Why monitoring posts need their own orders.
A lobby officer’s post orders describe a desk, a door and a visitor procedure. A patrol post lists routes and checkpoints. A camera monitoring post — a desk in a control room, a remote station covering several client sites, a video wall in a GSOC — often gets “monitor cameras and report suspicious activity”. That line tells the guard nothing: which cameras, how often, what counts as suspicious, who to call and what to write down.
Vague orders produce inconsistent shifts. One guard calls the client about every raccoon; the next lets a fence climb go unreported because nobody said the fence mattered. Specific orders are what make a monitoring service repeatable, trainable and defensible when a client asks what happened.
The sections every monitoring post order needs.
1. Post and coverage
Which sites and cameras the post covers, the monitoring software and wall layout, which cameras are pinned and which cycle, and known blind spots. Include a camera list with names that match the screen. If tours are used, say so; see PTZ tours and cycling views.
2. Hours and site status
Open and closed hours per site, holidays, authorized after-hours people and vehicles, and how the guard learns about changes.
3. What to watch
Name the priority areas and the events that matter at each, by time of day. For example: “After 22:00, any person inside the fence line on cameras 3–7 is an event. Vehicles at the main gate are normal until 23:00 (cleaning contractor).” Cover the site-specific cases: after-hours trespassing, loitering near entrances, tailgating at controlled doors.
4. Escalation ladder
Levels with concrete triggers and actions: observe and log; audio talk-down; call the client contact list in order; dispatch patrol; call police. Include phone numbers, what to say, and what to do if nobody answers.
5. What is never an escalation
Residents, staff, scheduled deliveries, animals, weather. Clients value this list as much as the escalation list.
6. Reporting and evidence
What goes in the daily activity report, what makes an incident report, how to preserve footage, and when the client receives it. See incident report video evidence.
7. Handoff and equipment
How to hand off open incidents at shift change and what to do when a camera, the network or the monitoring software fails. See security shift handoff.
Adding AI-assisted monitoring to the orders.
When a post runs AI assistance, the orders need a short section of their own. Leaving it out is how guards end up either ignoring the alerts or trusting them blindly. Cover four things:
- What the AI does and does not do. It surfaces people, vehicles and activity on the visible cameras and writes a scene report. It does not dispatch, call anyone or decide whether a person is authorized.
- What the guard must do with every alert. Open it, look at the original frames, decide and record an outcome. Acknowledging is not closing.
- How to read the AI report. Use the description to orient fast; use the frames to decide. Pay special attention to the “uncertain” part of the report. If the report and the frames disagree, the frames win.
- The watch does not stop. AI alerts sit on top of normal monitoring, not instead of it. Cameras off-screen or unobserved still need tour time.
This is human-in-the-loop security AI written down as policy: the AI narrows attention, the guard makes the call.
Walk the site on screen
Sit at the monitoring station with the client and the site supervisor. Go camera by camera and write what matters on each.
Draft, then test
Run the orders for a week. Every call the guard was unsure about points to a missing line.
Review on a schedule
Revisit after incidents, camera changes and client changes. Date and version every revision.
Where Semaphor fits.
Semaphor was built to slot into post orders, not rewrite them. See what Semaphor is. It works from the monitoring screen the post already uses, so the camera list and wall layout in the orders stay the same. Each alert arrives first as a preliminary card, then an AI scene report adds what is happening, observations, a recommendation such as “guard review suggested” and what remains uncertain — exactly the format a post order can reference. The guard inbox separates acknowledge from close after review, so “every alert gets an outcome” is enforceable.
Guard companies use that to sell a monitoring post with clear, auditable procedures. See it in your own orders: start a pilot on one post, or book a live demo on your own camera screens.
Post orders FAQ
What should post orders for a camera monitoring post include?
Coverage and camera list, site hours, what to watch per area and time, an escalation ladder with contacts, what is never an escalation, reporting and evidence rules, and shift handoff and equipment procedures.
How should guards use AI alerts under their post orders?
Open every alert, check the original frames, decide and record an outcome. Use the AI report to orient quickly and pay attention to what it marks as uncertain. The guard makes every escalation decision.
How often should post orders be updated?
After every significant incident, camera or layout change and client change, and on a regular review schedule. Version and date each revision.