Your business is a complicated, fast-paced organism that consists of various components. There’s the building itself, a property with employees and customers moving in and out at will. There’s the inventory—the service–the stuff—that you offer that differentiates your company from every other and brings you success. And then there’s the employees who spend day in and day out making the rest of it work, whose lives and livelihoods are tied inexorably to the business you own.
Businesses contain many moving parts, so it makes sense that devising a complete security solution to protect your business requires multiple layers. In fact, a multi-discipline security solution is essential to providing a safe environment for your employees—and to protect your business and its bottom line from the varied threats that face it daily.
Fire alarm and life safety
The most essential component of any business’ security solution, a fire alarm and life safety system protects what matters the most—the lives of those inside your property. Modern fire alarm systems have proven to be so effective in preventing or mitigating fatal tragedies that they are required in the overwhelming majority commercial properties. And even though fire codes and safety precautions have helped to lower the number of commercial fires over the years, over a hundred thousand non-residential structure fires were recorded as recently as 2018 to the tune of billions of dollars in property damage.
A professional fire alarm system is a complex beast, containing a code-dictated number of smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, heat sensors, and more. These field devices work to detect the first signs of a fire or carbon monoxide leak to alert both the people present within the building and local authorities. With lives in the balance, it is vital that a fire alarm and life safety system work to its fullest potential, which is why engineers and technicians working on said systems must be trained and certified. Even the systems themselves are required to be tested yearly by a properly licensed provider to ensure the fire alarm will do its job when it matters most. As part of a multi-discipline business security solution, fire alarms are required by law and form the foundation for the other facets to build from.
Intrusion alarm
When people use the term “security system,” they’re often referring to intrusion alarms, also commonly known as burglary alarms. Intrusion alarms protect businesses from theft, a crime that costs American businesses over a billion dollars a year. And if you think your business doesn’t have anything worth stealing, think again, as computers and personal documents are targeted alongside inventory and cash.
Commercial-grade intrusion alarms function much like their residential counterparts—door contacts, window break sensors, motion detectors—but on a larger and often more intricate scale. When a sensor picks up a sign of detection, it sounds an alarm inside the building and sends a signal to the designated monitoring center, who notify pre-determined contacts and the authorities immediately.
It’s not “just” intrusion detection that makes such a system essential to protecting your business. Temperature sensors can help you keep refrigerators, server rooms, and the like at the appropriate levels and warn you if something goes awry. Water detectors can alert you at the earliest presence of a leaking sink or a broken pipe before it causes catastrophic damage. Even something as simple as giving each employee responsible for opening and closing their own unique code can help crack down on lax security or employee theft.
Surveillance
If the unprecedented advancement in technology is most apparent anywhere in business security, it’s in surveillance equipment. Oversized, blurry, stationary box cameras have given way to high-definition wireless cameras with remote zoom and focus, pan-tilt-zoom capabilities, and infrared night vision. Cameras themselves come in various varieties, whether it’s the fisheye camera for greater range of visibility, multi-sensor cameras that eliminate blind spots, or smaller but highly adaptable bullet cameras. Even storage capacity has increased dramatically with the switch from analog to digital recording devices—a once prohibitively costly system whose prices have fallen dramatically as innovative security manufacturers have developed better but less expensive products.
Surveillance systems cover many bases when it comes to business security. They function as a visual deterrent for would-be burglars who would rather not be caught on camera. They can allow owners to take a peek at their work without ever leaving the comfort of their own home. In the event of an emergency, surveillance cameras provide recorded proof for liability purposes and can help identify perpetrators of various incidences. With employee theft costing businesses billions of dollars a year, cameras can even help to protect businesses from themselves. With such a wide range of functionality, it’s easy to see how surveillance cameras serve as a vital component of any complete security solution.
Access control
In today’s day and age, you can’t be too careful with who is coming into your business and when. In a way, access control systems complement intrusion systems, with intrusion systems designed to keep people out of businesses after hours and access control systems designed to control who comes in during hours of operation. Access control is designed to grant access various parts of your business to the right people at the appropriate time. Operators or managers in positions of higher authority may have 24/7 access to every room in a business, while lower-level employees can be restricted to only the areas in which it is necessary for them to carry out their responsibilities. Access control systems help to protect sensitive information, inventory, and even people from unwanted detractors—all of which can be set up by the administrator of the system.
Access control systems expand beyond the conventional key fob/card access components. Video intercom systems have exploded in popularity in recent years, functioning as a method of screening visitors before they ever make it into a building. For higher security workplaces, biometric scanners are available that grant access based on unique iris or fingerprint scans. Even standard card access systems allow for the creation of single-day guest passes that expire within set time frames or for the initiation of a full-business lockdown in the event of an emergency.
Comprehensive protection of what matters most
While fire alarm, intrusion alarm, video surveillance, and fire alarm systems can certainly stand alone, a business fully committed to protecting its employees, inventory, and property should consider all four disciplines as essential components to a larger, more comprehensive security solution. Luckily for business owners, EPS Security engineers, installs, monitors, and maintains all four disciplines and has for more than sixty years. We combine the one-stop-shop convenience of a local security provider with the manpower, skill, and dedication that has brought us acclaim as one of the country’s thirty largest security providers.
You’ve spent untold sums of blood, sweat, and precious time into making your business into something worth protecting. Trust in EPS Security for your comprehensive security needs and discover a customized security solution 65 years in the making.