Retail theft is now a measurable cost of doing business. In NRF's The Impact of Retail Theft & Violence 2024, retailers reported a 93% increase in the average number of shoplifting incidents per year in 2023 compared with 2019, and a 90% increase in dollar losses over the same period. Other sectors have their own exposure: unauthorized access at data centers, safety incidents on production floors, and disputed liability claims at multi-tenant properties.
There's no single "best" system. The right choice depends on your facility layout, industry, what the video has to prove, your network, retention needs, who will watch alarms, and growth plans. This guide compares five options (IP Systems, ADT, Verkada, Axis Communications, and Eagle Eye Networks) on technology, integration, scalability, cybersecurity, support, and total cost of ownership. Note that they are not the same kind of company. IPS is an integrator. ADT is a monitoring and installation company. Verkada and Eagle Eye sell cloud platforms. Axis makes cameras.
Key Takeaways
- Match the system to site risk and operating goals, not to camera specs or the lowest price
- Decide what each camera must identify (a face, a plate, or general activity) before choosing hardware
- An integrator such as IP Systems handles assessment, design, installation, and ongoing support across brands
- Plan PoE budgets, NVR/hybrid storage, retention policy, access control integration, and device-health monitoring up front
- Compare full lifecycle costs (installation, storage, licensing, monitoring, and upgrades) before signing
Overview of Business Surveillance Camera Systems in the U.S. Market
A commercial surveillance system combines several pieces:
- Cameras suited to the environment (indoor, outdoor, low-light, wide-area)
- Network or cabling infrastructure, usually Power over Ethernet (PoE)
- Recording and storage, whether local NVR, cloud, or hybrid
- Video management software (VMS) for viewing, searching, and exporting footage
- Analytics for motion detection, object classification, or license-plate recognition
- User permissions, access controls, and ongoing maintenance
These systems do more than record. They support risk management, supply visual evidence in disputes, and deter theft. They also help investigations, protect employees and visitors, and help resolve liability claims.
Commercial deployments differ from home cameras in a few ways:
- Continuous or extended recording, with retention set by legal and insurance needs
- Centralized administration across buildings or sites
- Stronger cybersecurity controls, including network segmentation and encrypted transmission
- Hardware built for loading docks, parking lots, and industrial floors
- Integration with access control, alarms, and fire systems
- Documented, ongoing technical support instead of a one-time install
The five options below each lead with a different strength: integrated service, professional monitoring, cloud video management, open-platform hardware, or managed cloud video. None wins everywhere.
Best Surveillance Camera Systems for Business
We compared business surveillance options on commercial fit, technology, scalability, integration, support model, deployment complexity, and long-term value. Each profile covers who it fits, what you get, and the trade-offs to weigh.
IP Systems
Best fit: Medium and large commercial and public-sector organizations that want one accountable partner from assessment through ongoing support.
IP Systems (IPS) has been in business since 1998. It is a security systems integrator, not a camera manufacturer. IPS designs, installs, and supports video surveillance along with access control, intrusion alarms, fire, and communication systems. Clients include STERIS, Kettering Health, Cleveland Public Library, and Lakeland Community College.
Rather than selling cameras on their own, IPS designs systems sized to the site, whether that's a few cameras at a small retail location or a large multi-building campus. The approach includes:
- Site risk and needs assessment and system design before any equipment is chosen
- Installation by a certified, trained IPS installation team
- Integration of video with access control, fire, and communication systems
- Hosted and managed (cloud) services
- Network Operations Center (NOC) device-health monitoring and predictive maintenance, with data sent outbound over TLS to a secure AWS server
- Technology alliances with Axis, Bosch, HID, LenelS2, Motorola Solutions, and ZeroEyes
IPS does not provide alarm or live-video monitoring itself. Where a site needs 24/7 monitoring and response, that comes from a monitoring partner the customer contracts with. Pricing follows a scope review and is based on the number of devices and the services involved.
ADT
Best fit: Businesses that want cameras, alarms, and professional monitoring from one company.
ADT's business offering includes cloud and on-site video storage, 24/7 recording options, remote viewing in the ADT Control app, and Smart Search for finding motion clips.
ADT's main differentiator is monitoring. With its video verification service, alarm-event clips go to an ADT monitoring center, where an operator reviews the video and calls police when an intrusion is confirmed. That matters for businesses with no security staff on site.
Check the contract before signing. ADT's published commercial terms list a five-year initial term that renews automatically unless either party gives written notice at least 30 days before the anniversary date, and an early-termination charge of 90% of the remaining service charges. Terms can change, so confirm current terms, equipment, and pricing directly with ADT.
