Employees walking into business lobby

The Case For Office Building Real-Time Video Monitoring

Picture walking from your office building to your car at the end of the day. Others may have left, and you find yourself heading into the garage alone. A feeling of unease would likely set in if it were not for a simple fact—just the other week, you enlisted professional help to install office building real-time video monitoring to protect your business and keep your employees safe. You retrieve your vehicle, knowing you’re, in fact, in good company.

Before we proceed, let’s define what office building real-time video monitoring is.

What is office building real-time video monitoring?

This technology is evolving so rapidly that you may be surprised to learn how much it offers. The latest video monitoring solutions feature a combination of advanced technology, smart analytics, and expert people to help protect your commercial properties, whether an office building, construction site, parking area, or something else.

At the basic level, live video monitoring starts with a series of strategically placed cameras that send real-time video feeds to a 24/7-monitoring center where trained video analysts assess the footage and determine whether to dispatch authorities.

You can select which hours you want the monitoring center to watch your business with Live Video Monitoring. Typically, this starts when your business closes and ends when it opens the next morning. During the day, you can use the cameras like a more traditional CCTV system, where the footage is stored in the cloud for you to access if and when you need it.

Tailoring the right video monitoring solution

Since no business is the same, your needs ultimately determine what solution will help you achieve your security goals. Variables include, for instance, the size of your property, your budget, and what you are trying to protect.

Your trusted team of security professionals can help you design a system that leverages a single type or a range of security cameras, including:

  • Specially designed license plate cameras
  • Thermal imaging cameras
  • Indoor and outdoor capable cameras
  • 360° cameras

Must-watch videos

To see the capabilities in action, watch these videos. You’ll notice that in each video, as a trespasser or intruder enters the protected area, the detection system goes into alert, and a voice booms, “You are trespassing. Please leave the area. This area is under video surveillance, and you have been recorded.” Most of the time, the intruders immediately turn around and leave. But while the suspects flee, there is no escaping the recorded footage that the monitoring center can supply to the police.

Benefits of live video monitoring

Crime deterrence

Would-be burglars are more likely to bypass your business at the sight of strategically placed cameras, shows data from the FBI Uniform Crime Report

  • Businesses without alarm systems are 4.5 times more likely to be burglarized.
  • Around 60% of burglars seek an alternative target if alarms are present.
  • 50% of burglars gain entry simply by walking through an unlocked door, showing the need for both access control and video monitoring.

Employee safety

Real-time office building video monitoring shows a commitment to your employees’ well-being.

Live video surveillance of the company garage, for instance, can make employees feel less vulnerable as they head home for the day. The Bureau of Justice recently reported that over four years, as many as 10% of all property crimes occur in garages, underscoring the need to take parking surveillance seriously. Parking areas are also one of the most common locations for violent crimes.

If problems arise inside your office building, cameras in entryways, lobbies, and hallways that monitor visitors’ coming and going record the source of the disruption. That way, you can review the footage as part of your incidence response and act accordingly.

There are more benefits as well:

Liability

If an employee or visitor suffers a bad fall or injury on your office property, recorded footage can prove who is responsible for the incident. This benefit is often overlooked, as office managers assume that their insurance will cover the costs. But that assumption is not always correct. If the injured person sues for damages, the recorded camera footage can help establish liability.

Cost

For some, real-time office building video monitoring offers a more cost-effective and efficient option than security guards.

Even if you choose to employ on-site security guards, live video monitoring offers additional benefits that help you and facility managers:

  • Monitor every area of your property at all times.
  • Capture high-definition video evidence of everything that happens on your property.
  • Access cloud storage of archived data.

Questions?

Do you have questions about office building real-time monitoring, live video monitoring in general, or any other security solutions to keep your business and employees safe? We’d love to share our expertise. Please contact us at any time for a free consultation.

Start a conversation with a Bay Alarm security expert.

1 (800) 610-1000