Commercial Property Security Comes With Monitoring Options

Business owners who have invested in a commercial property security system have taken a major step toward keeping their facility, their merchandise, their employees and their customers safe and secure. Offices, manufacturing plants, retail stores, warehouses and any other locations that house humans, merchandise or equipment must be kept safe from the threats of fire, theft, vandalism and accidents. To give you the greatest amount of protection, plus flexibility and control over your commercial property security system, you need a diverse assortment of effective monitoring options.

Purpose of monitoring
Security and facilities management personnel can’t be in two places at once. An effective monitoring system allows simultaneous tracking, observation and monitoring of numerous sites within your facility. From a single office or monitoring station, security personnel can keep track of the status of fire alarms, intrusion detectors and other safety and security equipment. They can check ongoing video feeds from surveillance cameras and visual monitoring equipment.

A commercial monitoring service gives your on-site security team members even greater flexibility. Their efficiency is increased because they respond only when notified by the service. An effective and well-planned security system allows human resources to be sent only where they’re needed when they’re needed.

Elements of a commercial property security system
A commercial property security system should consist of elements that have been carefully evaluated and determined to be useful for your facility. When conferring with your provider, make sure you can customize your security and monitoring system to meet the unique needs of your commercial property.

Response and verification
A crucial basic service of a commercial property security system is response and verification. As part of a full-time alarm monitoring and response service, your provider should perform the following tasks:

• Locate, identify and verify the alarm to make sure it’s not a false alarm or malfunction.
• Contact police, fire and emergency response personnel as necessary.
• Notify company personnel such as managers, property owners and critical employees. These notifications should be based on customized contact lists you provide. These contact lists should be easily updated, and updates should be promptly reflected in the system.
• Follow up with authorities to ensure the matter has been resolved.

Other elements of a commercial property security system
Some of the more common and useful elements of a commercial property security system include:

• Internet-based information and monitoring: Online sources can provide around-the-clock online access to information about your facility’s alarm activity. Users should be able to determine when alarms have been opened (armed) and closed (disarmed), precise times when alarms have been triggered, and the history of alarm activity on particular accounts. An effective Web-based system should also allow for immediate updating of account information and offer the ability to print reports.
• Non-supervised digital monitoring: This service provides ongoing digital monitoring of fire alarms, panic alarms, low battery indicators, HVAC system monitors and other problem indicators. This type of monitoring is constant and automated, freeing security personnel to tend to other duties.
• Open/close monitoring: This service tracks when alarm systems have been armed and disarmed and logs records to online accounts where they can be accessed easily. This option should also provide notifications to selected personnel if a scheduled alarm opening or closing is missed.
• Environmental monitoring: These systems can be configured to track important environmental conditions in your facility, such as temperature changes, water levels and the presence of harmful substances such as chlorine gas. Alarms should be sounded and notifications sent based on the criteria you provide.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about Plumbing, HVACR, Fire Protection and Alarm Systems in Mechanical, Commercial and Residential settings. For more information about the importance of having multiple monitoring options for commercial property security and to view projects we’ve worked on, visit our website!

Image Credit: CBS_Fan