Verkada
Best fit: Multi-site organizations that want centralized cloud management without heavy on-site IT.
Verkada's cameras include dome, mini, bullet, fisheye, multisensor, and PTZ models, all managed in its cloud-based Command platform. Command also manages Verkada's access control, alarms, environmental sensors, and intercoms.
Storage works differently than a typical NVR. Cameras store footage on board (encrypted with AES-128), and cloud backup is encrypted at rest with AES-256. Verkada's camera license includes 30 days of cloud backup for most models; longer cloud retention is available per camera for an additional license fee.
Trade-offs to weigh:
- Ongoing per-camera licensing instead of a one-time hardware purchase
- Cloud features depend on internet connectivity
- Data is processed in the U.S., EU, or Australia, with additional storage-only regions. That matters for data-governance requirements
- Hardware and software come from one vendor, so you're choosing the platform as well as the cameras
Axis Communications
Best fit: Organizations that want open, best-of-breed hardware instead of a single closed ecosystem.
Axis is a network camera manufacturer, not a monitoring or installation company. It is a common hardware choice for integrators, and IPS counts Axis among its technology alliances.
The portfolio runs from discreet indoor cameras to rugged outdoor and explosion-protected models. Lightfinder and Forensic WDR help in low light and difficult lighting.
Many Axis cameras run deep-learning analytics on the device and support ONVIF Profile M, so metadata and events can be used by compliant software from other vendors.
The open ACAP platform runs third-party analytics apps on the camera. AXIS Camera Station Pro adds video management, and Secure Entry adds access control, on Axis recorders and servers.
On cybersecurity, Axis devices support HTTPS and IEEE 802.1X network authentication, and models with Axis Edge Vault add secure boot with signed firmware. Axis is typically sold and installed through integrators rather than direct to end users.
Eagle Eye Networks
Best fit: Distributed businesses that want cloud or hybrid video management without building their own servers.
Eagle Eye sells its cloud VMS by subscription, priced per camera per month based on resolution and retention. On-site Bridges or CMVRs (Cloud Managed Video Recorders) connect cameras to the platform; CMVRs record locally while being managed from the cloud.
Eagle Eye's analytics work with a wide range of ONVIF-conformant cameras, not only Eagle Eye-branded hardware. Its open Video API lets integrators connect the platform to alarm monitoring, point-of-sale, and other systems.
Trade-offs to weigh:
- Recurring subscription fees instead of a one-time storage purchase
- Retention length tied to subscription tier and on-site storage
- Enough upstream bandwidth at every site for cloud recording
Which One Fits Your Business?
| Provider | Best For |
|---|---|
| IP Systems | Design, installation, integration, and ongoing support across brands |
| ADT | Bundled cameras, alarms, and professional monitoring |
| Verkada | Multi-site, centrally managed cloud administration |
| Axis Communications | Open-platform hardware for specialized deployments |
| Eagle Eye Networks | Cloud or hybrid video management without owning servers |
Cloud or On-Prem: A Quick Decision Guide
- Many small sites, little IT staff: cloud or hybrid usually wins. Check upstream bandwidth at each site first.
- One large campus with long retention needs: on-prem NVR/VMS often costs less over time, but someone has to own servers, drives, and patching.
- Existing cameras in decent shape: a hybrid approach can reuse them. Confirm they still get firmware updates before you commit.
How We Chose the Best Systems
Site and Risk Assessment
A good evaluation starts on site, not in a catalog. That means walking entrances, cash-handling areas, restricted rooms, parking lots, loading docks, production floors, and perimeter areas, and noting where privacy or environmental conditions affect camera choice.
The most common mistake we see is buying cameras before deciding what each one needs to do. A camera meant to identify a face at a door needs different resolution, lens, and placement than one watching general activity in a parking lot. Write that requirement down for every camera location. Then check the submittal against it. In Mastering Modern Security, IPS's Rob Jackson describes a contractor submittal that put large highway-style license-plate cameras on small parking-lot poles. IPS recommended a model that fit the job, saving almost $1,200 per camera, and caught that the pole runs were over 700 feet, past Cat 6's 100 m (328 ft) limit, so the cabling changed before install. IPS's design process starts with this kind of risk and needs assessment before any equipment is specified.
