5 Reasons why dummy CCTV cameras are bad for your business
Example of two dummy CCTV cameras.
You may not know it, but a lot of CCTV cameras are simply not in use. The fact is that dummy CCTV cameras are bad for your business and some only act as a deterrence or even decoration. This may seem like a good idea but when you delve deeper the negatives outweigh the positives. The idea of using just a superficial appearance of something watching you to control behaviour is nothing new and dates back centuries. However, when you have a fully functional alternative security option doesn’t it make sense to use that facility to its fullest potential? Well, last summer London’s Westminster council tried to save money turning off their CCTV cameras. Two years on, the council are under pressure to reenable 65 CCTV cameras they deactivated by the London mayor at a likely far higher cost. The reason, Dummy cameras don’t provide a cost-effective solution.
Imagine the consequences it could have for your business if you have a non-functioning or dummy CCTV camera ‘guarding’ your premises. Then criminals got hold of this information? You can only imagine how quickly they would exploit it for their personal gain. So why does a business owner even consider using dummy cameras? The idea is foolish, we can tell you why.
Here are 5 things you need to know about Dummy Cameras
1) They don’t fool criminals
Despite what you may think professional criminals are not always stupid. They know the business and they learn from experience. They get to know if cameras are working or not and the smarter ones probably test them. The only person you are fooling by using dummy cameras is yourself. Missing wires? Flashing Red lights? The signs are very obvious to some and they will exploit that.
Example of a fake power LED.
2) They stand out
Especially if you use a dummy camera next to the real fully functioning equipment. You should also watch where they are placed too. A static dummy camera directed in a pointless direction makes it clear that the camera is serving no real security purpose, making it obvious to anyone who pays attention. Dummy security cameras also use static lights as opposed to intermittent power LED’s located out of sight which can make them easily identifiable.
All CCTV cameras require the ability to both transfer data and receive power, a dummy CCTV camera without the correct wiring running to an internal location in the building is a sure sign it’s a fake. Even with fake cabling, when cut no alert would be sent to the control centre like with a real system, providing a potential criminal the ability to stay on site if they wished without any response from guards or police.
Mast of remote operated CCTV Camera
3) False sense of security
The installation of a false camera can effectively harm someone in the local community. All CCTV cameras are used as part of a larger community orientated network. Innocent people passing by your business may be the victim of often disastrous crime. What if your camera was the only means to help them get justice? What if a person at your business relies on the camera to protect them if they become a victim of crime? How can they rely on your (lack of) recorded evidence? All these issues impair your duty as a responsible employer and generally as a socially responsible citizen. In conclusion, should your CCTV cameras be only for display purposes it’s important to inform your employees so that they don’t rely on recorded evidence further down the road.
4) No Damage Mitigation
Effective CCTV cameras form part of a wider security network for your business, not only preventing crime but reducing the impact should it occur. Ensuring cameras are connected to a 24/7 control centre means an unbroken chain of communication all the way down to the guards or police response should an incident occur. This response is what reduces potential damage caused to your business. A dummy CCTV camera not only fails to provide any evidence, but also the ability for damage control.
5) Don’t be cheap
Real CCTV cameras really aren’t that expensive. You can protect your entire business premises with a CCTV camera system for as little as £69 a week. The cost spent protecting your business is always less than the potential damage which caused be caused, especially when insurance issues and company downtime are factored in.
Veritech have over two decades of experience and we like to consider ourselves the friendly, security professionals that care, protecting your business as if it was our own. If you have any more queries on the matter then please call us at our main office on 02380 000400 or locate our nearest office to you.
Running a successful business is no easy feat. Planning and projecting will only get you so far, and after a while, you’ll need to grow, learn and adapt in order to achieve continued success. In my years of starting and running a business, working with small business owners across the country, I’ve noticed a few things most successful business owners have in common.
Review Business Plan and Budget
Your business is ever changing, and your business plan and budget should flex along with your business’ growing needs. To successfully launch a business, a business plan and budget together make a great starting point for planning the way your business will grow and flourish. However, even the most fastidiously planned businesses will run into some surprises along the way.
