Support Business Safety with Surveillance and Monitoring Technology

Curious how you can protect your business with technology?

Business owners lose millions of dollars every year to preventable security incidents. Break-ins, theft, workplace accidents, medical emergencies, violence and data breaches can all hit your business if you aren’t careful.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Thanks to advances in surveillance and monitoring technology, it’s easier than ever to keep your business safe and secure.

How Video Surveillance Technology Helps Businesses

Business safety isn’t just about deadbolting your doors at night. It’s about having full visibility into your operations at all times and being aware of potential security threats as they happen.

The problem is most businesses have serious gaps in their security systems. Legacy security setups with holes in coverage are easy targets for criminals.

And they’re costing businesses big time.

The average data breach now costs $4.88 million, which is up 10% from last year.

If you’re not sweating that stat, you should be.

Video surveillance and monitoring technology allows businesses to monitor for threats in real time, respond quicker to incidents and deter crime from happening in the first place.

And the best part? Surveillance technology has never been more accessible or affordable.

Small and large businesses can now leverage everything from AI video surveillance to cloud-based monitoring platforms to protect their businesses.

How Emergency Communication Systems Keep Your Employees Safe

Think emergency communication systems are only for large corporations or government agencies? Think again.

Employee safety should be every business’s number one priority. And communication during an emergency is a huge part of that.

Emergency communication systems allow businesses to send real-time alerts to their employees during an emergency. Whether it’s an active assailant on campus, natural disaster or fire.

Here’s the thing…

When an emergency situation occurs every second counts. If your employees don’t receive timely and accurate info during an emergency, they’re putting themselves at risk.

This is particularly important for larger businesses with multiple locations or facilities that will require an orchestrated effort from employees to respond. For a deeper look at how centralised hubs support emergency coordination, check out this command center operations guide.

Did you know that over a third of employees surveyed don’t feel prepared to deal with emergencies at work? Imagine how dangerous that could be if every employee felt that way.

Having a reliable emergency communication system in place will allow you to reach every employee with real-time alerts. But not just any system…

You’ll want a system that allows you to send multi-channel alerts including texts, push notifications, emails and even loudspeaker announcements.

That way you can reach employees wherever they are and on whatever device they have access to at the moment.

Here’s what you should look for in an emergency communication system:

Ability to send multi-channel alerts (SMS, Email, Push Notifications)
Two-way communication so employees can confirm their safety
Geo-targeting abilities to send alerts to specific areas
Integration with other security and surveillance systems

The Essential Monitoring Technologies

Alright, now that the “why” has been covered. Let’s dive into some of the key monitoring technologies every business should know about.

Video Surveillance

Starting with the most important monitoring technology of all… video surveillance.

Security cameras have come a long way from grainy black and white footage.

Businesses can now deploy high-definition surveillance cameras with AI-powered analytics that can detect suspicious behavior, identify potential threats and automatically alert security teams.

Plus with remote monitoring and cloud video storage your security team will be able to review and monitor video footage from anywhere at any time.

Here are a few things to consider when deploying a video surveillance system for your business:

Camera placement. Make sure you have no blind spots by placing cameras strategically throughout your business.
High quality recording. Look for cameras that record in HD or greater and offer cloud storage options.
Analytics and motion detection. Take advantage of AI-powered motion detection and analytics to protect your business.
Remote monitoring. Ensure your security team can monitor your video surveillance system from remote locations.

Access Control Systems

Access control systems are another crucial monitoring tool that businesses should implement.

Access control systems are used to control who can access certain areas of your business. This can be as simple as keycard access or as advanced as biometric scanning using fingerprints or facial recognition.

Here’s why access control matters:

Unauthorized access is one of the leading causes of security incidents in the workplace. By controlling who can enter certain areas of your business you reduce risk of theft, data breaches and workplace violence.

The best access control systems will keep a log of everyone that enters and exits certain areas of your business.

Alarm Systems

Security alarms, like access control systems aren’t new but the way they operate is starting to change.

Many alarm systems are now integrated with other monitoring and security systems like video surveillance, access control and emergency communication platforms. This creates a seamless security experience where every system works together during a security incident.

Once an alarm is triggered you’ll automatically be alerted on your remote monitoring platform. Cameras will pop zooming in on what’s happening and doors will lock down automatically.

Remote Monitoring Platforms

Remote monitoring platforms are yet another piece of the business safety puzzle.

Remote monitoring platforms are typically cloud-based which allow businesses to monitor all their security and safety systems from one central location.

Whether you’re in the office or across the globe, these platforms allow you to have real-time visibility into your business security operations.

Remote monitoring systems pull data from all your cameras, sensors, alarms, access control systems and more into one easy-to-read dashboard.

Monitoring Technologies That Work Together For Best Results

It’s no secret that no single monitoring technology can protect your business by itself.

The businesses that have the best safety records are the ones that layer multiple monitoring and security technologies together.

Think of it like this…

Surveillance Cameras record the incident.
Alarm Systems trigger and lock down the area.
Access Control picks up who left and entered the area.
Emergency Communications keep employees informed.
Remote Monitoring brings it all together on one easy-to-read dashboard.

Wrapping It Up

Invest in surveillance cameras with AI-powered analytics.

Install access control on every entrance to sensitive areas of your business.

Set up an emergency communication system that will reach every employee.

…and make sure you have a remote monitoring platform to bring it all together.

Once you’ve checked those boxes you can start layering on other technologies like environmental monitoring sensors, lightning detection systems, etc.

Just remember… the worst thing you can do is nothing.

Not every security and monitoring technology will be right for your business. But that’s ok. Security is all about layering and finding what technologies fit your business needs.

Assess your business safety gaps and start filling them in with monitoring technology.

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