Rhombus combines cloud-managed cameras, environmental and door sensors, and access control in a single console, licensed per device on a subscription. SecureComm installs and services Rhombus systems across Denver and Colorado, covering sensor and camera placement, bandwidth and retention planning, door hardware, integration and support afterward.
Rhombus sells a camera system as one part of a building platform: cameras, door and motion sensors and environmental monitoring reported into the same console, with access control administered there too. The idea is that a manager opening one screen sees the back door that has been propped for an hour, the cooler drifting warm and the camera covering the alley, instead of three vendors and three logins. The console is the product as much as the camera is, which is why the device list deserves scrutiny.
The breadth is the reason to consider Rhombus and the reason to scope it carefully. Sensors are cheap to add and easy to leave unmanaged, and a subscription priced per device rewards a short device list. We start from the events somebody will act on, then choose cameras and sensors to detect them, which usually produces a smaller and more useful system than a floor plan marked with every possible device. A sensor that reports an event nobody is assigned to answer is decoration.
Cameras, sensors and one console
The camera line covers the usual commercial shapes: an indoor dome for a corridor or a retail floor, an outdoor bullet for a lot or a wall, and a compact model for a small room or a service window. Everything connects by Ethernet with power on the same cable, and the console is a browser page, so a manager can look at a site from a phone without a client install. Video is stored in the cloud rather than on a recorder in a closet. Mounting height and lens choice still decide whether a face is recognizable, and neither is in the subscription.
The sensors are what separate the platform from a camera system. A door sensor reports an opening the schedule did not expect, a motion sensor covers a room where a camera would be inappropriate, and an environmental sensor reports temperature or air quality in a space that matters, such as a cooler, a server closet or a room with a furnace. Access control sits in the same console, so a badge event and the clip beside it are reviewed together. The pairing is useful in a building where the camera cannot see a temperature or a propped door, which is most of them.
What the subscription covers, and what it does not
The subscription is per device, and retention is chosen rather than inherited from a disk that happens to be full. That makes the device list the cost driver: cameras, sensors and controllers each carry a line, and a site that adds devices informally for two years meets a renewal it did not plan. The comparison that matters is against owned equipment plus the labor of maintaining it, across the years the organization expects to use the system. Retention should be chosen from what the organization does with footage, not from the tier that looks affordable at signature.
What the subscription does not cover is everything physical. Cabling, switch ports, power budget, mounting height, door hardware, power supplies and the internet link are project costs, and they are the same whichever platform is chosen. Nor does it cover the upload path: cloud recording needs upstream capacity at every site, and a multi-site operator should measure each link rather than assume the one that works at head office represents the rest. Where a link is shared with a tenant or a point-of-sale network, the cloud traffic has to be planned with whoever owns that link.
Privacy, retention and where cloud fits
Cloud video leaves the building, and a Rhombus deployment should be designed with that in mind: role-based access by site, single sign-on where the organization uses it, a retention period that matches the written policy, and an export process that leaves an audit trail. Cameras in break rooms, offices and any space where employees change or rest deserve a policy decision, not a technician’s judgment at install. Colorado sites with public counters should also decide what the signage says. Break rooms and changing areas are policy decisions, and a camera that is technically easy to add is not therefore appropriate.
Cloud fits a distributed operator that wants one console and a short equipment list: a restaurant group, a clinic with a few locations, a property manager with buildings across the metro. It fits poorly where recordings may not leave the premises, where the upload link is thin and stays that way, where retention runs to years, or where a large camera estate makes recurring licenses the biggest line in the budget. Those are engineering answers, not objections to cloud in principle. Where cloud does fit, the deployment is often quicker than a recorder because there is no server room to prepare and no recording appliance to rack.
Services for Rhombus systems
Related:Security camera systemsAccess control solutionsIntegrated security systems
Frequently asked questions
Does Rhombus keep recording when the internet is down?
Ask this before the order, because the answer depends on the camera model, the local storage configuration and the subscription. A cloud platform records continuously only while it can reach the cloud or a local buffer; a short outage may leave no gap and a long one usually does. We test the behavior on site during commissioning and write down what the site should expect rather than assume continuity.
How should we compare Rhombus pricing with a recorder?
Put the subscription, the cameras, the sensors, the network, the cabling and the door hardware in one table, then extend it across the years the site expects to keep the system. A recorder quote usually leaves out the labor of maintaining it, and a cloud quote usually leaves out the switch and the link. Comparing the first invoice alone hides the difference that actually matters.
Can Rhombus access control take over our existing doors?
The credential and the door hardware decide that more than the controller. Readers and credentials have to match what is installed or be replaced, and a legacy system can often be migrated a door at a time. Each opening still needs locking hardware, a power supply, request-to-exit and free egress. We survey the doors first, because a platform migration is easy next to retrofitting an opening that was never wired properly.
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