Business continuity is the process of planning to mitigate and prevent potential harm to a business. Harm to businesses can come businesses in a wide variety of ways. There are also more ways to counter harm than you could count. One of the ways that you can counter harm to your business is by including security cameras in your business continuity planning.
Most people view security cameras as simply there to capture criminals on camera. However, security cameras can serve a lot of purposes and many of them can play into your continuity plan. We are going to take a look at how exactly that can be done.
Capture Outside Theft
As we mentioned, the number one purpose for security cameras is to catch theft from outside of a business. You are able to capture theft from criminals during and after business hours on camera and then you are more likely to be able to be able to prosecute them. You can also monitor the cameras to catch criminal activity while it is happening.
Reduce In-house Theft
In-house theft is a major loss for many businesses. Even the theft of small office supplies can have a major impact if it becomes part of company culture. Security cameras are a major part of the continuity plan when it comes to reducing in-house theft. To reduce said theft, security cameras are used both to monitor and to investigate incidents of theft.
A good portion of time employee theft will see a significant reduction simply from the installation of security cameras. Employees know better than anyone else when these cameras go in and will be less apt to want to commit any violations of company policy. Remember above when we mentioned that security cameras are a deterrent just on their own?
Safety Event Monitoring
Safety events happen every day in all kinds of businesses. Some safety events are simply near misses or risks but some are actual occurrences. With security cameras, you are able to monitor for potential safety events. When you see them on camera you can prevent them from turning into anything more serious. Some safety risks can only be easily observed from camera because of the point of view.
If an event does happen you have the ability to look back at that footage and analyze the incident. That analysis can then be used to mitigate the event in the future, feeding back into the continuity plan in the future.
Disaster Analysis
During and after a disaster it is important to be able to figure out what is going on. Security camera footage is a great tool to be able to analyze your property when a disaster is at hand. You can view all parts of your property, view recordings, and see alarms. With emergency backup power, most systems can run even if the power goes out, allowing you to view your cameras no matter what.
Incident Evidence
No matter what kind of incident happens, even if it is one of the ones we haven’t mentioned yet, it will be captured on the security cameras. That footage can then be used as evidence for both court and insurance purposes. Having evidence on film can be a saving grace. Modern security camera footage that is stored on a hard drive can be preserved for a long time and backed up to prevent the loss of evidence.
All of these are ways that cameras can be used to help prevent harm. How you work them into your business’s continuity plan depends specifically on your business. Take each point and customize it to meet the needs of your business. Once you do, you will have parts of your continuity plan that will be able to provide future improvements to your plan based on what you learn.
