Regardless of what type of business you own, there are always certain areas to which you do not want employees or guests to have access. Whether it is a file room, server room, office, or entire facility, most businesses need some level of access control. But, traditional lock and key systems are no longer as practical, cost effective, or secure as they once were and particularly not when compared with modern access control systems.
Gone are the days of not being able to get in a room that you need to get into because you lost or forgot your keys. With keypad access, biometric access, or other access control methods you can always get where you need to go – as long as you have access. If you run an incredibly secure business or facility that you do not want unwanted guests having access to, access control systems make it easy to control who gets in and who does not. First, access control systems are far harder to duplicate unlike traditional lock and key methods. Further, access control systems have extra security measures built in, depending on the system you choose, so that you can control the level of security at all times.
When it comes to employees, access control systems have additional benefits. They are able to get in and out of the business and particular areas or rooms with their access credentials but there is more to it. Your access control system can track and log exactly who accessed particular access points, and when. This gives you an invaluable security log in the event that you do experience a break in or other security problem. Additionally, if you so choose, the access control system can log what time employees show up and leave for total accountability. This reduces paper and ensures nobody is lying about what time they actually showed up for work. Additionally, an access control system offers the business the ability to remotely access controls so, should there be a breach or other problem, they can lock down all access points or open access if needed. Access control systems offer business owners flexibility, security, and peace of mind that they have optimized their security.
If you own a business or a business property, you need some level of surveillance. The type and complexity of surveillance will depend on your business, location, and assets at the site. Certain types of businesses require more surveillance than others but surveillance is an advantage for any business, regardless of industry or location.
First, the most basic surveillance involves some strategically placed cameras. These cameras are not necessary monitored at all times but they take video if motion is sensed and either store it for a certain length of time, alert the owner of activity, or some combination. If for no other reason, it can be advantageous to have this so that, should something happen with an employee, you have a video record. Whether there is an employee that falls, something is missing, or you just want to see when they came in, you will have that ability with a basic surveillance system. These surveillance are discreet, professional installation is easy and quick, and many, if not most, are able to be accessed remotely from any device with secure WiFi access.
If your business has a warehouse or retail storefront where there is a large amount of product, you will likely need a robust surveillance system. Additionally, if you have a lot of IT equipment, servers, or other sensitive information, you may need additional surveillance capabilities. Surveillance systems can be integrated into your audio/video automation, integrated with other surveillance system elements, and more. Regardless of your industry or security needs, we all want to believe that everyone is totally honest and accountable but unfortunately, we know that isn’t necessarily the truth. As Small Business Trends points out, surveillance can offer a lot of accountability and information that you might not otherwise have, “In fact, there could be as many as 275 million incidents of retail theft globally each year, reports Matt Pillar…But of those, only an estimated 1 in 46 arrests are ever made in connection with those thefts. More concerning, however, is the fact that about 1/6 of those arrested, about 1 million total, are employees. Of course, non-retail businesses face the threat of theft too. This includes everything from theft of company property to theft of intellectual property. So these are all factors a business owner must weigh…When Ryan Elmore installed video surveillance at his restaurant a few years ago, the results were huge, reports CNN Money. Elmore is co-owner of Pepper Jack’s Neighborhood Grill in Erie, Col. With the new surveillance, Elmore discovered his manager in charge was ducking out of his responsibilities. He also discovered that employees were giving away free meals to friends. They were also taking multiple smoking breaks and texting instead of working while he was gone, he says…On top of everything else, Elmore discovered his restaurant was overstaffed. By adjusting work schedules, he cut his labor costs by 5 percent. And by clamping down on free meals, he decreased food costs by 3 percent.”
Commercial audio and video is an important component of most businesses today. Whether you run a traditional office or a retail space, audio and video will likely be a part of your business in one capacity or another. The quality and reliability of your commercial audio and video is a direct reflection on your business so both professional installation and automation are ideal. A business needs a cohesive and well-planned strategy for commercial audio and video automation that maximizes all of the technology so that you can easily and efficiently use it and so that it offers your business benefits.
When audio and video systems are integrated and automated, it centralizes all of your technology into one easy-to-control system. The last thing a business needs is multiple buttons, controls and more to keep track of, train people how to use, and that frequently get lost. With audio and video automation, everything is in one professionally-programmed set of controls including both audio and video, as well as telephone, teleconferencing, surveillance, lighting, thermostat, unique office technologies, and more.
Additionally, with audio and video automation, you can set ‘scenes’ to transition from one moment to the next with ease. This is particularly beneficial for retail spaces as well as commercial spaces like restaurants because you can push one button and have the music, lighting, and monitors all change in an instant. Transition from day to night, transition from one party to the next, change the mood, or transition for whatever reason you might need but do it with ease. But it is also beneficial for traditional office settings where you may need to transition from meeting to another quickly and efficiently and a pre-programmed scene will allow you to do so. Additionally, with automation, there are certain settings you can implement that will have motion detectors or other queues that tell the system if it is inactive in the room and turn things off or make adjustments so that energy efficiency is maximized. No matter what industry you are in, current technology, professionally-installed and used well, is a positive reflection on your business as a whole and improves day-to-day operations significantly.
When you think of ways to automate your life at home and make things easier and more convenient, lighting controls may not be the first thing that comes to mind. And, when we talk about automated lighting controls we are not talking about a light that you have to clap on and off. With automated lighting you can control a multitude of lighting settings that maximize convenience and energy efficiency.
1. Save Energy
Because you can control your automated lighting from anywhere easily you can turn lighting on or off to save on energy usage. Additionally, you can program your lighting to turn on and off automatically after a certain period of time or at certain times of the day which will also save energy.
2. Stay Comfortable
Are you relaxing on the couch or snuggled comfortably in bed only to realize you left the lights on? Do not fret – with automated lighting you can stay comfortable and simply turn the lighting off, on or adjust the lighting right from your remote control or smart device.
3. Integrate Into Home Automation
You can program lighting to be a specific degree of brightness that adjust according to certain times of day or to certain “scenes.” For instance, you can program your lighting to bright at 7am and begin to dim at 7pm. Or you can program your lighting to a ‘breakfast’ setting, ‘dinner’ setting, ‘entertaining’ setting, ‘television watching’ setting, etc. And, while you can program any setting according to time or to be triggered at the touch of a single button, you can also integrate it into your home automation for a more complex series of events. For example, if you are watching a movie in your home theater, at the touch of a single button your automation system can be programmed to lower the projection screen, start the movie, close window shades, and dim the lights.
4. Improve Entertaining
You can set a variety of ‘entertaining’ scenes depending on the type of entertaining you are doing. Are you having 1 guest over for a date? A small dinner party with friends? Or hosting a large event with many guests? You may want a different degree of brightness for each of those scenarios and you can easily set the lighting to automatically be a certain brightness during different entertaining scenarios.
5. Remote Access
Never worry that you forgot to turn a light on or off at your home again. Simply access your automated lighting controls from your smart device from anywhere in the world at the touch of a button.