Coffee shop security cameras that tell you when something is wrong
Most coffee shop security cameras record all day and nobody looks until something has gone missing. You can get much more from the same cameras: an alert when the till is left open, when someone is inside after closing, or when the shutter isn’t up at opening time.
What really goes wrong in a café
- Cash left on the counter or the till drawer left open with nobody behind it.
- A customer waiting at the counter and nobody there to serve.
- The back door to the alley left open, or opened at night.
- Someone inside after closing, or the stockroom opened when the café is empty.
- A customer’s bag or laptop taken from a table while they’re in line.
- The morning delivery left outside the door, or not arriving at all.
Rules for coffee shop security cameras
Write what you want to know, in a sentence, for the camera that can see it:
- Counter camera: “Tell me if cash is left on the counter and nobody is behind it.”
- Counter camera: “Tell me if a customer is waiting at the till and nobody is serving.”
- Back door: draw an area around it as a motion alarm. The alert arrives within a second.
- Stockroom: “Tell me if anyone is in the stockroom after 9pm.”
- Seating area: draw the TV or the window onto the street as ignored, so they never trigger.
Checks at opening and closing
A scheduled check is a time and what should be so. If it isn’t, your phone gets the photo.
- “07:05, shutter open.”
- “21:15, shutter down and the counter empty.”
- “21:15, back door closed.”
Questions you can ask from home
- “Did anyone come in after closing?”
- “When was the milk delivery dropped off this morning?”
- “Send a photo of the counter now.”
- “How many times did the back door open today?”
Tampering and privacy
If a camera is turned away, covered or unplugged, Puw alerts you and keeps the last 20 minutes before it as a black box, so you can see what happened.
Keep cameras on the counter, the doors, the seating and the stockroom, never in restrooms. Use the alerts for safety and theft, not to judge how people work. Puw writes captions about actions and objects; it does not recognize faces.
How Puw works with the cameras you have
Puw is a Windows 10/11 app. It connects to the cameras or recorder your café already has, over RTSP or ONVIF; Hikvision, Dahua and most other IP brands work. No new cameras, no new recorder, and the recorder keeps recording.
The AI runs on that PC, and the footage stays there. Alerts reach your phone as a Telegram message with a photo. Puw also learns each camera’s usual day and tells you about motion at an hour that is always quiet, with no rule needed.
- The PC has to stay on. A quiet café’s ordinary PC is enough; a busy till camera wants an NVIDIA graphics card, so events are written up within a minute.
- A daily report sums up the day.
- 30 days free, the full version, no card.
30 days free · full version · no card
Frequently asked questions
How many security cameras does a coffee shop need?
Think in spots, not numbers: the counter and till, the front door, the seating area and the back door or stockroom. For many small cafés that is four cameras. Puw works with as many as you have, with no per-camera fee.
Do I need new cameras for AI alerts?
No. If your cameras or recorder offer RTSP or ONVIF, which most do, Puw uses them as they are.
Will I get an alert every time a customer walks in?
No. You only get alerts for the rules you write and the areas you draw. A full café on a Saturday is not an alert; cash left on an empty counter is.
Does the footage go to the cloud?
No. Video, captions and search stay on the PC. Only the alerts you choose are sent to your phone.
Hikvision, Dahua, Lorex, Reolink and other brands are trademarks of their owners. Puw is not affiliated with them.