Whether protecting a large enterprise or small business, the right security system is crucial for maintaining safety, preventing loss, and ensuring smooth operations. The best security systems are no longer disparate on-premise systems that operate in isolation. Modern cloud physical security systems integrate cloud security cameras, access control, alarms, and more in a fully unified cloud-managed platform.
Verkada’s cloud-managed security system makes it ultra simple to monitor, get real-time alerts, make fast data-driven decisions, and easily scale from 1-10,000+ devices. As an entirely unified security platform with built-in AI search and analytics, you can easily unlock the speed and efficiency of on-premise computing with the power and scalability of the cloud.
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What to Look for in the Best Commercial Security System
When searching for the best security system, organizations should focus on the key features that are best aligned with their business needs. Below is a breakdown of these features.
Video Surveillance: The Foundation of Modern Security
Video surveillance is a core component of any modern commercial security system. Businesses need security cameras that provide high quality video, are easily accessible, and capable of advanced AI-based analytics. Some of the most critical camera analytics include:
AI Search & Analytics
With Verkada’s AI-powered search, users can conduct investigations using natural language queries. For example, security personnel can search for “worker not wearing PPE” to find instances of workers that are out of compliance with PPE regulations, or “hooded individual holding purse” to quickly find someone who snatched a purse out of someone’s hands. This gives security teams the ability to find footage quickly, accurately and simply.
Facial Recognition
Facial recognition has become a cornerstone of modern video surveillance systems because it allows organizations to monitor and track unique individuals as they navigate through camera feeds. The most advanced systems can even notify organizations when facial recognition technology detects a person of interest.
Person Detection & Characteristics
Supplementing facial recognition, or for regions where it is not allowed, person detection and characteristics allow organizations to find and monitor individuals based on things like shirt color, pants color, having a backpack or wearing a hat.
Vehicle Analytics
The ability to search and monitor based on vehicle characteristics (ie. white pickup truck or red tesla) is critical for businesses with vehicles passing by, arriving and leaving their premises.
License Plate Recognition (LPR)
License Plate Recognition gives organizations a more precise tool for identifying and monitoring unique vehicles. Because a vehicle’s license plate serves as a unique identifier, LPR technology can be used to track and monitor each individual vehicle including how frequently that vehicle is seen.
Line Crossing and Loitering Detection
This technology enables organizations to monitor for unauthorized crowding, loitering, and movement. This feature is particularly useful for monitoring sensitive areas or detecting suspicious behavior, such as unauthorized entry or individuals hanging around a restricted area without clear purpose.
Access Control: Securing Entry Points
One of the most critical components of a comprehensive security system, access control is essential for managing entry to sensitive areas within an organization. The best access control systems make it easy for approved individuals to access important areas while preventing unknown or unapproved individuals from accessing those areas.
Camera Integration
By pairing natively with video surveillance, organizations can have eyes on every single access control event from doors being unlocked, forced open, or propped open. Additionally, pairing with LPR cameras allows gates and garage doors to be unlocked for verified vehicles.
Role-Based Access Management
Verkada’s user-friendly, remote accessible permission management system makes managing user roles and granting door permissions simple. Through a native SCIM integration, organizations can streamline user provisioning even more. And because it is accessible from anywhere through the cloud, access users can be deprovisioned on the fly in emergency situations where access needs to be revoked.
Remote Management
Utilizing the remote management enabled by the cloud, physical security personnel can unlock doors remotely, change door schedules, or override schedules easily and from any location.
Smart Credentials
The days of traditional lock and key are fading, and smart access control systems make door unlocks easy for verified users. Using Bluetooth or mobile phone apps, access users can unlock doors quickly and easily without having to fumble with a keyfob or traditional key.
Lockdowns
Smart access controllers enable lockdowns during emergencies, securing rooms from unauthorized entry while still allowing access for security personnel and emergency responders.
Alarm Systems: Proactive Threat Prevention
Modern alarm systems are designed to integrate with other systems, such as video surveillance and access control, to provide a comprehensive and proactive security solution.
Perimeter Security
Perimeter security ensures that the outer boundaries of buildings and property lines are monitored and protected. Cameras and professional monitoring systems paired with a talkdown speaker can proactively stop intruders before they reach the building.