Core Technology and Cybersecurity
We compared fixed, dome, bullet, PTZ, and panoramic cameras on resolution, low-light performance, and enclosure ratings, including IEC 60529 (IP) ratings for dust and water and IEC 62262 (IK) ratings for impact. PoE standards also matter: 802.3af, 802.3at, and the newer 802.3bt, which can supply up to 90 watts at the switch port. Heaters, IR illuminators, and PTZ motors use a lot of that budget, so add up each switch's PoE load during design, not during install.
Cybersecurity weighed just as heavily. A CISA alert on a UK NCSC advisory for internet-connected cameras recommends changing default passwords, keeping software up to date, and disabling remote access when it isn't used. Those are baseline practices any commercial system should support. In our experience, the gap is usually ownership: nobody is assigned to apply camera and NVR firmware after go-live. After a critical Hikvision flaw was disclosed in 2021 (CVE-2021-36260), researchers still found more than 80,000 internet-exposed Hikvision cameras unpatched in 2022.
We also looked at:
- Device-health monitoring and patch management
- Encryption and network segmentation (a separate camera VLAN at minimum)
- Backup connectivity and audit logs
- Supply-chain rules: NDAA Section 889 bars U.S. federal agencies and contractors from using certain Chinese-made video equipment (Hikvision, Dahua, and others)
Integration, Scalability, and Total Cost of Ownership
Cameras rarely work alone. We checked how each option integrates with access control, alarms, intercoms, visitor management, and fire systems, and whether dashboards support future camera additions, new sites, or retention changes without a rebuild.
Total cost of ownership mattered more than the price of one camera. Factors included:
- Design, cabling, and installation labor
- Network upgrades to support added devices
- Storage or cloud subscription costs
- Monitoring, maintenance, and training
- Replacement cycles (recording servers typically last 4–6 years, IP cameras 7–10) and expansion costs
A system that is cheap on hardware can still cost more over five years if it can't meet evidence, compliance, or support requirements. Set retention by policy (legal, insurance, and operations) and size storage to it. Leaving retention at the NVR default is how organizations find out footage was overwritten two days before they needed it. Continuous versus motion recording, 30 versus 90 days, recorder redundancy, dual power supplies and RAID each add cost, so decide them on purpose.
Privacy and Governance
Signage, employee and visitor notice, and audio recording rules vary by state and locality. Examples that shaped our review:
- Illinois BIPA: written notice, a retention policy, and a written release before collecting biometrics such as face geometry
- Texas CUBI: notice and consent before capturing biometric identifiers for a commercial purpose
- California: operators of automated license-plate recognition must maintain security safeguards and a usage and privacy policy (Civil Code 1798.90.5 and following)
- Federal wiretap law: generally bars intercepting private conversations unless at least one party consents, and some states require all parties to consent
Organizations using facial recognition, audio, or license-plate capture should get legal or compliance review before rollout, not after. Bring in HR and IT early as well. HR will ask about cameras near break rooms and restrooms and who can view footage, and IT will ask about bandwidth and cyber risk.
Conclusion
The best surveillance system for a business fits its risk, facility conditions, operations, budget, privacy obligations, and growth plans. Megapixels and the lowest quote rarely decide the outcome.
Compare the full lifecycle before you commit:
- Assessment and system design
- Installation and integrations
- Storage, monitoring arrangements, and cybersecurity
- Device health, maintenance, and future expansion
Skipping any of these usually costs more to fix later.
IP Systems has designed, installed, and supported video surveillance systems for businesses and public-sector agencies since 1998.
If you're planning a new system, an upgrade, or an integrated system covering video, access control, and fire, email salesteam@ipsystems.tech or Request a Consultation to talk through assessment, design, installation, and support options.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best security camera without a monthly fee?
Local NVR or on-premises recording can avoid recurring cloud storage fees, but installation, maintenance, software licenses, and support still cost money. The right choice depends on your retention, security, and management needs.
What is the best security camera system for a small business?
Match camera count and type to entrances, cash areas, inventory, and exterior areas, then size the system to the staff who will run it. PoE/NVR systems, cloud-managed platforms, and professionally installed systems can all work depending on the site.
What are the best surveillance cameras for business?
Fixed, dome, bullet, PTZ, panoramic, low-light, and license-plate cameras each serve different uses, from doorways to wide parking-lot coverage. The whole system, including storage, software, and support, matters as much as the camera.
What security cameras do professionals use for business surveillance?
Professionals usually specify commercial PoE network cameras with NVR or cloud video management, analytics, and access control integration. The final choice depends on site requirements, cybersecurity controls, and professional installation.
Is there a difference between a security camera and a surveillance camera?
The terms are often used interchangeably. "Surveillance system" usually means the full setup: cameras, recording, management software, analytics, and the network behind them.
