A camera that alerts on every movement gets ignored within a week. What you want to hear about is narrower: someone hanging around, a bag nobody came back for, a camera that has been covered, a line that should not be crossed.

Cameras that do this themselves are sold at a premium, and each maker's analytics only work in that maker's software. Agent DVR runs the analytics on your own computer instead, so they work on cameras you already own, from any maker, and all of them report in one place. Afterwards an AI assistant such as Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini can go back through the recordings and tell you what happened.

Loitering and left bags

Draw a zone, choose what to look for and how long you will tolerate it being there. Agent DVR's object recognition raises an alert when it has stayed longer than that. The same detector covers a person lingering and an object left behind. Things it can watch for include:

a person lingering a suitcase a backpack a handbag a car parked too long a truck in the loading bay

Trip wires

Draw up to ten lines on the picture. Each one can raise an alert when it is crossed, in one direction or both, and show a running count on the live video. For footfall and occupancy counting with dashboards, heatmaps and reports, there is Agent DVR Analytics. Use trip wires for:

a fence line a gate the wrong way through an exit vehicles through an entrance

It follows, measures and listens

A PTZ camera can follow a moving object by itself, or patrol between preset positions on a schedule. The speed detector estimates how fast things are moving and alerts outside the range you set. And audio recognition raises an alert on a sound, with nothing needing to cross the picture. For example:

following someone across a yard a guard tour between presets a vehicle over the site speed limit breaking glass a gunshot screaming a car alarm

Afterwards, find it and keep it

When something has happened you need the footage fast, and all of it. Motion search finds every recording with movement in the part of the picture you pick. An investigation gathers the clips, photos and audio from every camera into one case, with your notes. You can:

search one doorway for movement collect clips from several cameras add comments export the whole case as a ZIP

What it looks like

Go through last night on the car park camera.

Nine recordings on the car park camera between 22:00 and 06:00. Looking at the frames:

  • 22:50 - the last two staff cars left.
  • 01:42 - a person on foot walked along the row of parking bays and stopped at each one. Loitering alert.
  • 01:47 - the same person crossed the line at the side gate, heading out.
  • 04:30 - a fox. The other five were headlights from the road.

The 01:42 recording is the one to look at. Want a link to it?

Things to ask

  • Did anyone hang around the loading bay overnight? Show me.
  • What happened at the side gate between 1am and 4am?
  • Show me the car park across the night.
  • Which of the cameras are offline?
  • Send me a link to the clip of the person at the roller door.

Rules to set up by asking

  • Tell me whenever there is a person in the yard between 10pm and 5am.
  • Tell me if any camera is covered.
  • If someone loiters at the back door after dark, play a warning through the camera and tell me.
  • Arm the system at 6pm every weekday.

Rules run on your own server with no assistant connected. They need Agent DVR 8.0.7 or later, and questions about what is in the picture need an AI provider set up in Server Settings - AI Settings. More rule examples

Why build it this way

Any camera, any maker

The analytics run in Agent DVR, not in the camera, so an inexpensive camera gets the same detection as a premium one, and a site with three makes of camera gets one set of rules.

It tells you when a camera is covered

Tamper detection raises an event when a camera's view is blocked, and another when a camera drops off the network, so a camera that has stopped seeing does not go unnoticed.

Counts that go somewhere

Trip wire counts are shown on the video and sent out over MQTT, to Home Assistant and to any URL you choose. For counting with dashboards, emailed reports and occupancy across several doors, Agent DVR Analytics takes it further.

Fewer false alarms

AI alert filtering only alerts when a person or a vehicle is there, not for branches or headlights, and each camera can learn from your feedback when it gets one wrong. All of it runs on your own computer.

What you need

1

A camera

Almost any IP, ONVIF, RTSP or USB camera works, including a spare webcam. You do not need a special bird, pet or doorbell camera. Look yours up in the camera database.

2

Agent DVR on a computer

Install it on Windows, macOS, Linux, Docker or a Raspberry Pi. It records to your own disk and is free for private use on your own network. Download.

3

An AI assistant

Connect Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini CLI or any other MCP client and start asking. Free on your own network. From your phone or the cloud it is part of an iSpyConnect subscription from $7.95 a month. How it works.

