In business, we’re used to the idea of using cameras to protect retail outlets from intruders. But the idea of installing surveillance inside the workplace seems a little strange. After all, aren’t you just spying on your Employees?
It turns out that there are multiple sensible, practical reasons for installing CCTV cameras in your workplace to watch over proceedings. And most of the benefits are not what you might expect.
Reassure Customers
Evidence suggests that installing CCTV can help make clients and customers who come to your business feel safer. The reason? It shows that your business takes safety seriously.
Monitor Employees and Coworkers
While most employees are trustworthy, a minority are not. Figures indicate that around two-fifths of inventory shrinkage results from employee theft. We usually do not think of the “Inside Guy” first. Cameras will help speed up the process of figuring out the issues and solving the problem before it gets out of control.
Therefore, CCTV offers a strong deterrent and encourages workers to remain inside company policy (and the law).
Improve Employee Productivity
Evidence suggests that when employees know they are on camera, they are much less likely to slack off. Thus, companies sometimes use CCTV as a kind of incentive to keep people honest with their time.
However, CCTV isn’t just about keeping tabs on what employees are doing during long, lazy afternoons. It is also helpful for identifying workflow inefficiencies and correcting them. Managers can use footage to monitor problems with how their team works and offer practical solutions. Obvious scenarios include rearranging assembly lines to reduce the amount employees must work and cutting unnecessary journeys across the warehouse floor.
Protect Critical Files, Documents, and Assets
Often the most valuable items in your business aren’t electronics or furniture – it’s the data stored in your filing cabinets, products on your shelves, or materials and tools. For this reason, some businesses like to place cameras so that they permanently face their data repositories, inventory areas, and tool/supply cabinets. Having a camera watching over these areas allows you to identify breaches and theft to help deter potential criminal behavior quickly.
Protect Less Frequented Areas
All businesses have less-frequented areas: places employees and members of the public seldom go. These areas, however, are potential hotbeds for crime or breaches of company policy. For instance, colleagues may use them to drink or consume illicit substances out of sight of managers. Likewise, criminals might use quiet areas to gain access to your premises or to steal valuables without being seen.
CCTV cameras paired with strategically-placed warning signs can help prevent this kind of behavior. People are much less likely to engage in wrongdoing if they know they are on camera. Spot Monitors used in business entrances and other key areas can help the customer and employees know that you are actively watching the premises.
Protect Against Fire
Every office is at risk of this hazard. Fires can start because of unattended electronics or sparks in the wiring. Usually, the initial flame is tiny. Yet it can grow rapidly to the point where it engulfs the entire room or surrounding building.
You can’t expect employees to monitor all parts of the building at all times, so cameras can help. Surveillance placed in storerooms and office backends keeps a vigilant watch over high-risk areas. Security guards can then keep an eye on multiple monitors, detecting fires shortly after they start and taking appropriate action. Temperature sensing cameras can also help to view areas that are susceptible to a fire. Thermal cameras measure the temperature of the areas they view and report back to you when temperatures get out of a safe range.
Providing a Sense of Community
Security cameras can also help foster a sense of community between employees and the company. The reason for this comes down to how workers perceive cameras. While there are the usual privacy concerns, many perceive them as a sign that the firm has their best interest at heart and is trying to protect them against others’ wrongdoing. For instance, cameras can help prove an employee’s innocence when accused of doing something that they didn’t do. Usually the people with issues of being on camera either have something to hide, or when something actually happens that benefits their side of the story, they quickly switch gears and appreciate the cameras.
Reduce Liabilities
Most businesses have property insurance. But to get the promised pay-out, they need to show that they have not been negligent after suffering a loss. Unfortunately, without CCTV, this can be tricky. Insurance companies may be unwilling to provide cash or settlement under the terms of the agreement.
Businesses that use surveillance cameras, though, don’t usually encounter such issues. They can prove to insurers how the losses occurred and the abatement measures they took to prevent them. They’re then able to build a compelling case that supports their claim, based on footage from multiple cameras.
Customer Records
Suppose a customer picks up an expensive item from your business and then walks out with it without paying or getting approval. If you don’t have CCTV in place, it can be challenging to prove that they stole it. When confronted, for instance, they could simply say that they lost the receipt.
Surveillance cameras make the situation unequivocal and allow you to react immediately with confidence.
Thoughts on Business CCTV
What used to have the stigma of “Big Brother” is now more acceptable to all business environments. Businesses can benefit from cameras both in the public spaces as well as the production and employee only areas. As technology gets better and the younger generation merge in to the workplace, having cameras in the business will be a normal necessity.
Red Mountain Technology Solutions provides several CCTV systems in beautiful HD and 4K images. If you would like a demo or a free security analysis, get ahold of one of our specialists at [email protected] or 435-627-2990.