Why do you need CCTV cameras for your business? Well, to be honest – you don’t – until you do. Many people pay for home insurance for years and rarely use it. However, if you have a break-in or property theft you are thankful that you have it. CCTV cameras work along the same premise – you never need them until you need them – so let’s look at the reasons why you need security cameras for your business.
- Crime Deterrent: One thing is for sure: no criminal wants to be seen. Criminals do not want to take any chances that people will see them in their act of illegal activity. If a criminal sees cameras on your building chances are they will be deterred from carrying out their criminal activity around your property. You don’t wish any bad luck upon your neighbours, but it’s better that their building or vehicles get vandalised than yours, and security cameras can create that needed deterrence that sends the criminals next door.
- Loss Prevention: Internal theft is a larger problem for most companies than they realise. Internal theft can be employee’s taking things as simple as office supplies to things that are extremely vital – such as customer records and other extremely valuable company files. Security cameras can help deter these activities, and allow you the ability to ‘go back and check’ if you sense there is a problem.
- Quality Assurance: A manufacturer could ensure quality assurance for their retail customers through the use of CCTV cameras. For example, installing cameras on production and packaging lines and stamping date and time codes on a box of products means the business has the ability to review the recorded video at certain dates and times if there are any queries or disputes. The security cameras would also help the manufacturing company improve their packaging procedures and enhance their reputation with retailers.
- False Claims: Slip and fall, sexual harassment, bad customer service – all things that can cost a company a lot of money and damage the company’s reputation. Security cameras can assist with all of these areas.
Properly placed security cameras can help a company verify if a ‘slip and fall’ was real and caused by employee negligence, or if a person falsified the claim and slipped on their own accord. Security cameras can help with sexual harassment claims and can help you identify if one of your employees actually provided bad customer service, or if a customer was just having a bad day. - Peace of Mind: Peace of mind, in most cases, trumps all of the good reasons we have offered to have CCTV cameras. Sometimes you’ll just get a feeling that something is not right at the office. Security cameras give you the ability to ‘look in’ on your office and the areas surrounding your building from your home computer or smart phone – and seeing with your own eyes that everything is OK can provide you with great peace of mind.
Show the Camera or Hide Them?
Security cameras should be kept in full view whenever possible. Not only do visible cameras have a strong deterrent value, but they are another way to encourage trust. Employees may be less likely to believe they are being watched covertly if they know where your cameras are stationed. However, there maybe times when covert cameras are necessary such as to help prevent physical injury or a serious crime.
Remember employers must not act in a way that is likely to destroy or damage the mutual trust and confidence between an employer and employee and if you operate a CCTV system you should have visible signs to tell people that there is one in place and that they may be recorded. You should clearly explain the purpose or purposes behind the system to your staff and ensure that the system is only used for that purpose and you should control who can see the recordings.
You also need to be aware of data protection laws. These regulate how employers can collect and process personal data about employees – which includes video footage recorded using CCTV cameras. These laws and principles give employees the right to ask which data is held on them and why it is collected and processed. The government states that anyone can ask to see images that you’ve recorded of them and you must provide these within one calendar month.
Ecl-ips: a well-established CCTV installer
Ecl-ips is a well-established security systems installer that provides complete CCTV and access control solutions, and can provide a week’s free trial of the Avigilon CCTV system. We are NSI-Gold certified which means we are committed to the highest standards of service for our customers.
If you would like to discuss the CCTV needs of your business please contact us.