Reviewing your business plan and budget at the end of each year serves as a great way to evaluate the successes and failures your business may have experienced that calendar year. Honestly ask yourself if you are still on your planned trajectory, or if you need to make some modifications in order to see better returns in the years to come. Reallocating funds and efforts in order to increase profits after conducting a business review will be necessary at times, and successful business owners don’t shy away from making these changes.
Embrace Software and Technology
Some business owners are stagnant – doing things the way they’ve always been done. This can include bookkeeping in stacks upon stacks of notebooks, writing paper receipts, sending out old-fashioned mailers and relying on word-of-mouth to sell your service or product. What may have worked 15-20 years ago isn’t likely going to cut it these days.
Embracing technology will not only bring your business into the 21st century, but it will also help your business become more efficient and more profitable. Rely on accounting and bookkeeping software to replace paper balance sheets, keep a website up-to-date and timely, and take advantage of the vast array of marketing tools available to small businesses on the web.
Delegate Job Tasks and Responsibilities
I think it’s part of the entrepreneurial mindset to believe that we can do it all, but the truth is, if you try to do it all, you’ll run yourself mad (or worse). Shouldering all of the responsibilities and tasks needed to grow a successful business yourself will simply burn you out and exhaust you. A tired and disgruntled business owner is not a successful one.
Learn to delegate responsibilities and trust that your team can carry out important tasks in order to grow the business in a responsible way. After all, you hired employees to help you, so let them do their job so that you can focus on more important, higher-level tasks.
Know Your Financials
A business owner that doesn’t know his or her financials is likely headed down the wrong road. Knowing where your business stands in terms of profits and losses is the only way you can make informed choices for your business in the future.
Unfortunately, I regularly deal with business owners seeking financing for their companies who are not current on their financials. It puzzles me that a business owner would seek borrowed money when they aren’t even sure where the money they had gone. A successful and responsible business owner will be current with their financials within the past two weeks and be able to intelligently discuss the financial state of their business.
If you struggle with balancing finances on your own, consider hiring an accounting or a part-time bookkeeper that can help you keep things in order. 
Take Calculated Risks
Chances are, if you own your own business, you are a risk-taker by nature. A huge part of becoming an entrepreneur and running a successful business is risk tolerance. Successful business owners strive to see progress every day and are willing to take some calculated risks in order to achieve that goal.
A big part of the willingness to take risks is an entrepreneur’s own personality, the support system that exists around him or her. Your tenacious nature, creativity and intuition for growing your business may only get you so far. You should also build a network of mentors and advisors who will help guide you through important decisions, and also lean on your friends and family for bits of advice when times get tough.
With the recent news that Google’s parent company, Alphabet, are in the process of launching a cybersecurity company, and the scandal surrounding Facebook and Cambridge Analytica, there’s never been a better time to ensure that your business is practising proper cybersecurity. In 2018, cybersecurity is just as pressing an issue as physical security. Data breeches can ruin businesses. Let’s take a look at some of the key ways to ensure that your data is kept safe.
Firewalls and Antivirus Software
It seems obvious, but there’s no overstating the importance of Firewalls and Antivirus software. With new viruses being developed every day to steal your login credentials, erase data or brick your computer it’s important to invest in software that works. Investing in good software on all accounts, creating strong passwords and scheduling time for crucial updates are vital for cybersecurity.
Find out more about access control
Data Backups and Cybersecurity
It’s important to make regular backups of your business’ important data, and also to test that these backups can be restored. This will increase your cybersecurity in the case of physical damage to your building’s computers, from fire or theft, or from cybercrime such as ransomware.
Ensure that backing up your important data is part of your everyday work. Backing up to the cloud will ensure that your data can be accessed anywhere and won’t be affected by anything bad that happens to your office.
Access Control for Cybersecurity?
Once you’ve ensured that your computers are secure, it’s time to look at physical security. Criminals can steal your data by infiltrating your company. Criminals will often try to take control of personal or confidential data in order to damage your business; access control is ideal for preventing unauthorised people from accessing your building and can be considered a key part of cybersecurity.
For more information about access control for your business, or other important physical security measures, get in touch today!
