How-to guides
How to run a monthly security camera health check
Camera systems fail quietly. A drive dies, a camera gets bumped, the clock drifts, and nobody notices until the footage is needed. Thirty minutes a month with this checklist catches it first.
VuePoint
The worst time to find out a camera stopped recording is the morning after an incident. That is also when most people find out. A short monthly routine, done by the same person with the same checklist, turns silent failures into maintenance tickets.
The monthly check
- 1
Confirm every camera is online
Open the recorder or app and check that each camera shows live video. Compare against your camera list or coverage plan so a missing camera does not go unnoticed just because the grid looks full.
- 2
Confirm every camera is recording
Live video is not proof of recording. Play back a few minutes from last night on each camera. Check that the recording schedule and motion settings have not been changed.
- 3
Check retention
Find the oldest recording available. If it is newer than your retention target, a drive may be failing or full, or bitrate has gone up. See recording retention and storage.
- 4
Check drive health
Most recorders report drive status in their storage or maintenance settings, often with warnings for errors. Replace drives showing errors before they fail. Menu locations vary by brand and firmware.
- 5
Check the view on each camera
Compare each image against a reference snapshot from installation. Look for cameras bumped out of position, trees or signs grown into view, and new obstructions such as stacked materials or parked equipment.
- 6
Check image quality at night
Review a clip from last night on each outdoor camera. Look for IR glare, spider webs, foggy domes and lights that are out. Fixes are in how to position security cameras.
- 7
Check the time
Compare the recorder clock to an accurate time source. Enable NTP time sync if the recorder supports it, and confirm daylight saving changes were applied. Wrong timestamps slow down every investigation.
- 8
Test an export
Export a short clip to a USB drive or your computer and play it back. A system that records but cannot export is not much use. The full process is in what to do after a security incident.
- 9
Test alerts and notifications
Walk past a camera with analytics or motion alerts and confirm the notification arrives where it should. Check camera-offline notifications are on.
Security hygiene, quarterly
- Review user accounts. Remove former staff and vendors. Every person should have their own login, not a shared admin password.
- Change default passwords. Any camera or recorder still using a factory password is a risk. Use strong, unique passwords.
- Update firmware. Check the manufacturer's site for recorder and camera firmware updates, read the release notes, and update during a quiet time. Updates often fix security issues.
- Check remote access. Prefer the manufacturer's app or cloud service, or a VPN, over port forwarding. Never expose the recorder's admin web interface to the internet unnecessarily.
- Check physical security. The recorder should be locked away, and its power and network on a UPS.
Seasonal and physical checks
| Item | How often | What to look for |
|---|---|---|
| Lens and dome cleaning | Monthly in summer, quarterly otherwise | Webs, dust, water spots, scratched domes |
| Mounts and cabling | Quarterly and after storms | Loose brackets, damaged conduit, exposed cable |
| Signage | Quarterly | Faded, missing or damaged signs |
| Lighting | Monthly | Lights out, timers wrong after time changes |
| Weather readiness | Before summer and winter | See the seasonal guide |
The seasonal items are covered in how to keep security cameras working in heat and cold.
If you would rather not do this yourself
Many installers offer maintenance contracts that include periodic checks. Monitoring only works when cameras are online, so a monitored service such as VuePoint Secure live monitoring has a direct reason to notice a camera that drops out or gets blocked. Either way, keep the log and keep checking playback yourself occasionally.
Common questions
- How often should security cameras be checked?
- A short check monthly covers the important failures: cameras offline, recording stopped, drives failing, views blocked and clocks wrong. Do account reviews and firmware updates quarterly, and weather checks before summer and winter.
- How do I know if my security camera is recording?
- Play back footage from the previous night on that camera. Live video only shows the camera is connected, not that the recorder is saving it.
- Should I update camera and recorder firmware?
- Yes, regularly. Download updates only from the manufacturer, read the release notes, and update during a quiet period in case a device needs to restart.
Still stuck?
Send us the details and we'll tell you what we'd check next — whether or not the cameras are ours.