Commercial security systems and where access control fits

According to Pye-Barker, a full commercial system brings together intrusion detection, door access control, cameras with recording software and round-the-clock alarm monitoring. Intrusion detection covers the sensors on doors and windows plus the control panel that sets off the alarm when a sensor trips.

Honeywell names a similar set of core parts for commercial buildings: mobile credentials, visitor management, intrusion detection and video surveillance. With a mobile credential, staff can unlock a door from their phone rather than using a key, card or fob.

You can buy the pieces one at a time. You can price the doors separately from cameras and alarms, and our three-question door survey gives you a range and a written brief for an installer to quote.

Costs range a lot because no two businesses are alike. These figures are drawn from installers and pricing guides, and each one covers equipment and installation unless a line says differently.

At the top end, True Home Protection notes that big setups can run past $50,000. Answer 3 quick questions now and get your door price plus a brief a local installer can quote from, so you don't have to explain your doors twice.

Access control pricing moves around the most, since some doors need brand-new locks and others do not. The per-door ranges in our tool are based on Kisi and Entegrity.

The controller is a small box, often tucked in a back room, that chooses which cards work on which doors. If readers are already in place, an interface board can frequently let a new controller talk to them, and that keeps the cost down.

To give you a feel for it, 4 doors with keys only run $4,800 to $10,000, while 4 doors with working electric locks run $2,000 to $6,000. Figuring out which row matches your doors can save you thousands, and our 3 questions sort it in a few taps.

Door readers and cameras handle separate jobs. The reader controls who enters, and the camera keeps a record of events, so lots of businesses put both on one quote.

What you pay for cameras depends on the hardware and the work to fit it:

• A 1080p IP camera runs $150 to $400 for the hardware, plus $150 to $300 in labour, per Militia Protection
• Installation on its own: roughly $95 to $227 for each camera, per Homewyse
• Cameras with 4K and AI features cost $180 to $650 apiece, per Safe and Sound
• The Verkada CD22 indoor dome lists at $799, plus a required licence, per Verkada

For a small business below 5,000 sq ft, Militia Protection puts a basic 4-to-12-camera install at $1,500 to $4,000. Cameras or an intercom can be added to your door brief, so a single local installer quotes the whole job at once.

Once the systems are connected, a fire alarm is able to release doors and switch off controlled zones so occupants can exit. Fire alarm systems sit under their own code, NFPA 72.

Licensing can be split as well. In Texas, the State Fire Marshal's Office licenses fire alarm technicians, and security alarm work is overseen by Texas DPS. That is a good thing to ask about if your doors will tie into the fire alarm.

With professional monitoring, your alarm signal goes to a central station, a staffed control room that sends help when it sounds. Standard monitoring costs $40 to $75 a month, while video-verified monitoring, where staff look at the cameras before police are called, costs $70 to $120 a month.

A landline plan is usually around $10 less each month than a cellular plan. A monitored business alarm also needs a permit in most US cities; Los Angeles, as an example, charges $60 for the initial permit and $31 a year to renew it.