24/7 Surveillance

One of the things you may wonder if you're seeking to obtain excellent surveillance security is if you really need a system to be running all the time. If your area has much higher crime during some hours, is 24/7 surveillance really required?

Depending on your surveillance system, it may not cost much more to have 24/7 surveillance than it does to only run it 8-10 hours a day. This is especially true with automated systems. With an automated system, there is no need to hire a person to physically sit and watch monitors. Instead, the system automatically calls you or your designee if the trigger conditions are met. In this case, there's just no downside to 24/7 surveillance.

If you do have a manned aspect to your system, then it's a good idea to compare the risk of turning the system off and the cost of leaving it running all the time. In this case, the main expense will be the live employee(s) tasked with watching it. Many localities have a crime pattern where certain hours are riskier than others, and it may be worth it to let the employees go home during the "criminal off hours." However, if the schedule of non-24/7 surveillance becomes known, you can easily be hit during the unmonitored periods.

We at Smart Integrated Solutions are the leader in surveillance, and we suggest running an automated system 24/7 or combining automated and manned security. This way, there are never any periods in which a thief or other troublemaker can easily go undetected. Our systems can not only take video and send alerts, but can also watch for fire and smoke, take people's temperatures, and more.

In some cases, we suggest having a combination of automated and manned surveillance systems. For example, if you have a retail location that has a lot of foot traffic, it can be a good idea to have a live guard watching the screens while you're open. This will allow you to spot things that an automated system would not, such as shoplifting or vandalism. The live employee can then deal with the problem instantly, rather than just filing a report after reviewing footage.

With a combined system, the automated part kicks in after your business hours end. This ensures that you still have protection from the leader in surveillance during those times, while simultaneously saving your labor budget. Therefore, we believe that a combo system provides excellent surveillance security in situations where you need 24/7 coverage.

To learn more about security options, give us a call. We'll be glad to help.​