Get in touch with Veritech Systems!
Whether you’re a private or commercial company with maritime assets, you will need a security company that can keep an eye on your vessels for you. Maritime vessels are notoriously expensive, and as such are a prime target for thieves and other criminals. Let’s take a look at the ways in which Veritech can protect your assets.
CCTV Surveillance from your security company
At Veritech, we offer CCTV systems that are built specifically to handle the, often severe, conditions on docks. These CCTV systems feature anti-corrosive housings to combat the damage caused by salt spray and cold air. They also feature pan, tilt and zoom, and sensor technology to counteract smoke, heat and water ingress.
Find out more about our CCTV systems!
Our CCTV system has been developed for use on commercial vessels, passenger ships and offshore platforms. As a security company, we promise 24-hour network-based recordings to ensure that camera footage can be saved digitally and in real time.
A Human Presence
In addition to CCTV, you may choose to invest in a human presence from your security company. Hourly manned patrols and security inspections act as a great deterrent for the majority of criminals. The unpredictable nature of manned guarding means that criminals cannot study the guards’ patterns to find out when your property is not being guarded.
For extra security for your assets, you can opt for dog handlers. Dog handlers are particularly useful for sites with high levels of potential criminal activity, such as the docks. Dogs are particularly good at sensing presences on the site that might otherwise go unnoticed.
Contact us for manned guarding!
Contact Us For A Maritime Security Company
If you’re concerned about criminal activity or theft of your maritime assets, get in touch today. We have a number of security solutions that can be tailored to meet your needs. For a free site survey, simply contact us today.
There are numerous benefits to securing your business’ property with a CCTV system. Due to the rise in crime, CCTV is essential for keeping your business protected from thieves, vandals and intruders. So what are the benefits of a CCTV system?
Deter Crime with a CCTV Security System
The presence of a camera acts as a powerful deterrent against would-be criminals. This is because most criminals are cowardly and are not willing to face the consequences of their actions, so they do not want their face captured on camera. Placing warnings about CCTV surveillance and placing your cameras so that they’re in plain sight is a good way to deter criminals from entering your premises.
Reduce Insurance
A building with a CCTV security system is, naturally, more secure than a building without one. This means that insurance companies are likely to charge you less, as you are less likely to make a claim. In addition to a more secure business space, you will save money each month on your premiums.
Evidence from your CCTV Security System
But what if your building is broken into? A CCTV security system can help with that too. CCTV footage provides concrete evidence placing the intruders on your property and committing a crime. If your building falls victim to a crime, you can rest assured that the perpetrators will be prosecuted for their crimes.
Safety and Morale
Keeping your employees safe is important, and a CCTV security system can do just that. CCTV is an effective way of assuring that everyone on your property is safe at all times. Surveillance ensures that your staff are protected from hostility from criminals and even other employees.
Contact Veritech for a CCTV System
For more information about our CCTV systems or any of our other security solutions, get in touch today!
A human presence on your vacant property, construction site or business premises is an ideal way to deter any would-be intruders and de-escalate situations. Manned guarding is crucial for a number of reasons. This post will explore some of the facts about manned guarding.
What is Manned Guarding?
Manned guarding simply means that you have humans (and dog handlers if required) patrolling and monitoring your property in case of criminal activity. Manned guarding is proven to prevent a lot of break-ins, vandalism and theft.
It also offers a heightened feeling of security for your staff and customers. Having a trained professional on hand in case of an emergency can be extremely comforting.
Are There Different Types of Manned Guarding?
In short, yes. You can opt for a guard who will be present from 9-5 each day, during working hours, or a highly trained guard that’s on site 24 hours a day. The type of manned guarding you opt for depends on your business’ needs.
What Can Manned Guards Do?
While manned guards are highly trained in de-escalating situations and will monitor your business, it is important to remember that they are not the police. If your business is a shop, for example, and a guard catches a shoplifter, they are allowed to use a reasonable amount of force to detain the person. Arresting that person, however, is up to the police.
Security guards in the United Kingdom are required to have been licensed by the Security Industry Authority. Ensure that any guards you hire are registered with this authority.
