A lot can happen in a workplace.  Customers and clients can steal things big and small, employees can take advantage of their employer’s trust and take money out of the till, angry visitors can make a scene and threaten to sue, and vandals can spray-paint walls or destroy furniture.  It’s a lot for any manager to keep track of, but that’s why many businesses don’t leave it to a single manager to see and keep track of everything.  Companies like restaurants, retail stores, high-tech startups, hotels, and more all invest in strong security systems, and that includes surveillance cameras.

Modern surveillance cameras are incredibly advanced even compared to just a few years ago.  Without breaking your wallet, you can buy an HD camera with a wireless IP connection that records both locally and on a cloud server, and you can access both the recordings and the live feed from anywhere using a security app that gives your phone a remote connection.  But if you worry more about results than about technology, there are several good reasons you should invest in a good set of cameras.

1. Deterrence

Scientific studies back it up:  a visible camera can cause fewer crimes to take place as employees and customers both realize that someone could be watching.  It’s not foolproof and it doesn’t stop every potential criminal from taking action, but this deterrence factor allows surveillance systems to pay for themselves in loss prevention.  You can also get this effect by installing fake cameras, but employees can figure out when a camera is fake and you won’t get any of the other benefits.

2. Employee Supervision

Surveillance cameras capture more than just criminal actions, they also show you what your employees are doing during a regular day on the job.  Are they working hard or slacking off?  Do they treat the customers right or do they ignore them until the customer leaves?  While a camera might not show you everything that’s going on during a particular incident, it’s a much more objective source of facts than any person could be.

3. Evidence Collection

Video records from security cameras are solid evidence in most courts around the country.  Video evidence helps the police track down robbers, burglars, and thieves, and you can present it as evidence if someone files a civil lawsuit against your company.  You can also use video recordings to back up any claims you file with your insurance company following a theft, a fire, or a natural disaster.  A remote backup on a cloud server helps with this last task since the server won’t get caught in the same fire or disaster.

Security is important no matter what kind of business you run, and surveillance cameras should be a central part of that security.  They can deter criminal acts, they give you evidence for court battles and insurance claims, and they can even monitor employee performance to some extent.  At Security Feed, we know all about surveillance technology, so contact us directly if you’d like more information.