How Monitoring Works
Cameras are only sensors. What protects a site is the chain behind them — and how quickly a real event moves from pixel to person.
Motion zones and analytics are drawn around what matters — the fence line, the dock doors, the laydown area — and scheduled around your working hours, so a forklift at 2 p.m. is routine and a figure at 2 a.m. is an event.
An operator looks at the live view and the clip that triggered it. Wind-blown tarp, raccoon or authorized night crew? It is logged and closed. A person testing doors? It moves straight to response with the facts attached.
The escalation ladder is agreed with you in advance and written down: a Secure 24 Seven guard dispatched immediately, a call to your keyholder, and police when a crime is in progress.
Live vs. Recorded
Recorded footage is valuable evidence. It just does not interrupt anything. Here is the practical difference.
| Question | Recorded-only CCTV | Proactive monitoring |
|---|---|---|
| Who is watching at 3 a.m.? | No one, until someone reviews the recorder | A trained operator receiving your camera events |
| When do you find out? | The next morning, when staff arrive | While it is happening |
| What happens next? | You search hours of footage for the moment | A pre-agreed response: warning, guard, keyholder, police |
| False alarms | Not applicable — nothing is acted on | Filtered by a person before anyone is sent |
| Evidence | Whatever the cameras happened to catch | Clips flagged in real time, plus a written incident report |
| Best suited to | Low-risk areas and investigations after the fact | Unstaffed hours, open yards, repeat targets |
Camera Placement
A camera has to be the right distance and angle for the job it is given. Detecting a person on a fence line needs far fewer pixels than recognizing a face at a door. We review placement against each camera’s task before monitoring starts.
Aimed tight at the choke point, where every vehicle and person must pass. The goal is identification, so this camera is close and narrow, with lighting for night-time plates and faces.
Covers the bays and the trailer area in front of them. Observation-level detail is enough to see who is handling what and which door they came from.
Long, shallow view along the perimeter for detection. It does not need faces — it needs to show that someone has crossed the line.
Mounted near head height and pointed into the doorway, not across it, so anyone entering faces the lens.
Wide coverage of rows and the path to the door for vehicle break-ins, catalytic-converter theft and loitering after hours.
Watches stored materials and equipment, the zones most likely to be targeted when the site is empty.
The detail-level rule of thumb
Is someone there?
about 25 px per metreWhat are they doing?
about 62.5 px per metreHave we seen them before?
about 125 px per metreWho exactly is it?
about 250 px per metreApproximate pixel densities from the video surveillance standard EN 62676-4 (IEC 62676-4), widely used as a planning guide.
Privacy & Signage
Ontario has no general private-sector privacy law of its own, so a business collecting video in the course of commercial activity is generally covered by the federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). The Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario’s video surveillance guidelines are written for public institutions such as municipalities and schools.
The federal, Alberta and B.C. privacy commissioners’ joint guidelines for overt video surveillance in the private sector set out the habits below. We build monitoring around them — and a privacy lawyer is the right call for your specific obligations.
This area is monitored by video cameras
Recorded for the safety of people and property. Questions or requests: [your contact name, phone or email]
Screen to street
Guard Dispatch & Alarm Response
Many monitoring services stop at a phone call. Because Secure 24 Seven also runs guarding, GPS-tracked mobile patrols and alarm response, the person who sees the event and the guard who arrives are working from the same plan.
Pair it with alarm response for intrusion panels, or with patrols on construction sites and warehouses.
Event Log
Often, yes. It depends on whether your recorder or cloud system supports remote access and event notifications, and on the site’s internet connection. We check compatibility, coverage and camera condition during the free assessment and tell you plainly if anything needs to change.
They follow the response plan you approved: verify, then escalate in the agreed order — a guard dispatched immediately, your keyholder notified, and police called if a crime is in progress. Everything is logged and summarized in your incident report.
For some sites, during some hours, it can be. A well-lit yard with good camera coverage may only need monitoring plus a responding guard. Busy sites, places with public contact or ones that need doors opened and visitors checked still need a person on post. We often recommend a mix.
Federal privacy guidance for businesses says people should be told about video surveillance before they enter the monitored area, with a contact for questions. Clear signage is also a deterrent in its own right. For advice on your specific obligations, speak with a privacy lawyer.
Pricing depends on the number of cameras, the hours monitored, how often events are expected and which response options you want behind the screen. After the assessment you receive a written quote that shows each of those choices.
Monitoring Assessment
A free assessment of your site and existing system, with a clear recommendation you can act on — whether or not you monitor with us.
Tell us about your site and the coverage you need — we’ll get back to you quickly.
Tell us about your security needs — our team will create a custom, affordable protection plan tailored to your site.