Contact us for Manned Guarding
For more information about our manned guarding, or any of our other security solutions, please get in touch. We are always willing to help you to better protect your business.
There are a number of reasons to use wireless CCTV cameras over their wired cousins. Crime is always on the increase, so it’s up to your business to ensure that your surveillance system is up to the task of deterring criminals or catching them in the act. Let’s take a look at some of the benefits of installing wireless CCTV cameras.
Wireless CCTV Cameras Have No Wires
Perhaps the most obvious advantage is that wireless cameras don’t have wires. Unfortunately, a criminal who wants to break into a building with wired CCTV surveillance, no matter how comprehensive the system, only needs a pair of wire cutters. At this point, they can get into the building with no surveillance whatsoever. Wireless CCTV cameras have no wires and, as such, aren’t susceptible to this kind of break-in.
Additionally, when installing a wired CCTV camera, you will likely need to drill holes and invest in mounting kits. Wireless CCTV cameras are far less time-consuming to install and are incredibly easy to use. Furthermore, you can angle the cameras in whichever way you want to adapt to the precise placements needed for adequate CCTV protection.
Find out more about Wireless CCTV!
Secured Footage
Wireless CCTV cameras in most cases save data directly to the cloud. They are also usually fitted with alarm monitoring services. A particularly tenacious criminal could easily break into your premises and damage the CCTV footage. This makes it impossible to build a case against them. With wireless CCTV cameras, your footage is safely backed up, making it impossible to fully destroy.
They also use highly secure encryption methods for backing up the digital data. This means that your footage is safe not just from physical crime, but also from cybercriminals. They’ll also even work during power outages, due to their independent power sources.
Wireless CCTV Cameras are more Flexible
Due to the lack of wires, wireless CCTV cameras can be placed wherever you need. With traditional CCTV cameras, the wires could restrict the possible placements, meaning that there could be parts of your building that were completely unmonitored. Going wireless also allows you to conceal the cameras much more easily, as you won’t be caught out by dangling wires.
Wireless CCTV Cameras are easily accessible
Wireless CCTV Cameras can be placed up to 10 miles away from the receiver and will still pick it up. The signal is also able to pass through walls, metal, wood, glass and plastic. You can access your wireless camera, and check the feeds, from anywhere in the world. This means that you can leave on holiday, or work remotely, and not have to worry about the security of your building.
It’s quite clear that CCTV can help to prevent your business from vandals and thieves, but did you know that it can save you money too? A good, well-placed CCTV security system is a one-off investment that is likely to result in you saving more of your revenue in the future. Let’s take a look at some of the ways that you can benefit from a new CCTV Security system.
CCTV Security Remote Access
One of the most interesting things about modern CCTV security systems is their ability to be controlled remotely. This means that a security team can make a judgement on whether or not a situation requires a physical presence judging from the CCTV footage. This will save you a lot of money that would otherwise be spent on manpower. This is particularly ideal for vacant lots, as you needn’t waste money having your employees patrol a property that isn’t even in use.
CCTV Security Saves You Money on Insurance Premiums
Asides from the invaluable peace of mind that a decent security system affords you, it can also save you money on your insurance premiums. If you find that your property has been burglarised or vandalised, it’s possible that your insurance will cover the cost of the damages. If your building lacks proper security measures, you’re more likely to have to pay for it yourself. CCTV security can also save you money on your insurance premiums; insurance companies are likely to offer better prices to companies that have taken an active role in keeping their building secure. This is because it shows a willingness to protect your own belongings, and decreases the possibility that you will need an insurance pay-out in the future.
Find out more about Veritech’s CCTV Cameras!
Encourage Employees to Work Harder
CCTV security isn’t just designed to work as a tool against burglars and vandals. It can also help your employees to work more productively. Studies suggest that employees that feel safe and secure in their place of work are likely to work more effectively. Also, while no employer wants to think that their employees are slacking off when they’re not around, CCTV can also provide you with some issues to address at an employee’s next performance review.
