CCTV System Health Check in Leicester
A health check tells you exactly what state your CCTV system is in - what is working, what is degraded, and what is about to fail. Whether you inherited a system, had it installed by someone else, or just want an independent assessment, you get a clear written report with no obligation.
By the Doberman install team · CCTV system designers & installers, Leicester · Last reviewed February 2026
By the Doberman install team
CCTV system designers & installers, Leicester
Last reviewed February 2026
What you get
Camera performance testing
Every camera assessed for image quality, focus, field of view, and identification distance - daytime and night-time tested separately.
Recording integrity verification
We verify that every camera is actually recording, footage is retrievable, and there are no gaps in the recording timeline.
Hard drive SMART analysis
Drive health data pulled and analysed - reallocated sectors, power-on hours, temperature readings. Early warning of failure before you lose footage.
Written diagnostic report
A clear, jargon-free report covering system status, issues found, risk areas, and recommendations. Useful for insurance records and planning.
How it works
Diagnose
We test every component - cameras, recorder, storage, cabling, network, and remote access. Nothing assumed, everything verified.
Analyse
Test results compiled into a clear assessment. We identify what is working well, what is degraded, and what is at risk of failure.
Report
You receive a written report with findings, risk ratings, and honest recommendations - whether that is "keep maintaining it" or "start planning a replacement."
What a CCTV health check actually covers
A health check is a systematic, top-to-bottom assessment of your entire CCTV system. We start with the cameras themselves - checking image quality, focus, colour accuracy, and field of view against what the camera should be delivering based on its specification. We test daytime and night-time performance separately because they reveal completely different problems. A camera that looks sharp during the day can produce washed-out or completely dark footage after dark if the IR LEDs are degrading - something you will not spot unless you specifically test for it. We check identification distances against BS EN 62676 standards where applicable, so you know whether your cameras can actually identify a person at the distances that matter for your property.
Recording integrity is the next layer. We verify that every camera channel is recording continuously (or on the correct schedule), that footage is retrievable going back to the expected retention period, and that there are no gaps in the timeline. Recording gaps are surprisingly common - a camera that drops connection for ten minutes overnight and reconnects by morning can do this for months without anyone noticing. We pull the recording timeline and check for interruptions across every channel. Hard drive health is checked using SMART data - this is the diagnostic information the drive itself reports, including reallocated sectors, spin-up time, and total power-on hours. A drive that has been running continuously for four years with climbing reallocated sector counts is on borrowed time, and the health check flags this before it fails silently.
We also review firmware versions on the NVR and every camera, check network configuration and bandwidth utilisation for IP systems, verify remote access is working and secured, and assess the physical condition of cameras, housings, and cable runs. The result is a complete picture of system health - not a quick glance, but a documented assessment you can use for insurance compliance, budget planning, or simply peace of mind. This health check is the diagnostic core of our wider CCTV maintenance service.
Who needs a health check and when
The most common scenario is someone who has moved into a property with an existing CCTV system. You have cameras on the walls and a recorder somewhere in a cupboard, but you have no idea whether it is actually recording, how old the equipment is, or whether the footage quality is good enough to be useful. We see this constantly across Leicester - properties in Stoneygate, Clarendon Park, and Oadby where the previous owner had a system installed three or four years ago and the new owner has inherited it with no documentation and no login credentials. A health check gives you a baseline: here is what you have, here is what condition it is in, and here is what you should do about it.
The second common scenario is systems installed by another company where the customer has concerns. Maybe the footage does not look as sharp as it did when the system was new, or remote access has stopped working, or the recorder keeps restarting. Rather than calling the original installer back (or if that company no longer exists - which happens more often than you would think), an independent health check gives you an unbiased assessment. We have no interest in defending someone else's installation decisions. If they used Wi‑Fi cameras where PoE is more reliable, or mounted cameras in positions that create blind spots, we will tell you.
Annual health checks also make sense for commercial properties where CCTV is tied to insurance or licensing conditions. A documented assessment proves your system was operational and recording at a specific point in time - useful if a claim or compliance question arises later. Licensed premises in Leicester city centre, along Belgrave Road, and on Granby Street often have specific conditions around CCTV performance that require evidence of ongoing maintenance. A health check report satisfies that requirement.
