Modern surveillance isn’t just about recording video; it’s about understanding what’s happening inside the frame. AI CCTV uses machine learning to analyze video streams and detect important events automatically.
Core Building Blocks of AI CCTV
Most AI CCTV systems, including OnnetBD IT solutions, follow the same overall structure:
- An IP camera sending RTSP or HTTP video stream
- An AI engine processing frames in real time
- A rules & alerts module to decide when to notify
- A storage layer for clips, snapshots and logs
- A dashboard for monitoring and reporting
Step 1: Video Stream from IP Cameras
Each camera sends live video via RTSP or another supported protocol to the AI server or edge device. The stream might be:
- 1080p/720p for detail, or lower resolutions if bandwidth is limited
- H.264 or H.265 encoded
- On public IP, private LAN, or behind VPN
Our onFace platform can connect to multiple RTSP streams simultaneously and process them in near real time.
Step 2: Frame Capture and Pre-processing
The AI engine converts the video stream into individual frames. Each frame may be resized, normalized or otherwise pre-processed to fit the requirements of the detection models.
For efficiency, the system doesn’t always analyze every single frame. For example, you might:
- Run detection on every 5th or 10th frame
- Switch to higher frequency when motion is detected
- Use different settings based on time of day or camera type
Step 3: Object Detection Models
A trained machine learning model (e.g. based on deep learning) analyzes each frame and looks for objects of interest. Typical classes include:
- Person / Human body – used for presence, intrusions, counting
- Face – for recognition or watch-list matching
- Vehicle – car, bike, truck for parking and traffic logic
- Animal – to distinguish human vs. animal movement
- Fire / Smoke – for early hazard detection
For each detection, the model outputs a bounding box and a confidence score. These are used to overlay boxes on the video stream and drive alerts.
Step 4: Face Detection & Recognition
Face detection finds where faces are in the frame; face recognition attempts to identify who they belong to by comparing against a stored database of face embeddings.
Possible use cases include:
- Attendance – tracking when employees enter/exit
- Access control – granting or denying entry based on identity
- VIP or blacklist alerts – notifying staff when special persons arrive
Step 5: Alert Rules & Automation
Detection alone is not enough; you need rules to turn detections into meaningful events and notifications. Example rules:
- Send alert if a person is detected in a restricted area after office hours
- Trigger snapshot and store 15-second clip when an unknown face appears at the gate
- Count vehicles entering/exiting a parking area and show live stats
Alerts can be delivered via:
- Mobile app push notifications
- SMS or email
- Webhook / API to your own system
- Messaging tools like Telegram
Step 6: Storage and Reporting
AI CCTV systems usually store:
- Full video (local disk, NVR, NAS or cloud)
- Short evidence clips around events (e.g. 10–30 seconds)
- Snapshots with bounding boxes and labels
- Structured logs describing who/what was detected and when
With proper indexing, you can later search for “person detected between 2–3 AM at back door camera” or “vehicle detections this week”.
Benefits of AI-Based CCTV
- Real-time security – detect incidents as they happen
- Reduced monitoring workload – less manual screen watching
- Better evidence – events saved with exact time and visuals
- Business insights – people counting, dwell time, traffic patterns
OnnetBD IT AI CCTV Solutions
OnnetBD IT provides customized AI CCTV solutions including onFace:
- Multi-camera RTSP ingest with AI detection
- Face recognition and watch-list based alerts
- Object detection for humans, vehicles, animals and fire
- Visitor, access control and attendance integrations
- Cloud dashboards for monitoring and reporting
👉 To design an AI CCTV system tailored to your office, building or campus, explore our surveillance solutions or contact us for a site survey.