Before you spend a dollar on new security technology, run this checklist on your current setup. It's the same audit our team walks every new client through — and most of it you can do yourself in under an hour.
Most security gaps aren't dramatic. They're small, predictable, and identifiable from a clipboard. Here's how we look at any property when we walk in for the first time.
1. Camera coverage at the perimeter
Walk the outside of your property. Stand at every potential entry point — every door, gate, fence line, loading dock, dumpster area. From that spot, is a camera pointing at you? Can you see its lens?
If not, that's a gap. Perimeter coverage matters more than interior coverage because it catches intent before it becomes intrusion.
2. Coverage of high-value zones
Now walk inside. Identify your three or four most valuable zones — cash handling, inventory storage, server room, restricted offices. Each one should have at least one camera with a clean view of the entry point.
Bonus points if the camera angle captures faces clearly, not just movement. Most cameras are mounted too high to see faces; correct positioning matters more than camera count.
3. Lighting at night
Visit your property after dark. Walk the same perimeter. Is your camera footage usable? IR cameras are common but vary widely in quality — many produce footage that's adequate for "something happened" but useless for "this is who did it."
The fix is often inexpensive: a few well-placed motion-activated lights can transform IR footage quality.
Quick test
Walk past each camera at night while someone records. Then review the footage. Could you identify the person if you didn't already know it was them? If not, that's a fixable issue.
4. Audio capability
Most cameras don't have audio output capability. If you ever want active voice-down deterrence — and you should, because it's one of the highest-impact preventive tools — you'll need IP speakers at relevant zones. Audit which areas could benefit and what coverage radius each speaker provides.
5. Recording retention
How long does your system retain footage? 30 days is the minimum for most use cases. Insurance investigations often go back 60–90 days. Theft investigations sometimes go further.
Check both: how long do you retain it, and how easily can you retrieve specific footage by date/time/camera? Slow retrieval is almost as bad as no retention.
6. Who's actually watching
This is the hardest question. Be honest: when something happens at 3am, who knows about it within 5 minutes?
- An alarm contract that wakes someone up if a sensor trips? (Mostly false alarms.)
- An on-site guard? (Expensive, limited attention.)
- Nothing — footage is reviewed the next morning? (Most common, least effective.)
If the answer is "nobody," that's the single biggest upgrade opportunity in your security stack.
7. Access control accountability
For each entry point that uses a key, fob, or code: when someone leaves your organization, how quickly is their access revoked? For physical keys, the honest answer is "never" — there are always copies in circulation.
Even simple electronic access control with role-based revocation is a major upgrade for any business with more than a handful of employees.
What to do with your audit results
You'll typically come out of this exercise with 3–5 specific gaps. The right next step isn't to buy a new system — it's to prioritize:
- What carries the highest risk? (Cash, inventory, after-hours exposure)
- What's cheapest to fix? (Often lighting, repositioning, voice speakers)
- What unlocks the most value? (Usually: putting eyes on existing cameras)
If you'd like a second set of eyes on your audit, that's exactly what our free walkthrough provides. We come away from it with a prioritized list — not a sales quote.