NFIB

Secure Your Workplace With Remote Digital Systems
03/ 28/ 2002

by Vicki Gerson

Most likely, you know about large companies that have guards sitting in a small room watching monitors to see if someone is trying to break in and rob the premises. But keeping an eye on your business or property doesn't have to mean a room filled with VCRs and drawers filled with VCR tapes. Today, small business owners have another option to safeguard their property: remote digital systems, which makes archiving much more reliable and less expensive.

"Remote digital systems have two separate functions," says Philip B. Wayne, president of the Colorado-based security firm Remote Video Patrol. "Each system provides security as well as management for the business owner."

A digital system can be encrypted while it's transmitted. That means over time it doesn't deteriorate when it needs to be duplicated. Best of all, a digital system is a more cost- effective system to use than a system transmitting over closed circuit television.

Simply put, Remote Video Patrol can take a camera and hook it to a "magic black box," which digitizes and compresses the video signal. It then transmits this signal through any one of several different kinds of phone lines, and the information is actually accessed through various codes by the Internet. A "magic black box" on the other end can decode the encrypted message that's been sent and download that image across a laptop computer screen in full, fluid, real-time motion. This allows a business owner or security expert to see the information on the computer -- now or in the future.

Remote security systems are also a good security and management tool for business owners with more than one location. For example, Wayne has a subsidized housing client who was paying more than $2 million annually for security guards to monitor 19 locations. "Using remote digital surveillance, our client now monitors 43 locations for less than $1 million annually and has reduced crime by 90 percent."

According to Wayne, "This is a security system business owners can't afford not to have."

So, what if your business doesn't need to monitor 43 locations? That's fine. Some smaller businesses only have one to four cameras and lease them for approximately $100 a month. Leasing is much more cost-effective than purchasing the cameras, says Wayne.

Using a remote digital system, for example, a camera can be placed over a cash register. If a customer purchases a pack of cigarettes for $3.50, but the clerk rings up a candy bar for 25 cents and throws away the receipt, the security camera will pick it up. The security camera shows the clerk pocketed $3.25. A business owner or security expert can look at that recording at any time and see the theft has taken place.

An interactive feature using a little more technology can be added to make the security system into a video conferencing product, allowing an owner on vacation or with numerous properties to be able to talk to the people on his staff.

Even without the interactive feature, a remote digital system allows a business owner to look at the grounds to see if the snow has been cleared, check to see if his staff is uniformed properly or look in the kitchen to see if food is being prepared correctly.

Since many business owners don't have extensive technical knowledge concerning remote digital systems, Wayne suggests asking these questions before hiring a security firm:

1. What was the last industry show you attended? What are the latest upgrades for this system?

2. Who are your clients who have installed a remote digital system?

3. When did the firm complete its last installation and for whom?

It's also important to have more than one company provide you with information. Do competitive bidding because you'll learn about the different technology being used and begin to understand the differences.

Small Business Sound Off
Does this story hit home?  Share your story with us