Need external security?
Your business is one that predominantly has to store your stock outside and you are starting to suffer some big losses. What can you do to ensure your property is protected and safe from the criminal fraternity who seem to have no fear about stealing from your yard? There are many businesses that will fall into this category . Hauliers, garden centres , car sales, scrap dealers to name a few.
CCTV.
Your first thoughts may be to turn to CCTV, a good start but some view CCTV as a reactive solution , one that is good for deterring daytime losses but one that can leave the customer frustrated when they are only able to view the images the next day of stock disappearing from their premises. Guarding is also a good solution but one that could find you reaching deep into your pockets, 50k a year is not an unrealistic figure for a manned guard on your site. Fencing is the best physical deterrent but many companies return to work after a weekend to find a gaping hole in it and no stock. Nothing seems to keep people out it seems. The one thing a burglar does not like though is having attention drawn to themselves while perpetrating a crime. It seems from feedback we get that verbal deterrent can keep people out. Monitored CCTV is a way of using this facility.
What is monitored CCTV?
A number of cameras and external sensors are placed strategically around the site. When the sensor picks up movement a DVR will transmit the pictures to a central station. Here an operator is able to view the images and take action while the crime is in progress and will be able to stop or limit losses. He is able to do this by talking back to the site giving a verbal warning or using his discretion call the authorities and key-holders to get a presence onto the site as quickly as possible. This is not new technology and has been around for some time but what is happening is that with broadband and IP communicators, picture quality at the central station is so much better and the update of the images is almost real time meaning no lag for the operator to deal with. This means he can do his job far better.
Be realistic.
Remember though the operator is there to handle alarms, he not able to always take control of the camera and zoom in on the events although this service is now becoming more widespread as central stations look to offer more and more benefits to the end user.
DVR transmitters.
DVR’s are the most popular way of transmitting these images, remote connectability is a function that most manufacturer’s will look to include into their products. 360 Vision Technology and Dedicated Micros are at the forefront of integrating their products into central station software. A key factor because the central stations will only except certain products to be integrated into their front end CCTV software, so advice on which central station can handle which product should be sort before you buy a remotely monitored system.
For more information on protecting your property.
For more information or advice contact us and we can help you make the right choices.