Wired vs. wireless dash cams: Everything you need to know

In recent years, organizations across various industries have turned to dash cams to protect their fleet. In fact, studies show that there’s a 60% decrease in collision frequency and an 86% decrease in accident-related costs when dash cams are used. This means that dash cams are critical in helping organizations enhance driver safety, minimize incidents, and improve profitability.

There are two primary types of dash cams: wired and wireless. But what sets them apart, and which option is best suited for your fleet? In this guide, we explore the key differences between wired and wireless dash cams, and share how innovative dash cam technology like Samsara can help you accelerate driver exoneration, reduce costs, and improve operational efficiency.

What is the difference between wired vs. wireless dash cams?

For the purposes of this piece, we'll only be discussing dash cams that store their footage locally and internet-connected dash cams. Typically, there are two ways that dash cams store your video footage:

• Wired dash cams: Dash cams that require a power source and store footage locally on a memory card.

• Wireless dash cams: Dash cams that are internet-connected and store your footage on the cloud.

In the market today, you’ll generally find that most dash cams currently do require some sort of wiring to draw power, even if they claim to be wireless. There are a few types of dash cameras that run entirely on internal batteries, but these are usually only able to record for a few minutes. These types of dash cams are known as “wired dash cams.”

Wired dash cams that rely on memory cards to store your footage are often inconvenient and prone to error, since you’ll need to manually retrieve your video recordings by removing the memory card each time you want to access the video.

In contrast, a wireless dash cam is a device connected to WiFi or the internet that stores video footage in the cloud, allowing remote access without the need for manual retrieval from a memory card or SD card. Wireless dash cams offer quick and easy access to footage, increased storage capacity, and enhanced security and privacy.

Three benefits of internet-connected or wireless dash cams

Wireless dash cams offer fleet managers quick access to video footage, greater storage capacity, and ensure peace of mind by protecting sensitive data.

1. Accessible footage in real time

One of the primary benefits of an internet-connected dash cam is the accessibility of your video footage. While dash cameras that rely on local storage require you to manually remove memory cards in order to access your footage, wireless dash cams allow you to remotely access your footage within minutes.

For fleets, this quick access is especially valuable when it comes to driver exoneration. For example, if your driver is involved in a collision but is not at fault, wireless dash cams enable you to quickly download and share video footage with the authorities, accelerating incident investigation and streamlining exoneration. Quick and easy video retrieval is critical to protecting your drivers, and also results in significant safety ROI across your fleet.

Wireless dash cams are vital to the operational success across many industries, including school transportation. School districts looking to enhance connectivity across internet-connected dash cams, as well as third-party camera solutions such as front dash cams, wide angle cameras, backup cameras, interior cameras, side cameras, rear cameras, stop-arm cameras, and more can leverage Samsara to improve visibility, save costs, and reduce incidents. 

For Gwinnett County Public Schools (GCPS), they used Samsara to transform the safety and efficiency of their expansive school bus operations. Gwinnett County Public Schools (GCPS) is one of the 10 largest public school systems in the United States. With Samsara’s AI Dash Cams, GCPS has access to HD video footage captured on AI Dash Cams located inside the bus, enabling them to quickly investigate incidents and dispute false claims—streamlining parent communication and exonerating innocent bus managers within hours. As a result of Samsara, GCPS decreased the number of days it takes to investigate an incident on the bus by 50%, from 1-2 weeks to 24-48 hours.

Additionally, wireless dash cams also play an important role for state and local governments. By improving on-the-road safety with wireless dash cams, public sector agencies are able to better protect their communities and improve the quality of life for citizens and constituents.

For the City of Memphis, they used Samsara to improve driver safety and minimize false claims. After securing buy-in from their unions and drivers, they leveraged Samsara AI Dash Cams to achieve a 75% reduction in distracted driving. In addition, on-demand video retrieval enabled them to protect city employees by exonerating them from not-at-fault claims, saving thousands of dollars in insurance payouts.

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2. Greater storage capability

Dash cameras that can only store video recordings locally on memory cards have  limited storage capacity. While some dash cameras offer you the ability to expand the storage capacity, you'll need to purchase an additional microSD card to do so.

Internet-connected dash cams, on the other hand, can offer unlimited video storage in the cloud as well as limited local storage. For instance, Samsara AI Dash Cams automatically upload full HD video footage (utilizing 1080p HD resolution for high image quality) of harsh incidents to the cloud. Additionally, Samsara’s AI Dash Cams stores video footage of the past 40 hours of drive time locally, allowing you to access the footage on-demand. With access to high quality footage, it’s easy to review safety events, proactively coach drivers, and minimize on-the-road incidents.

Chalk Mountain Services is a leader in the oilfield services industry, managing the transportation and logistics of sand and water for customers across Texas and New Mexico. By leveraging real video footage captured by Samsara’s AI Dash Cams, they are able to avoid “he said, she said” situations and have positive one-on-one coaching conversations with drivers. As a result of Samsara, Chalk Mountain experienced an 86% decrease in preventable accident costs.

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3. Secure and private footage

High-quality dash cam footage can provide you with the video evidence you need to protect your drivers against false claims, identify dangerous driving behavior, and reduce incidents across your fleet. But it's vital that the technology you use is able to keep the data it collects private and secure.

Wireless dash cams upload your footage to the cloud over a secure connection, which can make it more difficult for unauthorized users to gain access. Some of the best dash cam solutions available today, like Samsara's AI Dash Cams, make data security a key focus.

With Samsara, your footage is encrypted to protect it from security breaches. Once it's uploaded, you can only access your footage by logging in to the Samsara Dashboard. You can also use the Samsara Dashboard to designate approved admins, giving you complete control over who can access your video recordings. Samsara’s commitment to data privacy ensures that your data is secure, that you retain control over it, and that you understand how Samsara uses it.

How Samsara AI Dash Cams help improve safety and reduce incidents

Recognized as one of the industry leaders in wireless dash cams, Samsara AI Dash Cams are built on a powerful cloud-based platform, making it possible to improve safety and reduce costs. Organizations can now build comprehensive fleet safety programs by leveraging Samsara AI Dash Cam to better protect their drivers, accessing video evidence in the moments that matter to minimize incidents, streamline exoneration, and reduce costs. 

Samsara AI Dash Cams also offer built-in AI technology that helps you proactively coach drivers and reduce incidents, while secure encryption protects your data. In our recent State of Connected Operations Report, Smarter, Faster, Safer: The AI Revolution in Physical Operations, research reveals that 94% of leaders believe their organization needs to invest in AI technology solutions so they are not left behind, and more than half (51%) are already using AI. 87% of organizations report that they will increase investments in AI in the next year. For organizations that are already implementing AI, 100% of leaders reported experiencing benefits, including improved safety (45%) and employee productivity (42%).

The Rasmussen Group, a construction company focusing on heavy highway construction, aggregates, and concrete, deployed Samsara AI Dash Cams to develop a comprehensive safety program, improving safety with in-cab alerts and exonerating drivers with on-demand video retrieval. 

As a result, Rasmussen has decreased mobile usage while driving by 90%, speeding and running stop signs by 70%, and backup incidents by 25%. With this technology, safety coaches have seen a 30% increase in time savings. Furthermore, Rasmussen is now easily able to exonerate not-at-fault drivers, after a recent incident, they exonerated a driver at the scene, saving an estimated $1.2 million.

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Dive into our guide on how to select the best dash cams for your fleet for more tips on improving safety across your operation. Or, if you'd like to learn more about how Samsara's AI Dash Cams can help your business, check out our Video-Based Safety solution and get in touch with our team today.