Intrusion Detection
Intrusion detection systems are designed to detect unauthorized access inside the building or sensitive areas. These systems use a combination of sensors and surveillance tools to detect breaches and trigger alarms when security is compromised
Motion Sensors
Motion sensors are key for detecting movement within a space. Traditional systems use motion sensors to immediately notify security teams when any movement is detected, but smart systems can utilize cameras as triggers providing valuable video context to the movement detected.
Professional Monitoring
Professional monitoring ensures that a security system is continuously watched, and alarm events are quickly video verified. Professional monitoring agents can review footage, notify decision makers or even dispatch emergency responders if necessary.
Panic Button
Panic button support enables immediate alarm responses in emergencies. Advanced security systems integrate panic buttons with video surveillance, providing situational context and triggering lockdowns when necessary.
Intercoms: Secure Visitor Communication
Intercoms provide a secure, efficient way to manage visitor access, allowing authorized individuals to communicate with security personnel or receptionists and be granted temporary access after a brief assessment of their validity. Integrated with video surveillance and access control systems, intercom systems provide enhanced security and streamline visitor management processes.
Video and Access Integrations
By integrating intercom functionality with video and access control systems, security teams can view visitors, verify identities, and grant or deny access from a single interface. This enhances an organization’s security posture while simplifying access management.
Two-way Talkdown Functionality
A core intercom function is two-way talkdown, allowing security staff to communicate directly with visitors. Leading intercom systems make this process easy, and can even generate automated transcripts of every talkdown event.
Unified Management at Scale
Most businesses have multiple points of entry that need to be secured for visitors, meaning they will likely have multiple intercom devices. Managing multiple locations and entry points should be simple, and clear to security staff and receptionists.
AI-powered Analytics
At the cutting edge of current intercom technology is an integration with AI-powered camera analytics to provide real time insights to security teams when someone is at the door. Live person of interest detection allows receptionists to know immediately if a visitor is a known threat before they are granted entry to a building.
Visitor Management Systems: Streamlined Check-in
The check-in process is often a guest’s first interaction with an organization, and it can leave a lasting first impression. Modern visitor management systems provide a streamlined approach to checking in guests, making it simple to monitor their movements throughout their visit. By integrating with video surveillance and access control, these systems help verify visitor identities, issue temporary credentials, and track their presence within the facility, ensuring both security and compliance.
Background Screening
Background checks, cross-referenced with criminal and sex offender databases, help security ensure that visitors are who they claim to be and have a clean record, reducing the risk of unauthorized access and enhancing overall security
Video Integration
By integrating video surveillance with visitor management systems, guest movements and sightings can be tracked. This allows security teams to have eyes on how guests are moving throughout their facilities.
Temporary Credentials
When visitors check in, temporary credentials can be provisioned, granting visitors access to specific areas of the facility during their stay. Once they sign out, their access is revoked automatically.
Host notifications
Once a visitor checks in, the system can automatically notify the designated host, informing them of their guest’s arrival. This feature ensures that hosts are prepared to meet their visitors, improving the efficiency of the check-in process and enhancing the guest experience.
Environmental Monitoring: Protecting People and Assets
Environmental monitoring helps detect potential hazards, ensuring a safe and healthy environment for both personnel and assets. By leveraging advanced sensors, organizations can quickly identify environmental risks and mitigate them before they escalate.
Air Quality Sensors
General air quality sensors monitor for the presence of harmful pollutants and chemicals, in addition to factors like temperature and humidity that can affect both comfort and safety. These sensors can also be used to monitor and detect smoking and vaping in sensitive areas like bathrooms and locker rooms.
Water leak Sensors
Water leak sensors can be used to detect excess moisture in critical environments, preventing water damage, mold growth and protecting sensitive equipment and materials from damage.
Smoke/Vape Detectors
Smoke and vape sensors ensure early detection of smoking and vaping events giving administrators the tools to react quickly.
Integrations
By integrating these sensors with video surveillance, organizations can associate contextual video footage with specific events, enabling quicker investigations and faster resolutions.
Alerting: Real-Time Response
The best commercial security systems go beyond using these features as investigation tools, they can also provide real-time alerts and notifications to security teams utilizing these features. For example, the system can alert security teams when a predetermined face is recognized rather than simply using facial recognition as a search tool for investigations.
How to Pick the Best Security System for Your Use Case
When choosing a commercial security system, businesses should keep in mind the following considerations to ensure that the solution they select meets their specific needs. If choosing a system that is composed of hardware and software from multiple vendors, each of these factors should be considered for each vendor.
Business Size
Larger businesses may require more comprehensive systems to cover more extensive buildings or multiple locations. Cloud systems make managing multiple sites and expansion to new sites simple, and reduces the hardware footprint across these numerous sites.
Security Needs
Consider the type of assets needing protection and whether features like continuous video recording or advanced threat detection are necessary. Buildings with people, sensitive information, or valuable assets likely require a more scrutinized assessment of security needs.
Remote Management
Remote access to security systems has become increasingly important for all organizations, regardless of size. It is, however, especially valuable to organizations managing multiple sites and locations and is a key factor when considering scalability and ease of use. Organizations should assess the level of remote management their current system has, and if it is a pain point for them.
Access Control
Effective access control is key to restricting entry to sensitive areas. When evaluating access control needs, businesses should consider the level of granularity they need. Determining if video and alarm integration, door event notifications, remote door unlock, and smart access credentials is required, or if traditional lock and key is enough will help organizations determine their access control needs.
Scalability
Organizations should assess their growth and expansion plans and determine if scalability will be a critical factor for them. Businesses that plan to expand to new buildings, move to a new location, or grow their security platform may want to prioritize scalability.
Maintenance
Security systems require regular and systematic maintenance to ensure they are operating at maximum effectiveness and security vulnerabilities are patched. Choosing a system that makes this maintenance easy through remote management and automated updates ensures the system remains operational and secure. The reduced hardware footprint enabled by cloud-based systems also requires fewer physical interventions, reducing the need for on-site visits which can become expensive and difficult to budget for.
Installation
Along with scalability, ease of installation is a major factor for businesses looking to replace their current system or plan to scale their system up in the future.
Video Storage
It is important to understand how video is stored (locally, on the cloud, or both), if that information is encrypted, and what type of hardware is required for storage (local servers and hard drives, cloud-only, or hybrid) for any video surveillance system. Cloud-based systems may offer cloud storage expansion options if business needs change, and usually guarantee a minimum days of retention.
Warranty
Organizations should assess if the new system offers a warranty, what the terms of that warranty is, and what the process of making a warranty claim is.
Government-Grade
Government organizations, contractors and other businesses that work with government entities likely require a FedRAMP Authorized or FedRAMP Ready security solution that utilizes FIPS-Validated devices and GovCloud cloud services (if cloud connected).
Predictable Cost of Ownership
When considering a security system, businesses should evaluate the total cost of ownership over a 5 to 10-year period, factoring in any potential hidden or unpredictable costs such as maintenance, hardware failures, and other variables. Many traditional security systems can complicate cost planning by introducing recurring expenses for firmware updates, software add-ons, and hardware upgrades, which may ultimately exceed the initial hardware investment over the system’s lifetime. To ensure clarity and budget control, organizations should approach any security system upgrade with a well-defined and transparent cost of ownership plan that spans 5 to 10 years.
Streamlining Security Needs by Industry
Hospitals & Healthcare Security
Hospitals need to protect both patients and staff while ensuring privacy of medical data. This makes video surveillance, access control, and visitor management key components of a healthcare facility’s security system.
Real Estate Security
Real estate properties, including both commercial and residential, require robust surveillance, access control, and alarm systems to protect buildings, tenants, and assets from unauthorized entry and vandalism.
School Security
Schools require a combination of video surveillance, emergency response systems, and access control to ensure student and staff safety while enabling secure, monitored entry for visitors. Air quality sensors with vape detection capabilities help administrators fight back against the vaping epidemic.
Office Security
Offices need secure access to sensitive areas, often integrated with employee identification systems. Video surveillance, alarm systems, and perimeter security are essential for protecting intellectual property, data, and employees.
Retail Security
Retail environments require video surveillance for theft prevention and AI-powered analytics to monitor customer behavior and inventory. Access control and alarm systems are also important to safeguard high-value items and secure storage areas.
Financial Institutions & Banking Security
Banks need high-level video surveillance, secure access control systems, and alarm monitoring to protect both physical and financial assets, ensuring compliance with regulations and preventing theft or fraud.
Restaurant Security
Restaurants must secure both their premises and employees. Video surveillance, alarm systems, and access control are critical, especially for protecting cash handling areas, kitchens, and delivery zones.
Hotel Security
Hotels use video surveillance, access control for rooms and restricted areas, and emergency alert systems to ensure guest safety. Intercoms and visitor management systems also play a key role in managing access and monitoring guests.
Manufacturing Security
Manufacturing facilities require perimeter security, video surveillance, and motion detection to protect valuable equipment and inventory. Employee access control and environmental monitoring systems are also vital for safety compliance and accident prevention. AI analytics can help enforce PPE requirements for dangerous areas.
Warehouse Security
Warehouses need video surveillance, motion sensors, and access control systems to prevent unauthorized access and theft. Intrusion detection and environmental monitoring, such as temperature and humidity sensors, are also important to protect goods and materials.
Meet Verkada: Powerful, Fully Integrated, Cloud-Managed Security for the Enterprise
Fully Unified
Verkada stands out due to its integrated, cloud-managed platform that simplifies security management, improves operational efficiency, and provides scalability for businesses of all sizes. Key advantages include:
Ease of Use
Verkada’s user-friendly interface allows businesses to manage all their security systems from one platform, whether monitoring a single location or multiple sites.
Scalability
As businesses grow, Verkada’s solution grows with them, allowing easy additions to the system without complex upgrades.
Cloud Integration
Verkada’s cloud-managed solution reduces hardware footprints, simplifies maintenance, and makes remote access easy.
Advanced Analytics
Verkada’s AI-powered analytics help businesses quickly identify and respond to security threats, reducing manual review and improving threat detection.By providing businesses with the tools to manage and scale their security operations with ease, Verkada offers a solution that is powerful, predictable and comprehensive. Whether a business is looking to enhance perimeter security, improve access control, or manage multiple sites, Verkada’s cloud-managed platform provides the ideal solution for modern security needs.
Frequently Asked Questions About Commercial Security Systems
What is a cloud-managed security system?
A cloud-managed security system moves software and some hardware into the cloud, reducing the hardware footprint of a deployment and making remote access and management easier. Cloud management allows for easier scalability, real-time updates, and centralized control.
How does video surveillance improve security?
Video surveillance is often considered the most important aspect of a security deployment because it provides eyes on a premises even when nobody is actively monitoring it. This makes investigating incidents possible. Integrated with advanced analytics, video surveillance can also help identify patterns, automate threat detection, and store footage for future investigations, improving both proactive and reactive security measures.
Can a security system be integrated with existing infrastructure?
Yes, many modern security systems are designed to integrate with existing infrastructure, such as legacy access control or video surveillance systems. This flexibility ensures businesses can upgrade their security without a complete overhaul, allowing for a smoother transition to a more comprehensive, cloud-based solution.
How can access control improve my organization’s security?
Access control systems restrict entry to sensitive or high-risk areas within a building, ensuring that only authorized individuals are granted access. This minimizes the risk of theft, unauthorized entry, or security breaches, while also providing a way to monitor and track who enters specific areas and when.
What is the role of AI in modern security systems?
Artificial intelligence has become largely popularized in the context of video surveillance and security because AI-powered video analytics can detect unusual activities, such as unauthorized individuals, specific behaviors, or trends in traffic patterns. This helps security teams respond more quickly, reduce false alarms, and make more informed decisions based on data. AI-based analytics turn video cameras from a passive monitoring system to a proactive security solution.
How does a cloud-based security system compare to traditional on-premise systems in terms of cost?
Cloud-based security systems typically have lower upfront costs since they require less on-premise hardware and infrastructure. They also offer more predictable operating expenses through subscription models, eliminating unexpected maintenance and upgrade costs common with traditional systems. Calculate your potential ROI when switching to a cloud-based system.
What security compliance standards are important for commercial security systems?
Depending on your industry, important compliance standards may include HIPAA for healthcare, PCI DSS for payment processing, FISMA for federal organizations, SOC 2 for service organizations, and GDPR or CCPA for data privacy. Learn more about Verkada’s compliance certifications.