What is Smart Business Security and How Can it Help You?
Companies of all sizes now rely on smart business security to protect their premises and the valuable assets within them. In this article, you’ll discover what smart business security is and how it can help you stay safe and run your business more efficiently.
There was a time when intelligent security solutions were only available to enterprises with large corporate budgets. But businesses of all sizes need security that’s safe, reliable and multi-functional. Thankfully, the evolution of security technology has created smart business security solutions that can be just as cost-effective for all companies.
In this article, we’ll introduce some of the core functions of smart business security systems and explain how they differ from traditional systems. We’ll also discuss some of the key benefits to your business.
What is Smart Business Security?
When we talk about traditional security systems, you can probably imagine a standalone piece of equipment such as an external intruder alarm or fire alarm that is controlled by a keypad installed somewhere inside the building. If your building operates multiple traditional security systems – like intruder alarm and CCTV systems – there are likely to be several different control panels installed.
These systems may have been reliable in sounding an alarm or recording what is happening in your building, but they are limited to serving a single purpose and being disparate from one another. Business owners would often have to choose between one system or another based on their budget, so may not have even had the level of protection they needed.
In the retail industry alone, businesses spent over £1 billion on security measures in 2019, but still lost £2.2 billion due to crime (British Retail Consortium). Who knows how much more effectively that money could have been invested if they had chosen smarter and more reliable systems.
We in the security industry also know just how busy business-owners are and how precious their time and resources are as well. Security technology has had to evolve to provide the protection businesses need to stay safe and the functionality to make them far easier to manage.
This is where smart business security plays a vital role, especially for small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs). Smart business security systems make it easy to combine disparate security systems and manage everything in one place. They can also be accessed on a web-browser or smartphone app, which means they can be controlled from anywhere if you have internet connection.
Smart technology also offers a wealth of new features such as analytics and reporting that can also be easily accessed from a smartphone or laptop.
Now that you know what smart business security is, let’s investigate some of the benefits and how it can help you run your business more safely and efficiently.
Smart business security brings everything together and saves you money
We mentioned how smart business security helps to bring disparate security systems into one workspace. The obvious benefit is that you can spend less time and energy managing them all separately. But there are other benefits that are directly related to saving money for your business.
Let’s look at CCTV as an example. Before you would need to buy the cameras, the wiring and the equipment to monitor everything on – which also took up space in your office. A professional engineer would also be required to install everything for you and maintain it. Smart business security systems can work wirelessly and can be monitored using software on your laptop or mobile phone, which means less equipment to purchase up front.
Now, let’s imagine you need to repair one of your cameras or add a new one to your system. With smart business security it is easier for an engineer to tackle the problem without interfering with the rest of your system and minimise disruption to your business.
You’re always in control wherever you may be
Business owners are generally on the move and considering the COVID-19 pandemic, we know that your staff may not always be on site – perhaps working remotely or out in the field.
With smart business security, you needn’t rely on manual keypads or monitoring equipment to be installed in your building. You can simply access the software online or on your smartphone to see what’s going on and control your security systems.
This is great if you forget to arm the intruder alarm before you leave work for the day, as you can safely switch it on using the app when you get home. Or if your employee has forgotten the passcode and accidentally tripped the alarm, you can easily switch it off, even if you’re still in bed!
In the event of a security incident, you’ll receive an instant notification and can even stream live footage right away. This will speed up your response time to alert the emergency services and minimise the impact of any crime or damage happening.
This may seem like a simple feature, after all, there is an app for everything these days. But the solution will help to free up more of your time and still give you peace of mind that your business is running safely and smoothly.
Set it and forget it
Speaking of things running smoothly, smart business security systems are designed to take the heavy lifting out of your security management. Most procedures such as testing and arming your systems can be set to run automatically, as are the alerts you receive when a device is triggered.
So, on a day-to-day basis, you can focus on managing your operations and growing your business, assured that your security systems are running in the background. This also reduces the need for you to remember when to book appointments to maintain or repair your security systems – they’ll let you know!
Watch the video below to see what smart business security looks like in action with STANLEY Interactive.
Smart business security for managing operations
With smart business security systems, you don’t just get your security at your fingertips, you get a wealth of data and analytics too.
Systems like STANLEY Interactive have the capability to report on peak hours of foot traffic in your business. This sort of insight can help you better manage fundamental areas such as shift patterns if you’re a shop or restaurant owner. You could save money on staffing during quieter periods or add staff to improve your service and squeeze more value from busy periods.
Are you ready for smart business security?
You may be wondering if smart business security is suitable for your business. If you’ve imagined how much better your business could be if you enjoyed any of the benefits we have mentioned, then you’re almost certainly ready.
Remember, the right security solution for your business should provide you with the right level of protection first and foremost. It’s also important to consider what your unique needs are or what problems you may be trying to solve, not just today but also in the future.
