A well implemented security monitoring system is essential this day and age and there are many benefits of a security camera system for a business owner.
When you think about security systems you may think they are for preventing theft or crime, which is a valid assumption. Security systems have other useful applications in the private sector, such as performance evaluation. With an appropriate security monitoring system tailored to your business, you will have the tools necessary to evaluate the day to day operations. For instance, you may own a warehouse where you have been experiencing problems with outgoing orders being either incomplete or incorrect, or there may be customers phoning you with concerns that their order was incomplete. If either of the these situations occur you are able to go back to the day and time of the incident and review whether an error actually occurred.
You can’t always be at your place of business. By owning a security monitoring system you can watch what is happening in real time anywhere you are by the use of the Internet with various applications that are designed for your smartphone or computer. In the comfort of your own home you can view or review the day to day activities. If there is a conflict of how a certain situation occurred, you are able to go back and review what actually occurred.
Business owners are constantly striving to improve the way they operate. By reviewing day to day operations through the use of security cameras they can go back and isolate a problem in the way their employees perform a specific task. Then we can analyze the data and change what was ineffective and improve the way a particular task is performed. This could be as simple as the ergonomics of a workstation, or a particular member of a team not performing up to the standard set by your organization.
We all tend to work harder if we think we are being watched. So just by installing a security monitoring system you should see a spike in job performance.
Legal issues are a big concern for businesses today. Whether coming from inside or outside the organization, lawsuits happen. Could be a slip and fall by a patron, or a workmen’s compensation case. Having video evidence for your attorney or insurance company may be the edge you need to save you countless dollars due to scammers and unnecessary legal fees.
Theft happens; it is a thief’s job. Don’t get mad at the thief as he is only doing his job! Our job is to give you the tools to catch the thief. Just by installing visible cameras is a deterrent. People are less likely to steal or even misbehave if they think they are being watched. This can go for employees or customers. You should install cameras monitoring exits and entrances, cash registers, and safes. Also it is a good idea to have exterior cameras.
Safes can be used to store a wide variety of valuable positions from cash to guns. You may not access a safe for long extended periods of time, so you would not record every moment. You may set up motion detection to trigger the camera to only record when the safe is accessed. This isolates recording to only when someone is in close proximity to the safe. This can be set up to send an email to you every time an event takes place.
You can monitor all activities involving the use of your cash register by installing a camera directly above. This is a deterrent because it is simply there; people tend to behave because of the perception of being watched. Also all transaction may be tracked through a DVR by software built in to show anything from the amount of the transaction to if there was a sale, or when the register was opened. A situation may occur with an employee giving incorrect change and the cash register coming up short. You can determine whether it was a mistake or blatant theft.
You will want to monitor all exits and entrances. These are choke points where you can see who is coming and going. This is valuable because of the mere fact that you can see if your employees are arriving and leaving on time. Also you can check to see if unexpected or unwanted visitors are at sensitive entrances. This can aide in the prevention of burglary, theft, or even armed robbery. This is a dangerous world we are living so make sure you are prepared.
The exterior of you building is commonly overlooked. There are any numbers of reasons to monitor the exterior of your business from theft to protecting the well-being of your employees. You may own a restaurant where you have young attractive females leaving at late hours. There is the possibility of one of your employees being attacked in the parking lot. Not only can you see if such an attack it happening in real-time, but you can go back to the date and time of the incident and aid law-enforcement with the video. Cars are commonly the targets of thieves. This is because of the relative ease in simply breaking a window and gaining access; people often leave valuables in their cars such as electronics to woman’s handbags. Once again the exterior cameras can play a big part in aiding law-enforcement.
It is unfortunate that we have to keep such a close eye on our employees but it is a harsh reality of a business owner. Businesses like the restaurant industry experience theft from employees all the time. Often times the perpetrators are very good at not being seen inside of the business, but they may have more trouble concealing their actions in the parking lot. By having cameras around the parking lot and dumpsters you can see what is being thrown out and what people are taking with them at the end of the day.
As you can see there are countless advantages to having a well implemented security monitoring system, it is up to you to decide how it is in your businesses best interest to implement one. The picture at the top of this article is an example of a 16 Channel HD-CVI Complete Packaged System and you can learn more this surveillance system here.