Video surveillance is an essential tool in modern facility management and security systems. And with ever-advancing technology, video surveillance is becoming accessible to more organizations to help them protect their employees, assets, and information. Here are some of the best practices to follow when implementing video surveillance at your facility.
A surprising number of video surveillance systems are installed, then promptly forgotten about… until an incident occurs. While for some high-dollar or high-risk operations, it may make sense to have round-the-clock security personnel monitoring surveillance feeds, that’s not the case for most operations.
But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be proactive and check your surveillance footage, even if no incident has been reported. Otherwise, you might not realize an incident has occurred until it’s too late. At a minimum, you should check video surveillance feeds every time footage is backed up or before it is deleted. Depending on your surveillance system, this could be every couple of weeks, every month, or longer.
If you’re implementing video surveillance in your facility for the first time, employees may be wary, especially if they think the intention of the surveillance is to monitor them. Employees may be concerned that their every movement will be monitored and punished or that management doesn’t trust them to behave ethically and do their jobs. If this causes a morale or retention problem, your video surveillance might become more of a liability than an asset.
Ensuring that your employees know the aim and scope of your video surveillance and that the surveillance isn’t intended to create a police state, but rather to protect your employees and their property, as well as the assets and property of the company, is crucial to getting employee buy-in.
If you’ve ever seen an episode of Law & Order you know that most of the time when the detectives want to pull security footage, the cameras aren’t working. While it is convenient for the plot of the show, it’s not far off from real life. There have been many incidents when investigators went to view video surveillance, only to find that the cameras weren’t functional.
Prevent an issue like this by performing regular inspections and maintenance on your video surveillance system, ensuring that all cameras are operational, all software is functioning properly, and that all connections, wired or wireless, are connected and secured.
Time to upgrade your video surveillance system? Vanguard would love to help. We install a variety of surveillance cameras with top-of-the-line video technology, ensuring your entire facility is protected. If you’re interested in a new or upgraded system, give us a call.
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