If you’ve ever accidentally set off an alarm at work, you remember the feeling.
The ringing ears. The reddening face. And the sinking stomach as you realized a security monitor somewhere was placing a call to your boss.
Now imagine being on the other end of that call.
Was someone robbing your business? Throwing rocks through the windows? Or did one of your employees simply forget a password? There was no way to know until a police officer showed up.
Fortunately for everybody, that situation is pretty much a thing of the past. Modern alarm systems give business owners new levels of control, reporting and confidence, as well as capabilities that would have sounded like the stuff of sci-fi just a few years ago.
Don’t believe us? Read on.
Here are three ways technology makes your business safer.
1. Smart office controls and scheduling.
Most businesses are more than just one big, open room. There might be an entry area that people go into and out of all day. Servers that only need to be accessible to the IT team. Conference rooms that get booked by different people for specific periods. Storage facilities. Loading docks.
The list is endless.
Modern systems increase security by scheduling access to sensitive areas. Team members can buzz into the rooms they need, right when they need them. It’s the best of both worlds. Honest employees don’t have to worry about accidentally compromising financial data, paper records, proprietary innovations or expensive hardware. And business owners get a record of who’s trying to get access without authorization.
2. Superior reporting and artificial intelligence.
Let’s say a room does get compromised. A modern system can tell you more than just that you have a busted lock.
You can see who’s tried to get into the room, how many times, and when. And get precise reporting on exactly when the intrusion occurred.
Some cameras even have AI built in, so they can teach themselves who needs access to any given area. For example, if your fleet of red trucks always arrives at 7 a.m., after a few days the system would understand, hey, that’s business-as-usual. But if a green truck suddenly sneaks in after them, an admin would automatically get a report about the irregularity.
3. Mobile and remote monitoring.
What if you’re the one getting the report about the irregularity, though?
Imagine you’re having dinner with your family when suddenly your phone vibrates. There’s been an alarm at your office. In the old days, you’d probably have to meet police officers on location. (Or at least have a conversation with a very embarrassed employee.)
But now?
You can open an app, flip through different camera views, and find out exactly what’s going on in real time. So you can keep your business safe, without skipping dessert.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Every mystery movie has the same scene. The detective is reviewing grainy security camera footage in a dark office with a bleary-eyed technician. It’s late. Tensions are high.
“We’ve been over this footage a million times,” the technician gripes.
Suddenly, our hero bolts upright and points at the screen.
“There! Freeze it! Now zoom in on that license plate. Increase the resolution… More… A little more…”
Magically, a license plate number becomes crystal clear. And our hero is on the way to make an arrest.
This scene is, well, fiction. You can’t increase the resolution of data that doesn’t exist. And while there are cameras that deliver pinpoint clarity at 900 feet or more, that’s way more than the average business owner needs. For most businesses 50 feet (or less!) is plenty.
OK, so what’s the most important advance in security systems?
Even with all this, the most powerful tool modern businesses have isn’t technology at all.
It’s customization.
The magic is in the way you assess and implement the right mix of intrusion alarms, access control, and surveillance cameras. So in our next post, we’ll write about how TEC security professionals size up an office. And what questions they ask to ensure you can make the future work for you.
(No ringing ears, reddening faces, or sinking stomachs required.)
