If you’re starting off with business security, a good place to begin is with a security camera.

The first question you may ask yourself is simple: is a security camera necessary in the first place? And the answer depends on the level of security you want to add to your home or business. While sensors can detect motion, letting you know if doors or windows have been opened or closed, without cameras, you can’t actually see what’s going on at home.

Cameras can also get you help faster; in terms of audio verification versus video verification, the police department in Fremont, California found that audio verification alone had a 95 percent chance of being a false alarm; Salt Lake City found false alarm rates of 82 percent, while the police in Burien, Washington found rates of 92 percent.1 In sum? Audio isn’t enough on its own; for the police to really see what’s going on, a camera is necessary. In contrast, cities that use video-verified responses found that the number of alarm calls they got decreased by about 90 percent overall, improving their response times so people could get help faster.

The amount of security cameras you need depends on the size of your space as well as the amount of security you want in general. At a minimum, we recommend putting a camera in the main entrance of your building on the ground floor. Ideally, you also use outdoor security cameras on all ground floor entrances. For more security, you can put more security cameras on the ground level, and in any room that you use frequently or must pass through to enter or exit your building. For additional security, you can put security cameras in main hallways on second or third floors. However, we don’t recommend placing cameras in bedrooms or bathrooms because of privacy issues. In general, most spaces will require at least three cameras on two outside entrances as well as an indoor entrance.