Source: Webtree Software Solutions
What’s happening: A quiet new layer is beginning to take shape in the security industry; driven by advancements in environmental sensing and integrations with building management and IT systems.
Once viewed as tools solely for facility management teams, environmental sensors are now proving valuable to physical security teams seeking a more complete understanding of their environments.
These network-connected sensors often provide valuable insight into…
Temperature
Humidity
Air Quality
Motion
Occupancy
Common Examples: When paired with video, intrusion, and access systems these sensors help security teams paint a more complete view of potential, current, or past incidents through the addition of key insights and event triggers into the physical environment.
Server Rooms and Telecommunication Closets: Temperature and humidity sensors are typically used to monitor quality and health metrics. However, sudden drops in temperature or spikes in humidity can also indicate unauthorized human entry, triggering alerts or prompting a video verification workflow.
Sealed Environments: In locations such as bank vaults, laboratories, and cleanrooms, sensors that detect air pressure changes, particulate matter, or CO₂ levels can confirm entry or tampering — even if the space is visually sealed or camera-free due to privacy or compliance regulations.
Perimeter Security: Vibration or seismic sensors deployed along fence lines or buried in soil can detect and alert disturbances before a camera captures activity, giving response teams crucial lead time to intervene.
Educational Environments: In areas where camera blindspots are required, vapor and THC sensors help detect the use of prohibited substances. These devices can trigger camera clips or SMS alerts to campus staff.
A Step Further: Automation and Integration: Through the use of APIs, webhooks, or native automation workflows, environmental sensors can do more than just monitor. They can act.
For example:
IF temperature in (location_id) drops >3°F
THEN send SMS alert to (employee_id)
AND initiate (camera_id) clip recording.
This kind of conditional logic, increasingly common in platforms like Cisco Meraki, Verkada, and Genea, allows sensors to trigger downstream security events in real time, tightening response loops and minimizing manual oversight.
The same approach can apply to water leaks, air quality changes, or occupancy thresholds. Any measurable condition that could indicate risk can be incorporated into your workflows.
Bottom Line: Environmental sensors are evolving into the tertiary layer of physical security, complementing access control and video surveillance with real-time environmental intelligence.
As interoperability between IT, building systems, and physical security continues to grow, environmental sensors can play a critical role in the modern security stack.
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