After-hours security alerts for a car dealership lot

If your dealership already has cameras on the lot, software can watch them for people in the zones you mark during your closed hours, and send a photo to the phones you choose. It is the lowest-cost layer. It works best with lighting, fencing and key control, and with a person who will respond.

• What it is: software that reads the video from your existing cameras and alerts you when a person is on the lot after close.
• Who it is for: independent and franchise dealers, used car lots and any open lot with stock overnight.
• What you need: cameras that can see the lot at night, a Windows computer on your site's network, and a phone number to alert.
• What it does not do: it does not send guards, speak to intruders or call the police.
• How to try it: a free 7-day trial on up to 32 cameras, no card. Ask us about pricing for your country.

A lot is open to the street and full of high-value stock, and it is mostly empty between close and open. Many lot cameras only record. Nobody is watching them at 2 a.m.

Catalytic converter theft has fallen. Consumer Reports, citing the National Insurance Crime Bureau, says roughly 14,000 converters were stolen in 2024, a 68 percent decrease from 2023. But it is still fast. The National Independent Automobile Dealers Association describes one dealership that lost 16 converters to two people in under an hour, and says open-air lots that go unattended overnight present multiple units at once.

That timing is the point. A crew that spends an hour on a lot gives an alert time to matter. A theft that takes a few minutes is harder to beat with any notification, and that is why fencing, lighting and locks still count.

Want to know when someone is on site after hours? Try it free for 7 days, no card

Most dealers end up with a mix. Here is what each one does well and where it falls short.

• A night guard. A person on site can act at once and is a visible deterrent. It is the most expensive option, because you pay for every hour whether or not anything happens.
• A mobile patrol. A vehicle visits the lot at random times. It costs less than a guard, but it only checks the lot when it passes.
• Live video monitoring, sometimes called a virtual guard. A service watches your cameras and may speak to people on the lot through speakers or contact the police for you. It needs a contract, and some providers supply their own cameras and speakers.
• Alerts from the cameras you already own. Software tells you when a person is on the lot after close, with a photo. It has the lowest cost and needs no new hardware. You or someone you choose decides what to do.
• Physical measures. Lighting, fencing and gates, catalytic converter shields and locked key storage reduce what a thief can do in the time they have. They work alongside any option above.

A lot full of parked cars is not a warehouse yard, so the alert is for people, not for every vehicle in view.

Read more on dealership security with Foreman.

• Tell you when a person is on the lot in the zones you mark, during your closed hours, with a photo, the camera and the time.
• Tell you when a camera has been covered, sprayed or knocked out of focus, which is often the first step in a theft.
• Tell you when a camera stops sending video.
• Watch the service bay and parts room for smoke and flame, because a fire at night burns unseen from the street.
• Let you write a rule for vehicles in plain words, such as a vehicle at the exit lane when you are closed.

• They are not instant. A second check happens before the alert is sent. Some thefts are over in minutes.
• They cannot tell you who the person is. If your lot crew or detailers work late, set your closed hours to match.
• They cannot speak to an intruder, sound a siren or dispatch anyone.
• They cannot fix a camera that cannot see the lot at night. Better lighting or a better camera does that.
• They do not stop a stolen key fob or a cloned key. Key control does that.

• Choose the cameras that cover the front line, the back rows, the exit lane, the service entrance and the key room.
• Set your closed hours once for the whole site.
• Choose who is told. Two people is better than one: the owner or general manager, and whoever picks up the phone at night.
• Decide what happens next. Look at the photo, call the lot, ask someone nearby to check, or call the police.
• Walk the lot after close with someone watching the phone, and check that the photo arrives.

Some commercial property policies name protective safeguards you must keep working, such as a monitored alarm. A change to your system can matter to a claim. Ask your agent what your policy requires before you replace or cut any service. Alerts are a layer on top, not a substitute.

We are software, not a camera brand and not a guard company. Our software installs on a Windows computer at your dealership in 60 seconds and works with the recorder you already have: Hikvision, Dahua, Axis, Hanwha, Uniview, TVT, CP Plus, or any camera or recorder that supports RTSP or ONVIF.

• People on the lot after close, in the zones you mark, is standard on every site.
• Our own AI models, trained in-house, watch every camera on site. A second, larger model checks each event before you are alerted.
• The alert is a photo with the camera and the time, on WhatsApp, Telegram or the Foreman app.
• Smoke and fire, a covered camera and a camera that goes offline are standard too.
• Your recordings stay on site. Your recorder keeps recording.