Most Baltimore Security Cameras are installed and used to prevent crime. However the way in which these security cameras are used to achieve this is varied, and at the same time they can also perform many other different functions. Here we’ll look at a few of those different uses for security cameras and you might find yourself surprised at just how much you can do with Security Camera System.

1. .Customer Service: Security Cameras encourage the best behavior and customer service from your staff as they know they’re being watched thereby ensuring that they run the workplace as best as possible 24/7 as though you were in the room.

2. Compliance Monitoring: Security Cameras are useful in industries where standard operating procedures have to be strictly followed. Through video surveillance, managers of Restaurants, Hotels, Labs and Health Clinics can determine whether or not their staffs are following proper sanitation measures. They are also very useful in Cosmetics, Pharmaceutical, Electronics Industries. They can monitor vital parts of the production process, such as processing and packaging.

3. Remote Viewing: Finally with a security cameras you can see how the business runs from a third party perspective and this can be very useful for making changes and improvements. This way you can also find any little things that need to be corrected and see how you absence affects the workplace.

4. False Alarms: Security cameras can be used with your burglar alarm system so when that call come in the middle of the night you can go to your computer and view the cameras remotely. If all is well then there is no need to send the police to investigate plus you can avoid those costly false alarm fines.

5. Reduce Accidents: Security Cameras can be useful in case someone falls over whether they are staff or customers. This way you can send someone over to help them as soon as possible which is important from a safety perspective but will also help to prevent false claims at your workplace.

1. Don’t get stuck in a long term monitoring contract because any reputable company will provide an annual monitoring contract.
2. Customize how your alarm signals are handled by the monitoring station or how it reports in so false alarm fines can be avoided.
3. Make sure all alarm signals are being monitored by a U.L. Listed Monitoring Station.
4. All points of protection i.e., Motion Sensors, Door Sensors, Panic Buttons, Glass Break Sensors should be tied to an individual zone so alarm points can be easily identified.
5. Have the system programmed to notify you if the backup battery gets low so you are never without a system if building power is loss.
6. Always get an English Text Keypad so points of protection are displayed instead of a keypad with a little zone lights that can make it difficult to know what point of protection is faulted.
7. All devices should have zone number labels on them.
8. Ask if the installing company has a afterhours service.
9.  Check to see if the U.L. Listed Monitoring Station located in Maryland or at least in the Mid-Atlantic region.
10. Never purchase alarm equipment that is proprietary to the installing company because then you’re married to that company unless you rip out and replace the equipment.

Email me at jemerick@acssec.com for a Free Copy  of  “False Alarms and Procedures Guide” to better understand your alarm system and how to deal with false alarms. This guide cost $28.00 but we will send it to you at no charge for responding to this post.

Protecting your commercial property from crime is an unfortunate but necessary part of doing business in today’s environment. Commercial crimes, including break-ins, property damage, vandalism and graffiti, cost businesses and insurance companies millions annually. However, it’s estimated that this figure could be much, much higher if company owners did not use business security alarms on their properties. 

Insurance providers may offer graduated discounts based on the degree of protection provided by a business security system. From their viewpoint, the more comprehensive a business security system is, the lower the chances that loss may occur. Insurance providers prefer if someone is proactive in preventing crime in the first place, and they do this by rewarding business owners who invest in comprehensive alarm systems. 

Top 10 Alarm Monitoring Suggestions for Businesses – 24/7 Protection 

1. Opening & Closing Report: Every time the alarm is Armed or Disarmed a Signal is sent to the Alarm Monitoring Center. Great for keeping track of who and what time someone access or exited the business. 

It’s common knowledge that alarm systems notify you if your business is broken into. When an alarm goes off, the monitoring service is contacted and they send the local police to the location to deal with the trouble. Currently, even most basic systems give you the added protection of security and monitoring.

Nevertheless, despite the many advantages of alarm systems, some individuals are still reluctant to put them in since they have erroneous ideas about how they work. You need to base your decision on factual information and analysis so let us dispel some of the common myths and misconceptions.

1. – The first misconception is that you have to pay too much for putting them in and requires a dedicated phone line. That’s untrue nowadays. Commonly, monitoring costs less than $25 per month and can be paid on a annual basis and the system can use on of the existing phone lines such as a fax line.

2. – It is an unneeded cost and will not help my bottom line. Although nothing bad may ever happen, it’s important to realize that losses from a single criminal entry will almost certainly cost you much more than the price of the monitoring the alarm system.  Your insurance company may lower your insurance payments as well if your company’s buildings are safeguarded by a alarm system.

3. – They are both hard to utilize properly and require a lot of time for employee training. In truth, a quality security system is very easy to use. If you are able to work an ATM machine, you can operate a burglar alarm system. This is similar for employees and usually it requires less than an hour to demonstrate and train you in the procedure.

4. – A power failure or cut phone line will disable the system. If you have just a good security surveillance system, it will most likely have a back up battery for any emergency. If any problem is detected, these backup systems will both kick in automatically.

5. – False alarms happen frequently and we will get in trouble with police in our community. With a monitored system, the alert will go to the monitoring center first. A monitor will contact you or one of people on your contact list if they believe a problem is occurring. Because they do that, police will rarely receive unnecessary alarm calls. An alert will sound and you’ll be able to type the correct code in if you didn’t do so the first time.

