Start with risk, not equipment
List what you're protecting, when it's most at risk, and what happens if something goes wrong. A busy lobby during the day has different needs from an empty yard at night.
When officers are the right answer
Choose on-site officers when people need to be managed: visitors, deliveries, crowds, confrontations, or regulated duties such as fire watch. An officer can make judgement calls a camera can't.
When monitoring is the right answer
Choose AI remote monitoring for large areas, after-hours coverage and sites without staff. Operators verify alerts, speak through on-site speakers and dispatch a response, which costs far less than staffing every hour.
Why most sites need both
The most effective programmes combine the two: monitoring covers the hours and spaces officers can't, and officers respond to what monitoring verifies. One contract and one point of contact keeps it accountable.