Richmond Alarm News Blog

Reduce Crime at Businesses with Quality Surveillance Systems that are Regularly Maintained

A recent piece on NBC 12 in Richmond profiled a store owner who uses high quality video cameras to monitor his property and surrounding areas. The store owner finds that the money spent on a quality surveillance system gives him security he would not have with a bargain-camera.

What is the Difference Between a Professionally Installed Surveillance System and a Camera System from a Big Discount Store?

Corey Boggs, Operations Manager at Richmond Alarm Company, says that the biggest difference is that cameras sold in most large discount stores are not commercial grade, they are consumer grade. That means they are not designed to run 24/7 and typically do not have a long life.  Warranties are typically shorter and there is no repair process so downtime could be an issue.

Additionally, when a camera system is designed and installed by professionals, they take into consideration the environment, field of view, lighting, and other conditions that can affect the quality of the camera image. 

Not all cameras are created equal and not all cameras will work in all conditions. Professional design helps to ensure that the property is protected properly and the images will be reliable and usable. Oftentimes when police are called to the scene of a robbery, they find the images of cheap camera systems to be too dark or blurry and are not much help in identifying the suspect.

Regular Maintenance of Surveillance Equipment

Police encourage businesses to keep their systems maintained. Check the recordings, check the focus, make sure there is enough lighting near the camera, and clean them regularly. Often, the first time many business owners look at or adjust their camera system, after the initial installation, is when there has been an incident! This is too late.

‘It's good to have all those things in place, so when robberies happen we'll be able to apprehend those suspects,’ said Richmond Police Lt. Ronnie Armstead.”

CCTV versus Video Monitoring

Closed circuit television (CCTV) is useful to monitor and digitally record activities. This video surveillance is useful after a robbery to use as evidence in identifying and prosecuting suspects. It can be monitored by you or your representatives on your property, but it is typically not monitored by a security company (although it is possible with IP connectivity). Richmond Alarm recommends a product called Videofied. This system consists of an inconspicuous, portable and wireless Motion Viewer that triggers a signal to our monitoring station, in the event of activity in the protected area. Our monitoring professionals are trained to recognize actual threats versus non-threatening or “false” alarms such as animals or wind-blown debris. In the event of an actual threat, police are notified and often catch the crooks in the act. 

To have your CCTV system looked at or cleaned up, give our service department a call at 804-858-0106.

Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design can help reduce crime at your business. 

Security Systems

Standard locks and keys can’t provide the ability to effectively control access.  When keys are used as the primary means of controlling access in an office environment, many security issues arise.  First, lost or misplaced keys can be a headache for an administrator.  When someone leaves the company, or is terminated, their key must physically be taken back.  Sometimes this is simply not possible.  This puts the company in the costly spot of having to re-key the facility to maintain security.  Second, unless a secure master key type system is used, key duplication could be an issue.  If employees can make copies of their keys, there will be no way to make sure that all keys are accounted for.  There could be keys with someone you don’t want to have access.  

However, intelligent door control and access control can give you the ability to protect your company and employees.

Door Control

A simple door control system uses either a card or a PIN number, to unlock an electrified lock on the door.  The card or the PIN number can be deactivated at the door or through a basic software program.  Basic door control does not typically allow for scheduled locking and unlocking of doors, or limitations to access based on authority level or time of day.  A full access control system is needed for that level of control.

Converting your Facility to Access Control

By replacing standard hardware devices with electronic locks and intelligent access control systems, businesses are able to control and monitor people flow in their buildings.  With a true access control system, you can have open customer areas working in conjunction with restricted employee areas, and limit access to critical infrastructure based on authority levels or working hours.  An audit trail is also created reporting where an employee goes, and when.

Elements of Electronic Access Control

Time Zones - Create a schedule of when a door is locked or unlocked, and when a certain employee or group of employees’ cards are active.  If an employee tries to enter a protected area outside of the time schedule, they will be denied access and a report will be generated for the event.

Access Levels -Decide which employees are allowed to enter certain areas by establishing a predefined set of privileges.  For example, if you want to protect a server room, you can decide which employees are allowed to enter.

Cards - With a few clicks on the computer, you can remove access when someone leaves without worrying about getting their key back.  Each card in unique and cannot be duplicated.

Reports - Searchable reports tell you where each employee goes in the building, and who may be trying to access prohibited areas.

State-of-the-art access control software integrates the most advanced security technologies with innovative networking capabilities to bring you full-featured security solutions serving any size facility. Access Control systems also give you the ability to manage visitors with less effort.

Contact us at Richmond Alarm to learn how an access control system can assist you in protecting your business, your assets and your employees.

Typically we suggest that our customers issue individual codes to the users of their security system.  Most of our systems allow users to program multiple codes.  The obvious advantage to individual codes is that if you want to take access away from an individual, you can simply remove their code and the rest of the users of the system can stay active.  Multiple codes also allow you to issue temporary codes to contractors or house sitters.  These codes can be removed very easily when access is no longer required.  If only one code is programmed into the system, then you will have to share your personal code with others.  Another advantage of using multiple codes is that we can log who armed or disarmed the security system.  This information is very helpful to business owners and managers.  
 

Keep Your Code Private

We recommend that you manage your alarm system user codes, much like you would manage other personal information like ATM pin numbers or account numbers.  Anyone who would like to change their code or discuss their systems capability for multiple user codes should feel free to contact our service department and we would be happy to assist.

This month, Richmond Alarm Company is proud to announce its expansion into the eastern portion of Virginia with the acquisition of Multra-Guard, a Norfolk-based, family-owned security company.

See more details in our May 2011 Newsletter.