IP cameras with UniFi Protect recording, view-anywhere apps, and access-control integration — designed so when something happens, you find the footage in seconds instead of hours.
Most camera systems are bought to satisfy an insurance requirement or check a security box. They sit unused until something happens, and then nobody can find the footage. We install surveillance that's actually useful — with retention policies sized to your compliance needs, search workflows that work, and access-control integration that ties door events to camera clips automatically.
The hardware is the easy part. Modern IP cameras are excellent — 4K resolution at every price point, low-light performance that's effectively night vision, motion zones and analytics built in. The hard part is everything else: where to put them, what to record, how long to keep it, who can view it, and how to find what you need when something goes wrong. That's where most surveillance projects fall down.
We design camera systems around the questions you'll actually need to answer. "Who came in the back door at 2 AM last Tuesday?" — that's a door-event-plus-camera-clip query, which means access integration matters. "What was the license plate of the car that backed into the dumpster?" — that's a license-plate camera at the right angle, with retention long enough to find it after the incident is reported. "Did anyone tamper with the mailroom packages overnight?" — that's motion-zoned cameras with retention plus a notification policy.
We standardize on UniFi Protect for most deployments. It's the recorder, the camera platform, the search interface, and the access integration in one stack — no separate NVR subscription, no cloud-storage monthly fee, no third-party app to manage. Storage lives on-prem (UDM Pro, Network Video Recorders, or dedicated Protect appliances) and footage is searchable by user, time, motion event, or door event from anywhere on a phone or browser.
Real video-surveillance outcomes — footage that reads plates and faces, searches that finish in seconds, storage you can defend in court.
Access integration means a door event opens the matching camera clip with one click. Search by user, time, location, or event type. Investigations that took hours of scrubbing take minutes.
Live and recorded views from any phone, tablet, or browser. Property managers and security teams check in from anywhere; permissions control who sees what.
Default 30 days for most clients; longer for compliance-driven environments. On-premise NVR for data-residency requirements; cloud for view-anywhere needs.
Motion zones (record activity at the door but not the wind in the trees). Person/vehicle classification. License plate detection. Smart alerts when something actually matters.
Badge swipe + camera clip + audit log all visible in one place. Incident reports take minutes instead of cross-referencing three systems.
Every camera aimed at the actual scene it covers. Lens correctly chosen for distance and field of view. Night-mode tested in actual darkness, not at the factory. No "we'll fix that later."
If any of these sound like your parking lot, lobby, or loading dock, you're in the right place.
You have cameras but nobody can find footage when something happens. The search interface is unusable.
Modern UniFi or enterprise platforms with timeline scrubbing, event search, and access-event integration. Investigations take minutes.
Cameras are pointed at the wrong angles. The lens is too wide or too narrow for the area you're trying to cover.
We site-survey before purchase. Lens choice, mounting position, and aiming are validated at install — not guessed.
Night-mode footage is unusable. The whole image is grain and you can't identify anyone.
IR-rated cameras tested at actual nighttime light levels. Where IR isn't enough, we add white-light triggers for actual identification.
Retention is 7 days and you only learn about incidents two weeks later. Footage is gone.
Retention sized to your incident-reporting cycle, typically 30 days minimum, longer for compliance environments. Storage is cheap; missed footage is expensive.
License-plate camera shows blur. Useless for incidents.
Dedicated LPR cameras with the right shutter speed and lens. Not the same as a wide-angle camera "near the entrance."
Cameras are isolated — no integration with door access or alarms.
IP-based platform that ties to access control and alarm. One dashboard for the whole physical-security picture.
Cameras, NVRs, VMS, analytics, cabling, monitoring — when we say "complete video surveillance," this is what we mean.
Interior, exterior, license plate, parking, and high-traffic-area cameras. We site-survey every location, choose the right lens (focal length, aperture, sensor size), and validate placement at install with test footage. Cameras are aimed and locked, not just bracketed.
