Video Security for Commercial Businesses
Security cameras are an effective way to gather insights about day-to-day activities, improve employee safety, and mitigate internal and external threats across all enterprise applications. While the implementation of video surveillance across business settings may vary depending on the size of the facility–or specific needs of the organization–it’s critical that key stakeholders prioritize safety for employees across workplace settings.
Jump to each section to learn more:
• How is Surveillance Technology used for Commercial Businesses?
• Must-Have Features for Business Surveillance Systems
• How Businesses Benefit from Surveillance Systems
• How do Business Owners use Security Systems?
• How do Security & IT Professionals use Surveillance Technology?
• How do Operations & Facilities Managers use Video Surveillance?
• Final Takeaways about Surveillance for Business
How is Surveillance Technology used for Commercial Businesses?
- Optimize Asset Management and Asset Protection: Both asset management and asset protection are fundamental aspects of surveillance that business security systems help address. Discrepancies in asset inventory are investigated with footage from commercial security cameras, and—unlike investigations based on employee account—can result in a definitive conclusion. If necessary, police and prosecutors use footage from business security camera systems to support criminal investigations and charge any perpetrators.
- Improve Visibility After Hours: Since after-hours activity of some sort is a given for publicly-accessible businesses, 24/7 footage enables business owners to qualify this activity without being on-site. If an overnight security incident does warrant a response—whether it be a simple phone call or the involvement of law enforcement—business owners consult footage from a camera system to streamline incident response.
- Improve Employee Safety & Training: Business owners use commercial security camera footage to make great strides in workplace health and safety. For instance, managers review employee practices to ensure compliance with safety rules and regulations. Managers then use real footage from commercial cameras to approach offenders and correct behavior, as well as to enrich new employee training. From emergency procedures in the workplace to day-to-day employee health and safety, video surveillance enables business owners to more proactively ensure workplace safety.
- Gain Visibility Across Multiple Sites: Few business owners consider security challenges before upgrading to multiple locations. From warehouses to offices to retail locations, business across industries that don’t turn to commercial security systems traditionally manage security either with a fragmented network of security guards or siloed site-specific measures. At the core of business owners’ incident preparation and prevention is the objective, ongoing visibility that business security cameras provide.
- Resolve Workplace Conflicts: When conflict in the workplace stands in the way of a safe working environment, turning to store or office security systems for footage gives managers a detailed, contextual understanding of events. Unlike witness statements, which can vary and contradict, footage from a business surveillance system remains objective. By approaching conflict management and conflict resolution in the workplace with this contextual information, managers make the right decision the first time.
- Build Standardized Security Protocols: Especially if multiple locations are involved, maintaining organization when maintaining security and loss prevention efforts can be a persistent challenge. With a commercial surveillance camera system in place, security is no longer a black box. Business owners can establish a definitive administrator for the system and assign additional employees to provide support, if necessary.
Must-Have Features for Business Surveillance Systems
- Scalability: Whether a business is a single location, global in scale, or somewhere in between, scalability is a critical factor to consider when choosing a commercial security system. Businesses with one location who plan to scale should choose a camera system that is easy to deploy across new locations. On the other hand, businesses with multiple locations should aim to scale usage of the camera system they adopt to all other locations, to avoid fragmented commercial surveillance efforts. Prioritizing scalability during the search for business surveillance cameras helps stakeholders make the best long-term decision for their business.
- Centralized Management Across Locations: If business owners can only monitor security footage for a given location at that site, monitoring business security for multiple retail locations, offices, or warehouses simultaneously becomes a time-consuming and error-prone challenge. By enabling owners to remotely monitor live camera feeds from multiple sites simultaneously, owners can streamline security measures while traveling less and making fewer mistakes.
- Proactive Alerts & Notifications: With motion-based notifications, business owners and managers maintain 24/7 protection over the location(s) of their business. The best camera systems for business include context with the notification and as a way to quickly and easily identify the source of the motion. Ultimately, motion notifications give business owners—particularly those who don’t have a customer safety or theft prevention team—to remotely monitor business security in a targeted and strategic fashion.
- Secure, Remote Access to Footage: Commercial surveillance systems with platforms that are remotely accessible from iOS and Android mobile devices remove typical barriers to remote surveillance monitoring. With these camera systems, business owners and managers can monitor surveillance of business locations from wherever their dealings or meetings take them—even if they’re away from laptops or desktops.
How Businesses Benefit from Surveillance Systems
Business Owners
- Can maintain visibility across multiple business locations easily
- Oversee daily operations and remotely monitor staff efficiency and productivity
- Visual evidence protects businesses in the event of injury allegations or false claims
Security & IT Professionals
- Easily and remotely monitor business entrances, exits, and other critical areas
- Can resolve cases of theft more quickly and with fewer complications
- Detect suspicious activities and individuals; mitigate risks before they occur
Operations and Facilities Managers
- Have footage as visual evidence in the event of theft or injuries
- Manage inventory, assets, and the security of internal and external settings
- Oversee large areas such as parking lots, loading docks, or warehouses
Final Takeaways: Surveillance in Business Settings
Selecting the best commercial security cameras for your business is one of the most important measures you can take to improve overall workplace security. From expanding visibility to reducing the likeliness of theft, vandalism, and workplace injuries, the best business security systems support businesses safeguard the safety of employees, facilities, and assets.