A CCTV tower, a night guard, mobile patrols or a robot: what covers a yard at night?
Published
The short answer
A CCTV tower watches open ground and the fence line: about £2,000 a month. A night guard puts a person with judgement on site: from £7,300. Mobile patrols put a person on the yard at set times: about £1,520 for 2 visits a night. A robot goes to the alarm point for a close look: Outwarden is £989 ex VAT.
The first three are published UK prices, for scale. The robot replaces none of them; it gives them a close look before anyone is sent.
Side by side
The table is as fair to the other three as we can make it.
| CCTV tower | Night guard | Mobile patrols | Outwarden robot | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What it sees | Open ground, the gate and the fence line, all night, from one fixed point. | What a person on site can see and walk to. Usually the gate first. | The yard, while the patrol is there. | A close-up of the alarm point from a camera on a 1.6 m mast, lit to 30 m. Plus 60 recorded patrols a month. |
| What it misses | Between trailer rows, behind machinery, round the back of containers. | The far corner, while the guard is at the gate. | Everything between visits. | Anything beyond about 100 m from where it stands. It is in one place at a time, and standing water or deep snow shortens its routes. |
| When an alarm goes off | Many towers are monitored, with alarm response in the contract. | The guard goes to look, if the gate can be left. | A van call-out: £45 to £75, and 20 to 60 minutes. | At the spot, usually in under a minute, lights on, close-up video live to your control room. |
| Who decides | Whoever monitors the tower. | The guard, following the site’s instructions. | The patrol officer, once there. | Your UK control room or ARC, from the live picture. Our operator drives and points the camera. |
| A month, published UK prices | About £2,000 | From £7,300 | About £1,520 | £989 ex VAT |
| What you commit to | Hire at a weekly rate, plus delivery. | Paid hours on a rota, set by the guarding contract. | A number of visits a night; call-outs priced separately. | A free 30-night pilot, then a 4-week minimum. Cancel by email. |
How the figures are built: the tower is £460 a week in a 2025 council quote, plus £780 delivery; patrols are 2 visits a night at £25; the guard is 12-hour nights at £20 an hour. Monthly = weekly × 4.33. They are for scale, not quotes for your yard. What is inside the £989 is in How much does a security robot cost in the UK?
What each one does well
A CCTV tower watches open ground and a perimeter all night with nobody on site, and it needs no building to mount on. What it cannot do is move, so whatever is behind the first row of trailers or machines stays out of sight.
A night guard brings what nothing else here does: a person on site, with judgement. The cost is the hours. One guard is also in one place at a time.
Mobile patrols put a person on the yard at set times, for about a fifth of what a guard costs. Between visits nobody is there, and an alarm in between means a call-out.
A robot such as Outwarden goes to the alarm point for a close look, and your control room sees it live. A trained operator in Outwarden’s control room in Lviv, Ukraine, drives it; your UK team decides what happens next. It does not chase, catch or touch anyone, and it never leaves the fence.
The blind spots
Cameras on poles see the gate and the fence line. They do not see between trailer rows, behind machinery or round the back of containers. When a camera or a detector triggers at 2 in the morning, someone has to decide from a grainy still whether that was a person or a fox. Usually nobody can tell, so either a van is sent and paid for, or nothing is done.
That gap is what the robot is for. The operator drives it into the blind spot with the lights on, and your control room sees what set the alarm off before deciding anything. The drawing of an example yard on the main page shows where fixed sight lines stop.
Combinations that work
Three pairings are worth a look.
- A guard at the gate, the robot to the far corner. The most common arrangement. The guard keeps the gate and the judgement; when an alarm goes off at the back of the yard, the robot goes and the gate is never left.
- A tower on the perimeter, the robot for the checks. The tower watches the open ground all night. When it, or a detector, raises an alarm somewhere it cannot see into, the robot goes to look, and your control room sees the close-up before anyone is sent.
- Patrols at set times, the robot in between. Alarms between visits get a close look first, so a van goes out when the picture gives a reason to.
Alarms reach the robot from your cameras, detectors or alarm receiving centre by API, email or phone; its video goes out by ONVIF and RTSP.
By type of yard
Plant and tool hire depots
Machinery hides machinery. A camera on a pole sees the first row of excavators and dumpers, not what is behind them. Cameras or a tower keep the fence line; the robot looks behind the machines.
Vehicle compounds and forecourts
One camera on a pole cannot read a plate at the far end of the compound. The robot drives up to it, with its camera on a 1.6 m mast, above car roofs.
Warehouses and trailer yards
The tower sees the perimeter. It cannot see between the trailer rows. The robot drives the rows, and a guard, if there is one, stays at the gate.
Construction sites
A tower suits a site with no building to mount cameras on. The robot needs hard-standing, one 230 V socket and a fence, so it fits a compound or a finished yard area better than open ground. Weekly hire for a construction or temporary site is priced on the call.
Vacant sites
With nobody on site, the question is who looks when an alarm goes off. Patrols answer it at set times, a monitored tower from a distance, and the robot with a close look before a van is sent. Check the power first: the charging station needs one 230 V socket.
Container self-storage
Rows of containers make corridors that a fixed camera sees end-on, and it cannot see round the back of them. The robot drives the corridors on its patrols and goes to any alarm.
Questions
Does a robot replace a CCTV tower?
No. A tower watches open ground and the perimeter all night, and that is useful. The robot does not replace it, your monitoring or your guarding company; it gives them a close look before anyone is sent.
Who calls the police?
Your side does. The robot never calls the police, and our operators contact nobody outside your process. Your control room sees the live picture and decides; any police call goes through your alarm receiving centre and the police reference number (URN) it already holds.
What happens when the mobile signal drops?
The robot runs on two independent 4G/5G links on two networks. If the link drops, it stops where it is and waits, and the operator is told; it does not carry on by itself. There is also an emergency stop on the body.
Does it work in rain and snow?
Yes. Rain, snow and frost are normal working conditions. It is not made to drive through standing water, so the operator steers round flooded ground. In deep snow or ice, patrols are shortened and alarm checks continue on passable routes.
Do insurers accept it?
That is your insurer’s decision. Describe it as what it is: a mobile, remotely operated camera platform feeding the monitored cameras and response you already have. It is an extra layer of verification, not a replacement for anything named in your policy, so nothing in the policy changes unless your insurer agrees it in writing.