What we typically find
After hundreds of health checks on systems across Leicester and Leicestershire, certain patterns repeat. Hard drives running past their expected lifespan are the most common finding - we see drives with 40,000+ power-on hours still running, sometimes with hundreds of reallocated sectors. These drives are living on borrowed time and will fail without warning. The second most common issue is degraded night performance. IR LEDs lose output progressively - roughly 15-20% per year - and because the change is gradual, people do not notice until the footage is too dark to be useful. Properties on Narborough Road, Melton Road, and in Highfields where street lighting has shifted to LED often have cameras that relied partly on ambient street light, and any IR degradation becomes much more noticeable.
Firmware issues are the third major finding. Outdated firmware can mean unpatched security vulnerabilities that leave your system accessible from the internet, recording bugs that cause intermittent gaps, and compatibility problems with mobile viewing apps. We have seen NVRs on residential properties in Evington and Knighton running firmware from 2019 with known security issues that the homeowner was completely unaware of. A firmware update is often part of the health check itself, but we always test the system thoroughly afterwards - firmware updates occasionally change settings or behaviour, and you need to verify everything still works as expected. Our CCTV specs guide explains the technical specifications we test against, if you want to understand what the numbers mean.
We also frequently find cameras with obstructed sightlines from vegetation growth, incorrect recording schedules (cameras set to motion-only when they should be continuous, or vice versa), and systems where one or more cameras have silently gone offline. On systems originally installed with consumer-grade equipment, we often find that the hardware simply is not capable of delivering the performance the customer expects. In those cases, we are honest about it - our report will recommend an upgrade rather than continued maintenance on a system that has reached its ceiling.
Pricing
Health check pricing depends on the number of cameras and system complexity. A typical 4-camera residential assessment takes 90 minutes to 2 hours including night verification. We provide a fixed quote before any work begins.
Why Doberman
Independent and unbiased
We assess systems regardless of who installed them. No defending someone else's decisions - you get an honest report on what you actually have.
SMART data analysis
We pull hard drive diagnostic data on every visit. Early warning of drive failure means you replace proactively, not after you have lost footage.
Night performance testing
Every health check includes after-dark verification. Daytime-only checks miss the most common and most serious performance issues.
Written report you can keep
A documented assessment useful for insurance, compliance, budget planning, or simply knowing where you stand.
About Doberman
Doberman is a Leicester-based CCTV company that installs and maintains hardwired PoE camera systems across Leicester and Leicestershire. We carry out health checks on our own installations and on systems installed by others - the approach is the same either way: thorough, honest, and documented.
The person who assesses your system is the same person who would install or repair it. No subcontractors, no call centres, no sales reps. You get a direct, technical conversation about what your system needs.
If you want to understand CCTV systems before getting in touch, our diagnostic guides cover everything from camera specifications explained to what affects system performance over time.
Areas we cover
We cover Leicester city centre and the surrounding areas including Stoneygate, Clarendon Park, Knighton, Evington, Highfields, Belgrave Road, Narborough Road, Oadby, Wigston, Market Harborough, Hinckley, Loughborough, and across Leicestershire.
Frequently asked questions
- How long does a CCTV health check take?
- A typical 4-camera residential system takes 90 minutes to 2 hours, including night performance verification. Larger commercial systems with 8-16 cameras can take half a day. We confirm the expected duration when we quote.
- Can you health-check a system you did not install?
- Yes - that is one of the most common reasons people book a health check. We assess systems installed by any company or brand. If we need login credentials for the NVR, we will let you know in advance. If previous credentials are lost, we can usually recover or reset access during the visit.
- What happens if you find serious problems?
- You get a written report detailing what we found, with a risk rating and clear recommendations. If something needs urgent attention - like a drive about to fail - we will explain your options on the day. We do not carry out additional chargeable work without your approval.
- Is a health check the same as a maintenance visit?
- A health check is the diagnostic part of a maintenance visit. It tells you what state the system is in. A full maintenance visit includes the health check plus cleaning, firmware updates, and settings optimisation. If you just want to know where you stand before committing to ongoing maintenance, a health check is the right starting point.
- Do I need a health check if my cameras seem to be working fine?
- Cameras can appear to work while silently degrading. Hard drives develop bad sectors, IR output drops gradually, firmware vulnerabilities go unpatched, and recording gaps can occur without any visible warning. An annual health check catches these issues before they matter.
- What does a CCTV health check cost?
- Pricing depends on camera count and system complexity. A typical 4-camera residential health check costs between £120 and £180. Commercial systems are quoted individually based on camera count and access requirements. We provide a fixed quote before any work starts.