If these myths have stopped you from securing your business then let these clarifications give you the facts needed to take the steps towards installing a burglar alarm system. Security systems are a great investment, and will return the cost of its purchase by giving you a piece of mind, and safety.

Hate getting those calls from the burglar alarm system going off in the middle of the night or worse driving  across town to reset the alarm system. Now with a Video Alarm System if your called in the middle of the night just hop on your computer pull up the system and view the cameras if it is a false alarm then reset the system right from the comforts of your computer or smart phone. Unfortunately if there is a break in then there is recorded video of the events that can be given to the Police to really start tracking down the suspects who broke in. Most Insurance Companies appreciate when a business implements a system of this type because it helps reduce liability, deters theft, and reduces fraud.

The best part of having  a Video Alarm System is that it never sleeps, takes breaks or rest and it is like having  your own personal security guard for $21 to $29 per month. This is the same cost or less for monitoring a traditional burglar alarm system but you get 10 times as much protection and more accurate information.

For more information contact me (Jack Lucas) at 410-663-9779 or email me at jlucas@acssec.com.

We provided an alarm system that allows the warehouse and office to be partition while using the same phone line and one control panel. Each area has its own Alarm Keypad and the office was programmed to automatically arm the system at 8PM. The warehouse is in operation during the day and night so it was set up to be manually armed whenever they finished their work in the warehouse.

Also they wanted a Video Surveillance System that can view all the activity on the backside of the building especially in the shipping and receiving areas. The Video Surveillance System was put into place because of the size of the facility  as well as to allow the manager to view activity remotely over the internet. We used Weather Proof Day/Night Cameras outside to provide a clear picture during the a 24 hour period. The cameras on the inside of the warehouse were tricky because of the extreme lighting conditions. We used Wide Dynamic Range Cameras that  provide clear images even under back light circumstances where intensity of light can vary excessively, namely when they have an open overhead door letting very bright light coming through in a dark warehouse.

All video was recorded on to a Digital Video Recorder that stored video recording up to 20 Days which was enough for their requirements. The monitoring of the alarm system for a year was under $300.00 and the remote viewing of cameras was priceless because this meant that the manager could handle any questions over the phone from his house while looking at the video feed over the internet.

To learn more about how to use security system not only to protect your business but how to utilize it to improve efficiencies please contact Jack Lucas of ACS Security Systems.

Upon arrival we discovered that there was now battery back up on the electric door locks so their office was wide open over the weekend, not good. We started by just putting in a fresh set of batteries for proper lock power that any access control system should have. We also discovered that the Card Access System they use to get through these doors was not accepting their cards or unlocking the doors. A power surge rendered the main system control board useless and was not even able to be defaulted.

After talking to the customer about their system and how they used it we provided them with a simple inexpensive solution with a Web Based Card Access System that does not need a dedicated computer to run the system software, it allows remote management to add or delete card users and has a very user friendly system management interface. We got everything back up and working within a day and yes everything was installed with a battery back up and surge protection to secure their office in the future.

For more information about Web Based Access Control Systems please contact us as we are always around the Baltimore/Washington  area servicing and installing security systems.

1. Don’t get stuck in a long term monitoring contract because any reputable company will provide an annual monitoring contract.

2. Customize how your alarm signals are handled by the monitoring station or how it reports in so false alarm fines can be avoided.

3. Make sure all alarm signals are being monitored by a U.L. Listed Monitoring Station.

4. All points of protection i.e., Motion Sensors, Door Sensors, Panic Buttons, Glass Break Sensors should be tied to an individual zone so alarm points so it can be easily identified.

5. Have the system programmed to notify you if the backup battery gets low or power loss so you are never without a system.

6. Always get an Easy to read English Text Keypad so points of protection are displayed instead of a keypad with a little zone lights that can make it difficult to know what point of protection is faulted.

7. All devices should have zone number labels on them.

8. Ask if the installing company has a afterhours service.

9. Check to see if the U.L. Listed Monitoring Station located in Maryland or at least in the Mid-Atlantic region.

10. Never purchase alarm equipment that is proprietary to the installing company because then you’re married to that company unless you rip out the entire system.

Well if they do try and come back they will be in for a surprise because we just finished installingNine Outdoor Vandal Proof, High Resolution (700TVL), Day/Night Cameras. These are so good that we saw rodents running around the lot at night. Also there is Four Indoor High Resolution (600TVL) Cameras to view customer counter and some high dollar inventory areas. The real surprise is that the main and now the only entrance/exit has License Plate Capture Camera that records everything coming and going in to the lot and this camera can handle Trucks, small cars with high beams coming in at 30mph through the gate.

The Digital Video Recorder is integrated with the a digital dialer so if the camera sense activity the will call the managers and they can access the video over the internet anytime and anywhere. Plus everything is being recorded so if information needs to be copied it is there. recorders can be programmed to perform all types of factions such as turn on a strobe light as well with activity is sensed by the camera.

For more information please contact us as we are always around the Baltimore/Washington  area estimating and installing projects.

1. Deter Criminals

2. Prevent Theft

3. Improve Productivity

4. Reduce Liability

5. Protect Intellectual Property

6. Manage Remotely

7. Enhance Customer Experience

8. Streamline Operations

9. Validate Alarms

10. Deliver Peace of Mind