Many sites run dozens of cameras with part-time monitoring. The result is storage-heavy, reaction-light: you review only after an incident, if at all.
Design coverage around risk (entries, cash areas, stock), not pixel counts. Where you need fast response, edge analytics (line cross, restricted zone) or vendor AI features beat another wall of passive feeds.
Storage and the real cost of “record everything”
Capacity scales with resolution, FPS, and channel count. Higher bitrates under H.265 still add terabytes monthly — without retention policy and access control on NVR/VMS you either overspend on disks or over-compress and lose useful detail.
Before buying, estimate how many days you truly need for typical investigations versus legal or contractual minimums.
Filtering noise
Modern VMS and cloud offerings can rank events, bundle clips, and alert on rules. Privacy still matters: avoid unjustified coverage of sensitive areas; document purpose, inform staff where required, and stay within public-space rules.
Cameras without operators and without analytics often waste budget and attention — fewer points with a clear “what we do when the system pings” process and explicit playback permissions usually wins.