360-Degree Visibility: Optimizing Warehouse Floors with the Pelco Fisheye 3

Warehouse and distribution environments present a specific camera coverage challenge. Large open floor areas, high shelving units, loading zones, and staging areas all need to be visible, and covering them with standard fixed-view cameras typically means a significant number of units, a significant amount of cabling, and coverage gaps between camera fields of view. For supply chain operations where accountability, inventory visibility, and incident documentation are all operational priorities, those gaps carry real consequences.

The Pelco Fisheye 3, deployed by SCVS within the Samsara Site Visibility ecosystem, addresses that coverage challenge directly. A single ceiling-mounted unit delivers complete 360-degree panoramic coverage from one installation point, reducing the hardware and cabling required to cover a given area while producing a more complete and continuous view of the space beneath it.

What the Pelco Fisheye 3 Actually Delivers

The Fisheye 3 is an 8-megapixel camera that captures a full 360-degree field of view with 180 degrees of coverage both vertically and horizontally from a single ceiling mount. At a resolution of 3264 by 2448 pixels, the camera produces footage with enough detail to support identification, incident review, and operational monitoring across the width of a warehouse floor from a single vantage point.

The camera’s key capabilities include:

• A de-warping engine that converts the panoramic fisheye image into rectilinear views that are easier to review and analyze. During footage review, operators can move between a full 360-degree overview and zoomed-in virtual views of specific areas without pulling separate footage or switching between camera feeds. All views come from the same source recording, which means there are no gaps in coverage between angles.

• On-board Pelco Smart Analytics with eight behavior detection modes that run directly on the camera hardware rather than requiring a separate analytics server. The analytics engine classifies people and objects within the frame, detects behavioral patterns including loitering, and supports proactive alerting based on configured rules for each camera location.

• SureVision technology that combines advanced low-light capability with wide dynamic range to maintain clear, usable footage in the mixed lighting conditions that warehouse environments frequently produce, including areas near loading dock doors where light levels shift significantly throughout the day.

• A paintable front plate on in-ceiling models that allows the camera to blend into facility ceiling aesthetics, and IK10 vandalism resistance with IP66/67 environmental ratings on surface mount models for locations where the camera is more exposed.

• ONVIF Profile S and T compliance and a five-year manufacturer warranty.

Taken together, these capabilities make the Fisheye 3 a camera that serves both the security and operational documentation needs of a warehouse environment from a single installation point rather than requiring multiple devices to cover the same ground.

How the Fisheye 3 Changes the Camera Count Conversation

One of the most practical implications of a 360-degree camera is the effect it has on how many units a deployment requires to achieve comprehensive coverage. In a standard fixed-camera deployment covering an open warehouse floor, achieving coverage without significant blind spots requires multiple units positioned to overlap each other’s coverage zones. Each additional unit adds hardware cost, cabling, installation time, and ongoing maintenance.

A single Fisheye 3 unit can cover the area that would otherwise require three to four fixed-view cameras, depending on ceiling height, floor layout, and coverage requirements. For warehouse environments with large open sections, that reduction in unit count has a meaningful effect on both the initial deployment cost and the complexity of that installation. The downstream benefits of a reduced camera count include:

• Fewer cabling runs and mounting points throughout the facility.

• Fewer PoE switch ports in use, simplifying network infrastructure requirements.

• A smaller, less complex system to maintain and troubleshoot over time.

• Lower ongoing hardware maintenance overhead across the deployment.

For operations managing camera deployments across multiple warehouse locations, those savings compound across the portfolio and make a meaningful difference in the total cost of maintaining comprehensive site visibility over time.

How It Appears in the Samsara Dashboard

The Fisheye 3 integrates within the Samsara Site Visibility platform, which means the footage and analytics it produces are accessible through the same dashboard operators use to monitor the rest of their Site Visibility deployment. The de-warped views, the full panoramic overview, and any alerts generated by the Smart Analytics will appear within the Samsara interface, so operators are not managing a separate system or switching between platforms to monitor the fisheye camera alongside the rest of the deployment.

For supply chain operations that use Samsara across fleet and facilities, having the Fisheye 3’s warehouse coverage visible in the same dashboard as the broader operational picture reduces the number of interfaces staff need to monitor and simplifies how footage is assessed when an incident needs to be reviewed.

How SCVS Approaches Fisheye 3 Deployments

Getting the most out of a 360-degree camera depends on placement decisions made before the hardware is ordered. Ceiling height, floor layout, shelving configuration, and the specific areas that need continuous documentation will affect where a Fisheye 3 should be positioned and how many units are needed to achieve the coverage the operation requires.

SCVS approaches every Fisheye 3 deployment with a site assessment that maps the warehouse floor layout against the camera’s coverage geometry to identify optimal mounting positions. That assessment accounts for:

• Lighting conditions across different zones and times of day.

• Shelving and equipment placement that may affect coverage at floor level.

• How Fisheye 3 units integrate with any fixed-view cameras covering areas where a panoramic view is not the right tool for the specific location.

Once the placement plan is established, SCVS handles procurement, installation, and configuration within the Samsara platform, including setting up the Smart Analytics rules relevant to the specific operational context of each warehouse.

What This Means for Warehouse and Distribution Operations

The combination of 360-degree coverage, 8-megapixel resolution, on-board analytics, and a reduced hardware footprint makes the Pelco Fisheye 3 a practical tool for warehouse environments where comprehensive visibility matters and where the cost and complexity of a large fixed-camera deployment have been a barrier to achieving it.

For supply chain operations looking to improve the coverage and accountability of their Site Visibility deployment without adding hardware complexity, the Fisheye 3 is worth understanding as part of the camera selection conversation.

If you want to talk through how the Fisheye 3 would be deployed in your specific warehouse environment and what the coverage plan would look like, we offer a free discovery call to walk through your facility and identify the right configuration. Get in touch with our team to get started.