Set it up

1

Add your cameras

Install Agent DVR and add each camera. It finds most cameras on your network by itself. See Adding Cameras.

2

Draw what matters

Choose a detector for each camera, then draw trip wires across gates and doorways and zones where nobody should wait.

3

Say what should happen

Add an action for a crossing, for Loiter Detected or for a covered camera, or ask an assistant for the rule in a sentence.

Good to know: Loitering and left bag detection use AI object recognition, which is built in and needs a computer with enough power to run it on the cameras you choose. Left bag detection means an object of a kind you named has been in the zone for longer than the time you set: it does not know who put it there. Trip wires, speed and heat maps follow moving objects, so counts are approximate in a crowd, where people overlap, and speeds are estimates from the scene measurements you give. Counters reset when a camera restarts. PTZ tracking needs a camera with pan and tilt that Agent DVR can control. Audio recognition needs an Agent DVR license or a subscription. Loitering areas, trip wires and the heat map are drawn and set in Agent DVR; an assistant can then make rules that act on them. Business use needs a subscription or a commercial license.

Frequently asked questions

Can Agent DVR detect loitering?

Yes. Draw a zone on the camera, add an action for Loiter Detected, choose what to look for (usually a person) and how many seconds to allow. When something of that kind has been in the zone for longer, the action runs: an alert on your phone, a recording, a spoken warning through the camera, or anything else an action can do. See Detecting Loitering in the user guide.

Can it detect a bag that has been left behind?

Yes, with the same detector. Set it to look for a suitcase, a backpack or a handbag in a zone and to alert when one has been there longer than the time you choose. It works best on a clear floor area with the camera looking down at it, and it cannot tell an abandoned bag from one whose owner is standing just out of the zone.

Can it tell me if a camera has been covered or moved?

It raises a Source Covered / Tampered event when a camera's view is blocked, and a disconnect event when a camera stops responding. Add an action or ask an assistant for a rule on either, and you are told as it happens.

Can it count people or vehicles?

Yes, two ways. A trip wire across a doorway or a gate counts on the live video and publishes the count over MQTT, to Home Assistant and to any URL: see Trip Wires. For footfall over days and weeks, occupancy across several doors, heatmaps and conversion from your takings, use Analytics, part of the Standard plan: see retail footfall and occupancy counting.

What does it cost?

Agent DVR is free for private use on your own network, so you can try it on your own cameras first. Business use, alerts on your phone, the mobile apps and access from anywhere are part of an iSpyConnect subscription from $7.95 a month: one flat price, however many cameras you have. The AI provider you use for the assistant may have its own costs.

Weighing up recorders? See how Agent DVR compares: Agent DVR vs Blue Iris and Agent DVR vs Frigate.

Download Agent DVR How the AI assistant works

More things your cameras can do

Home automation

Use your cameras as smart home sensors: a known face, a number plate or a sound triggers Home Assistant, with Alexa voice control, MQTT and a full API.

See how it works

Package delivery alerts

Find out when a package is delivered, who came to the door while you were out, and whether the package is still on the step.

See how it works

AI pet camera

Ask what the dog did while you were out, look in live from your phone, and get told when the cat is on the kitchen counter.

See how it works

AI bird feeder camera

Point any camera at the feeder and ask which birds visited, when the feeder is busiest and whether the squirrel is back.

See how it works

Checking in on a relative

See that Mum or Dad is up and about, find out whether the carer came, and get told when something needs a look, without phoning every hour.

See how it works

Barn and foaling camera

Watch the foaling box, calving pen or chicken coop from your phone, ask what happened overnight, and get an alert when something needs a look.

See how it works

Machine monitoring

Get told when an alarm sounds, a warning light comes on, or a machine that should be running goes quiet or still, and ask what happened on the night shift.

See how it works

Ghost hunting cameras

Record every camera and microphone on an investigation, get flagged when it hears whispering, footsteps or a knock, and let an AI assistant find the moments worth a second look.

See how it works

Retail footfall

Count shoppers in and out, see where they stop and how long they queue, and set your takings against the footfall for a conversion rate.

See how it works

Occupancy and capacity

A live count of how many are inside across every door, a capacity limit, a screen for the entrance and an alert when it is nearly full.

See how it works

See all solutions