keep devices, stationery or product there.

We generally avoid pointing cameras at individual workstations, kitchens or break rooms. It tends to upset staff and may raise workplace surveillance issues.

How AI detection helps an office

An office is a good fit for after-hours detection, because the building should be empty.

• Intrusion zone. Draw a zone over reception and the open floor, and be notified if a person enters it after business hours.
• Human detection. After hours, it helps your phone alert on people instead of cleaners' lights, blinds moving or a passing car's headlights.
• Tripwire. A virtual line across a back corridor or stairwell door flags a person crossing it.
• Intelligent search. On compatible systems, you can narrow recorded footage to people at a given door, rather than watching an entire day. Higher-end systems may support more advanced search.

AI features vary depending on the selected camera and recorder. Entry-level systems may offer basic motion detection only. Detection flags events. People decide what they mean, and cleaners or late-working staff will set it off, so we help you set schedules and zones sensibly.

Using DMSS in a workplace

You get an after-hours alert, open DMSS, see who is on the screen and play back the minutes before. You can also share access with an office manager or a co-director so you do not hold all the responsibility. Our DMSS page explains the app in more detail.

Access can be limited. Not everyone needs every camera. We show you how to add and remove users when staff change. Remote access is set up securely through DMSS and sensible network configuration.

Plan for these things

Lighting. Glass fronts, bright windows and dim corridors make tricky scenes. We pick positions and cameras that cope, and ask about cleaners' hours and the lights left on overnight.

Network. The recorder should sit in a locked room or cabinet, on a stable power supply. We design the cabling so your office network and cameras do not get in each other's way.

Storage. Offices often keep footage for a few weeks. Decide how long you want. We size the drive around the number of cameras, recording quality and those days.

Privacy and signage. Tell staff in writing before cameras go in, and put signs where people enter. State and territory workplace surveillance rules can require notice, and audio is treated more strictly than video. No cameras in toilets or change areas. The Privacy Act applies to some businesses. This is general information, not legal advice, so check your own state's rules.

Entry-level versus higher-end. An entry-level office system gives you recording and motion alerts. Higher-end ones can give more detailed AI detection, better images through glass and richer search.

Take the next step

See the example systems to compare layouts, then contact us. Scheduling and coverage are confirmed when we quote.

Frequently asked questions