6 Security Camera System Applications
6 Security Camera System Applications
With the rapid and constant advancement in technology, it is becoming easier to install and set up a video surveillance system without the assistance of a professional installer. There are several reasons to consider installing a surveillance system on your premises, whether it be to protect your investment or monitor your business while you are out of the office. In this article, we discuss the various real-life applications in which our customers have chosen to use our equipment to secure and protect their property. We hope this information helps you choose the best security camera system for your needs.
Monitor Operations
If your business has an assembly line or automated machine processing, and you wish to monitor them live, then we have a solution for you! Over the years, we have had quite a few customers ask us to provide them with solutions to monitor their automated machine processes so that they can ensure that it is always running smooth and can shut it down immediately when it’s not. This has the potential to save companies thousands of dollars as they can prevent damage to their equipment by constantly monitoring it. For example, if a camera is used to monitor the pressure gauge of an automated hydraulic press, and the pressure starts to go into dangerous territory, the operator of the monitoring system can quickly get the press shut down before it is damaged, or worse, someone is injured.
Many of our customers have chosen to use our live display systems for these types of live monitoring applications. These systems are plug and play and only feature live video, no recording, which is ideal for machine operators and line supervisors.
Loss Prevention
Loss prevention is a huge task for retail stores and businesses alike as it literally determines how much of their profit will be lost to theft, vandalism or the like. As of 2018, businesses in the United States experienced an average of nearly 2% loss to their bottom line thanks to some sort of theft at their locations. While 2% may not seem like a large number, consider that a 10-million dollar a year company loses nearly $200,000 that could have been prevented by implementing better security and loss prevention. Many stores choose to hire a Retail Security Officer to help combat such activities. While a Retail Security Officer may be able to surveil and secure the part of the store he or she is positioned in, they are not able to surveil the entire store simultaneously. This is where security cameras come into play. Retail Security Officers gain a huge advantage when they are paired with a multi-camera HD security system connected to a monitor displaying all the cameras simultaneously. They can keep a close watch on the entire store at the same time and can call out to other employees in the store to prevent the incident from being completed. This type of setup has the potential to save companies thousands of dollars a year and protect the business in which they’ve worked so hard to build from going under due to theft.
Prevent Copper Theft
Think that copper theft only applies to scrapyards and equipment manufacturers? Guess again. We have had several customers call in over the years and claim that vandals have dismantled their home or office air conditioning units just to retrieve the few pounds of copper that they contain. While this may not seem like a common occurrence, it is something that happens daily. In order to prevent this type of vandalism and theft, we have recommended to our customers that they dedicate at least one camera to monitor and protect their outdoor AC unit. The air conditioning unit is one of the single-most expensive features of a home so why wouldn’t you want to do your best to protect your investment? It’s better to spend a few hundred dollars on a camera than it is to spend thousands on AC repair. If only a single camera is needed, IP cameras are ideal as they are standalone and can record to a Windows-based PC on the same network or to the built-in Micro SD Card slot on select models. IP cameras do not require any additional equipment and only require power and an Ethernet cable to connect to the router / switch of the network. While not as easy as to set up as CCTV Analog cameras, IP cameras are a great choice when only one camera is needed.
Parking Lot Safety / Security
Parking lots full of unintended cars is like hitting the jackpot for thieves. They can inconspicuously move about while no one is watching and break-in to retrieve an item or the car itself. In addition, criminals can hide among the cars and rush potential victims as they walk out to their car. Fortunately, if there are obvious cameras installed in the parking lot, then thieves are much less likely to try anything as their chances of being caught increase tenfold. We recommend that businesses and retail stores install cameras in their parking lots not only to prevent potential theft but to also protect themselves from other factors. These factors include maintaining public safety and identifying prohibited vehicles. If customers know that the parking lot is constantly monitored by security cameras, they are more likely to continue shopping there as they know that the chances of an incident occurring are greatly reduced. In parking lots full of panhandlers and loiterers, people are much less likely to enter as they do not wish to have an interaction with these individuals and will take their business to a safer location.
If there has been an incident with specific people or cars in the past, businesses can monitor if these people return to their parking lots and can act to prevent future incidents from occurring. Furthermore, businesses can capture individuals that steal and try to make a run for it. Even if they getaway, the security cameras will capture what the individual looks like as well as what make and model of car they drove away in. In addition, well-placed cameras can even capture the car’s license plate for further identification. In order to capture the license plates of entering and exiting vehicles, we recommend using specialized LPC (License Plate Capture) cameras. These LPR cameras use high shutter speeds and frame rates to capture a still frame of the plate characters of moving vehicles.
Facility / Employee Productivity
As a business owner or manager, you wish that you could be on top of your employees around the clock so that you can ensure that they are always doing their job as intended. Unfortunately, that is not possible with all the other tasks that must be completed during the day to day business operations. Fortunately, we have a solution for you! We have had several customers over the years that have installed security systems at their businesses so that employees know that they are constantly being recorded and are less-likely to goof-off. These applications have been very successful and many of our customers claim that it has boosted productivity as none of their employees want to look bad for the cameras. Furthermore, should an incident occur among employees, managers can be confident that they can review exactly what happened and reprimand the correct employee(s) accordingly.
Our iDVR-PRO security DVRs allow business owners to record around the clock and log in from virtually anywhere via the iPhone and Android mobile applications. They support HD security cameras and give owners peace of mind knowing that they are only a click away from their business at all times.
Liability Reduction
Sooner or later, an accident will occur within the parking lot of a business. The individual(s) involved in the accident may try to pin the blame on the owner of the lot for whatever reason, whether it be for a stop sign that is not obvious enough or pavement that holds too much water. Without a surveillance system installed in the lot, there is no way to prove the individual wrong, especially without credible witnesses. Fortunately, if there is a CCTV surveillance system within the parking lot, then the owners of the lot can simply go back and review the footage to prove that the individual was at fault for the accident. This has the potential to save busy business owners thousands of dollars in potential suits brought against them for accidents they had nothing to do with. Furthermore, vehicles are often damaged by other drivers within the parking lot. Many times, these drivers do not even stop to asses the damage or leave a note on the individual’s car they just hit. The victims of these hit and run accidents are typically left to pay their insurance deductible themselves or pay out of pocket for the damages to their vehicle. Luckily, if the parking lot in which the damage occurred has a security system, they could review the footage and give the other vehicles information to the proper authorities to hopefully recoup some of the damages.
Contact us today to learn how you can best protect your property and investments using one of our HD security camera systems. Our knowledgable team of trained sales engineers will be more than happy to help you find the perfect system for your application. All of our systems come with free, live tech support for the life of the products so that you are not left searching for answers if an event occurs.