Reduce Losses through Theft and Damage
Granted, this is the obvious one. Theft and vandalism to your office building or building site can be extremely expensive to rectify. Also in, for example, the construction industry, the time lost on a project due to theft or vandalism can cost you money in and of itself. CCTV security acts as an extremely effective deterrent. Also, due to the rapid advancement in CCTV technology, cameras can often capture the face of the intruder. This makes for valuable secondary evidence if you need to prosecute in the future.
Value For Money
CCTV security systems offer incredible value for money. This is because they mitigate the need for manpower, which is inherently more expensive long-term. They can also be bought or rented, depending on your needs and budget. Coupling your CCTV with an alarm system is also a particularly effective deterrent for potential trespassers.
In 2017, CCTV security systems are everywhere. In fact, the United Kingdom is the country with the largest amount of surveillance in the world. This is a statistic often trotted out when complaining about the latest government bills passed and a citizen’s right to privacy, however there’s no denying that the large network of CCTV cameras in operation should theoretically be keeping people safe. However, there are a number of CCTV improvements available that are really going to step up the fight against crime. After all, what’s the point in being the country with the most surveillance if we aren’t catching criminals as a result?
So what CCTV improvements can be made to your current set up?
Ultra 4K HD CCTV Improvements
We’ve all heard of Ultra 4K HD televisions, but your CCTV system can also benefit from the latest in HD technology. HD CCTV improvements allow you to capture perpetrators facial features far more clearly, while also providing footage in far better quality. This means that they act as far more successful deterrents, and also as much more impressive evidence if you choose to prosecute.
Learn More About Our CCTV Cameras!
PTZ Cameras
PTZ cameras allow you to monitor large areas due to their impressively wide field of view. Thanks to their pan, tilt and zoom functionalities, they are also able to zero in effortlessly on a subject. This means that the criminal has little opportunity to escape.
Satellite Surveillance CCTV Improvements
We offer CCTV systems with satellite communication to ensure that we can offer faster response times in the case of an emergency. Coupling our satellite technology with state of the art Ultra 4K HD cameras ensures that our CCTV cameras offer a truly unparalleled field of view.
Ensuring CCTV Cameras are in the Correct Places
Finally, one of the simplest yet most effective CCTV improvements you can make is to ensure that your CCTV cameras are in effective places on your property. We have already covered that CCTV cameras require precise placements. However, it’s worth remembering to think about blind spots, wire placements, testing your system before use, and weatherproofing the camera itself.
For more information about CCTV cameras, CCTV improvements, or any of our other incredible security services, please get in touch today!
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It’s unfortunate, but crime in Hampshire is on the rise. Your Southampton business premises is particularly vulnerable after hours when no one else is around. From rural areas to urban areas, no property is completely safe from crime. As such, an alarm system can be an absolute life-saver for your business. Fortunately, there are a number of security solutions available that can suit the needs of any business.
Alarm systems augment dummy cameras
We’ve covered in detail why dummy cameras are an inadequate security solution for your business. Any criminal with any experience can tell the difference. While we would never advocate the use of dummy cameras, they can be augmented by using a wireless alarm. At least this way, if your dummy cameras don’t deter criminals, they will be immediately caught out by the alarm.
Motion sensitive alarms
A motion sensitive alarm system is an ideal way to protect your business at all hours of the day and night. Naturally you can’t be at your place of work all the time, but you need some kind of security system in place to protect your property. Motion sensitive alarms can help you to keep your business safe after hours, and also prevent unwanted guests in any vacant property you may own.
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Alarm systems Connect to the Police
A number of alarms can be set to contact the police immediately. These alarms are often completely silent, and simply send a signal to the police to come to the premises. This means that the intruders will likely be apprehended on the spot.
Alarms and CCTV Make A Great Combination
Alarms and CCTV are the ideal security system. CCTV allows you to capture the identity of those breaking into your property if the alarm isn’t enough to deter them. A clear CCTV image of a person committing a crime is ideal evidence if you need to press charges.
Secure Businesses Have Lower Insurance Premiums
Investing in CCTV systems and alarms keeps your building safe, and as a result will keep your insurance premiums low. A one-time investment in security can save you a significant amount of money long term.
Contact us today to find out more about alarms, CCTV and other security systems!