If you are new to how technology is saving businesses money, you may be asking yourself, ‘What is CCTV monitoring and how does it work?
Businesses primarily use CCTV as a deterrent while deploying physical guards to spot and manage security threats. This traditional approach has been the status quo in the security industry for decades.
Remote CCTV monitoring and advancements in technology are shaking up the way businesses protect assets and deter crime.
Simply put, CCTV monitoring can reduce the cost of security and spot more threats, whilst optimising its effectiveness as a deterrent. In this article, we answer two core questions:
- What is CCTV monitoring?
- How does CCTV monitoring work?
Let’s begin.
Table of contents
- What is CCTV monitoring?
- Which businesses are most suited to CCTV monitoring?
- Saving costs and reducing the reliance on guards
- How does it work?
- Practical examples
- Why switch from managing and monitoring your CCTV internally to remotely?
- Read more of our related blogs:
- Interested in CCTV monitoring?
- Case studies
What is CCTV monitoring?
CCTV monitoring is where an offsite team of security professionals monitors a business’ CCTV and cameras
These types of systems are also referred to as monitored CCTV, off-site security camera monitoring and 24/7 remote monitoring.
As mentioned at the start of the article, most businesses use CCTV as a deterrent and physical guards to keep an eye on their premises and tackle threats. Some businesses don’t require physical guards and use an app to monitor their footage internally.
Which businesses are most suited to CCTV monitoring?
To offer some context, businesses operating at a site with a large perimeter, or with significant assets to protect, achieve the most ROI from deploying these systems.
Therefore, car dealerships, solar farms, warehouses, wind farms and construction sites are all businesses that meet the above criteria.
A car dealership would use these solutions to spot and deter security threats such as theft.
Owners and operators of a warehouse would invest in these systems to protect all the goods they store.
Construction sites look to protect plant machinery and tools, while operators of solar farms need to protect panels, copper wiring and more.
By now you may be thinking, what’s the advantage of moving your security offsite?
Saving costs and reducing the reliance on guards
CCTV monitoring can greatly reduce the cost of security, in some cases by up to 80%. More about this later in the blog.
How does it work?
Typically, businesses deploy physical guards to monitor sites and watch over CCTV camera footage.
Remote monitoring performs the same function, using technology as opposed to people, at a fraction of the cost.
Practical examples
Here’s how these systems work:
- The CCTV system is designed, installed, and commissioned to the customer’s requirements
- Sensors, beams, thermal detection, and video analytics are deployed to detect intruders
- The cameras are connected to the internet and footage is fed to an offsite monitoring station.
In the industry, we call this an alarm receiving centre (ARC).
If an intruder or threat is detected, and a sensor is triggered, an alarm signal is sent to an offsite ARC. When this happens, your off-site monitoring team will view the footage immediately.
Why switch from managing and monitoring your CCTV internally to remotely?
When compared to the costs of physical guards, CCTV monitoring can vastly reduce costs. In many cases, this can be a reduction of up to 80%.
As a result, if your security costs are £100,000, you could save £80,000 from your operating costs.
Read more of our related blogs:
Interested in CCTV monitoring?
Whether you are actively looking, or simply would like to talk to an experienced professional, get in touch today.
You can call us on 0800 689 1835 or send us a message via our contact form.
Case studies
For more insights into how these systems benefit our clients, here are a couple of links to related case studies:
