Using CCTV to run a shop in Nepal: what to watch and how long to keep it
Most shop owners put cameras up to stop theft. The cameras do more once you start using them.
Where to point them
- The entrance, at face height, so you see who comes in.
- The counter, to cover cash and handovers.
- The stockroom door, not the whole stockroom.
- The back door and the shutter, for after hours.
What to set alerts for
- Motion after closing time. Use an Away schedule so you are alerted only when the shop is shut.
- A camera going offline. A camera that stopped yesterday cannot show what happened today.
- A disk getting full. A DVR that stops recording does so quietly.
Quiet hours stop alerts waking you for things you do not need. See Alerts and Alarms.
How long to keep footage
Keep it for as long as it takes you to notice a problem, then add a margin. Thirty days is a common start. If the Privacy Act, 2075 applies to your kind of business, plan for at least three months. See what the Act asks.
Finding the moment
When a customer says they paid and you think they did not, you need that minute, not the whole day. Open playback, jump to the motion and person markers around the time and cut a clip.
Several shops, one app
Group cameras by site, open them together in a grid and give each manager access to their own shop. You see everything. They see what they need, and every view is logged.
Questions people ask
How many days of footage should a shop keep?
Long enough to cover how long it takes you to notice a problem. Many shops start with 30 days and adjust. The Privacy Act, 2075 is summarised as asking for three months in places it applies to.
Can my manager see only the shop floor?
Yes. Give each person only the cameras they need.
What if the DVR disk fails?
You get a disk warning from LunaCam before recording stops, and an alert if a camera goes offline.