On-prem NVR for data-residency, bandwidth-sensitive, or cost-controlled deployments. Cloud-based recording (UniFi Cloud, or enterprise platforms) for multi-site portfolios, view-anywhere requirements, or operators who don't want to maintain on-prem hardware.
Live and recorded views from any device. Role-based permissions so property managers see their property, regional managers see the portfolio, security teams see only what's relevant to investigation. Audit trail of who accessed what footage when.
Every door event triggers the matching camera clip. One click in the access dashboard pulls up the video. This is the single highest-leverage feature in an integrated security stack — it turns surveillance from "useful in theory" into "useful in practice."
Motion zones (only record at specific areas). Person/vehicle classification (alert on people, ignore wildlife). License plate detection and capture. Smart notifications that actually matter — not constant motion alerts that train you to ignore the system.
Retention policies sized to your incident-reporting cycle. 30 days is typical for non-regulated environments. Longer for compliance environments (healthcare, government). Storage is cheap relative to the cost of missed evidence.
Cameras consume bandwidth and storage. We size both at design so your recording doesn't slow down the rest of the network and so retention is actually achievable. Bitrates tuned per-camera based on actual activity at that location.
Dedicated LPR cameras at gates, entrances, and parking access points. Proper shutter speed, illuminator, and lens for actual plate capture. Indexed and searchable by plate number, time, and direction.
4 phases. One project lead. Transparent timeline and line items from day one.
Not slogans. The video-surveillance operating principles that show up in every project.
Every camera placement is based on actual building walk-throughs. We don't order off a spreadsheet; we walk the space.
Every camera is aimed, focused, and tested before we leave the site. Night-mode is validated in actual nighttime conditions.
Door events tie to camera clips. This integration is the single most valuable thing surveillance can do — and the thing most isolated camera installs lack.
Retention sized to incident-reporting reality. Search workflows that work. Analytics that reduce alerts instead of generating noise.
Surveillance requirements shift by industry — multifamily focuses on amenity-area coverage and package rooms; CRE and hospitality prioritize lobby analytics and license-plate capture.
Surveillance pairs naturally with access-control events and, on multifamily, with intercom video feeds — we design them as one system.
For surveillance, UniFi Protect is our workhorse. We deploy alternatives when the site needs deeper event integration, longer retention, or a specific compliance posture.
Common surveillance questions — retention, licensing model, analytics, and how cameras tie to access events.
Default is 30 days for most clients. Longer (90 days, 1 year, 7 years) for compliance environments — healthcare, education, government. We size storage and bandwidth at design to make retention achievable.
Sometimes. We assess what's there. Cameras with usable image quality and modern protocols (ONVIF) can usually migrate to a new NVR or cloud platform. Old analog cameras typically can't and aren't worth keeping.
We install camera systems that support compliance programs. Retention policies, access logs, and storage configuration align with HIPAA, FERPA, and similar frameworks. Setting the policy is your job; the technology supports it.
Yes — when access and cameras run on the same UniFi infrastructure, this is one of the highest-value features of an integrated deployment. Every door event ties to a camera clip. Searches by user, time, or door work across both systems in one interface.
Yes. Dedicated LPR cameras with proper shutter speed, lens, and (for night use) IR illumination. Plates are indexed and searchable. Common at multifamily gates and commercial parking entrances.
Yes, on any modern platform. Live and recorded views from phone, tablet, or browser. Role-based permissions so the right people see the right cameras.
Depends on building layout and what you're trying to capture. Typical coverage is every entrance, key common areas (lobby, mailroom, gym, parking), high-incident areas, and gates. For a typical mid-size apartment building, that's 25–50 cameras. We site-survey before quoting.
We don't install in-unit cameras unless it's a resident-owned smart-home install. For privacy and legal reasons, surveillance is for common areas and exteriors.
Free consultation. We'll come walk the space, listen to what you're trying to fix, and tell you what's possible at three different price points.