Ensuring that you have a robust and fit-for-purpose CCTV system is essential to guarantee that your business and/or site is protected. It also helps improve business operations and efficiencies, which we will go into greater detail below:
- Crime Prevention
- Reduce Security Costs
- Deterring Vandalism
- Provides Camera Footage for Evidence
- Handling Disputes
- Monitoring Staff
- Visibility of Entire Business Premises
- Enhance Customer Services
- Reduce Insurance Claims and Premiums
- Peace of Mind
I’ve mentioned ‘fit for purpose’ above when writing about CCTV, so let’s discuss what that actually means for you.
Fit for purpose, at its heart, means that it should do what the business or site needs it to do.
We offer a wide range of cameras, from PTZ (Pan Tilt Zoom) cameras, to bullet cameras and many more – each one has a specific purpose and is there to cater to a specific security need.
When we come and give a free site survey, we listen to what you think you need, then as we walk around the site and look at site plans, tell you what we think you need to ensure that you have a CCTV system that fits your purpose – deters theft, monitors staff, reduces premiums or caters to a multitude of purposes.
Let’s now get into more detail in terms of how a CCTV system can help.
Crime Prevention
Installing a CCTV system will help you instantly deter criminals and theft. Most intruders look for easy targets where they are no security measures in place. Seeing the familiar look of a CCTV system installed at your business site will discourage them to act as they will not want to be caught on camera. We recommend that you look at both internal and external coverage, meaning that no area is unmonitored and you are able to document the flow of people throughout your site via placing CCTV cameras in strategic and well-trafficked locations.
As well as deterring would-be criminals from acts of vandalism, serious crimes, and break-ins you can also look to protect theft from insiders – the protection of intellectual property are paramount for clients in today’s world.
Reduce Security Costs
Manned security comes at a cost, especially 24 hour a day coverage. A CCTV system helps mitigate this cost by giving you ‘eyes’ across your entire site which can be viewed on a multitude of devices, allowing staff savings.
We recommend that clients use remote CCTV monitoring out of hours to give full 24-hour protection. Remotely monitored CCTV systems are the equivalent of having your own security guard on-site, without the high costs. In many cases, the operative is able to deter crime before it occurs however if criminal activity fails to deter the intruder the Police will be notified immediately followed by the nominated key holder.
Remote CCTV monitoring is a service designed to closely monitor and action any emergency services response where necessary. It offers you the peace of mind that your premises are fully protected during your out-of-hours operations and is a truly viable alternative to onsite manned guards.
Deterring Vandalism
The presence of a CCTV System is usually enough to deter even the most determined vandal, criminals do not want to be caught, so will look to target a location that does not have a CCTV recording any potential criminal activity.
We would recommend that your CCTV not only targets well-trafficked areas but also areas where vandalism may take place – a system needs to give you full protection against a multitude of potential events and situations so when planning the layout of your system look to think about a range of potentials.
Provides Camera Footage for Evidence
Any sort of crime against your business brings a range of headaches, however knowing what, why, and who will help you understand what they did, why it happened, and who it was in order to stop it occurring in the future and also provide evidence to ensure the police can take the appropriate action. We set recordings for at least 30 days and with analytics, we are able to set cameras to record when they detect movement, which allows you to easily find and locate footage, as well as save server space.
One of the most successful examples of CCTV footage being used to identify criminality was after the London riots in 2011 – Over 1,000 people were identified and charged within a week of the riots due to access to high-quality CCTV footage.
Handling Disputes
Evidence of an act or acts is a main benefit of CCTV. If a dispute happens then CCTV footage can be used when gaining evidence to collaborate stories and gain fact from fiction. Clear, concise, and high-quality footage can help find the exact cause of a dispute before anything gets out of hand and reach a fair agreement between employees, managers, and/or external stakeholders.
Monitoring Staff
There are many legitimate business reasons why employers monitor employees using CCTV. Some lawful bases for monitoring include:
- Ensuring compliance with health and safety procedures
- Keeping employees safe and secure by preventing crime
- Monitoring and improving productivity
- Preventing employee misconduct
- The financial services sector and complying with regulatory requirements.
Monitoring staff in the workplace is subject to data protection and human rights law, so using a CCTV system as an employer, you cannot use the system to damage any mutual trust. Secondly, data protection laws and principles regulate how you can collect and process personal data about employees, and thirdly it should respect employees’ right to privacy and not be too invasive and above all, be propionate – more information on this can be found on our CCTV for workplace monitoring article.
We would recommend that you discuss using CCTV with employees in order to avoid any legal problems and seek professional advice before proceeding.
Visibility of Entire Business Premises
You cannot be everywhere at once. A CCTV system can give you a multitude of eyes all around your premisses, from just one device. This allows you to improve business efficiency and productivity, and also see any areas that may need improvement – giving you a clearer indication of what is occurring on a day-to-day basis and ultimately improve business management across your site.
Enhance Customer Service
We have installed CCTV systems for multiple sectors across the UK. The retail sector is a perfect example where CCTV can enhance a customer’s experience and give vital information for your business. We work with large retail parks and as well as security monitoring, CCTV has helped with:
- Measuring shopper time and activity in store
- Stock rotation and replenishment for individual stores
- Queue length and abandonment
- Footfall counts and customer profiling
- Staffing levels and activities
- Checking temperatures and social distancing
- Car park levels and monitoring
As well as security CCTV can help with a whole host of other essential items which has a positive effect on your overall business.
Reduce Insurance Claims & Premiums
Having CCTV footage from around your premises is ideal when dealing with any insurance claims and can be highly beneficial for your case.
Many insurance companies know that a CCTV system will increase your business’ security and therefore you could benefit from a reduction in your premiums as your premisses will be deemed a lower security risk.
Peace of Mind
Peace of mind as an actual benefit is often overlooked when thinking about CCTV. The ability to monitor all of your premises from one device, eliminate the worry about having any recordings of incidents, and, if you also have out of hours monitoring you know that your premises are protected when no one is there.
Some security system companies, like us, offer Free site surveys – so why not take up that offer and let us show you how a CCTV system can benefit your business.
