How physically secure is your business?

Get your head out of 'the cloud' and secure your physical assets

‘We are living in a Digital World’. This is a statement that is increasingly emphasised today, with people often remarking about the ‘Digital Generation’ and about the dangers of the internet and social media. Alongside this, comes the increased danger of online crime and hacking. Consequently, cyber security is clearly an imminent threat, and one definitely not worth ignoring. However, it would be a huge mistake to focus solely on your online security at the expense of your physical security. Our lives aren’t just online, no matter how much time you spend on your phone. We live in the real world, a world in which criminals pose just as much of a threat to our physical property as they do to our digital assets.

Hopefully, you have passwords, anti-virus software, and firewalls to keep all your digital details secure, but how safe are your buildings, assets, and paper documents? By protecting your business in the real world, as well as online against cyber criminals, you can keep all aspects of your business and life more secure.

Benefits of Security

The correct layers of security won’t just make your business more secure, they will also enhance the legitimacy of your enterprise. Your staff and clients will see the efforts you go to keep them safe and will value it. What’s more, a company that invests in security is saying to the world that they take their business, staff, and clients seriously and want to protect them.

How to secure your business

Could anyone just walk in off the street and enter your business? If so, how far would they get without being stopped or questioned? If an unwanted visitor did enter your building and commit a crime, would you be able to discover the identity of that person? Would you be able to present any evidence to the police?

The most secure buildings have a security system which is made up of layer upon layer of different measures that work together, to make sure all aspects of the business are protected.

Perimeter Security

One of the best ways to keep your business secure is to make sure criminals can’t even get near the building. Perimeter security includes barriers, bollards, road blocks and security gates. As well as being a strong deterrent, perimeter security enables you to protect your whole site, not just your building. When combined with an intruder alert solution, such as a perimeter intruder detection system (PIDS), it is a robust way to prevent and detect unwanted access to your site.

CCTV

Another strong deterrent against crime, CCTV is an essential asset to your business security, not only helping prevent crime, but also recording criminal actions. Modern HD CCTV can be wired or wireless and is far easier to monitor, record, and store than ever before as management is enhanced from home or anywhere in the world via phone, PC, or tablet. To take it a step further, CCTV Analytics can be employed. These analytics can include technologies such as license plate recognition (LPNR) and even facial recognition – to alert you of specific unwanted individuals. Your CCTV should be installed by an expert - a good security surveyor will know the best places to locate cameras for optimum coverage and protection.

Access Control

You should be able to control who can gain entry to your premises, and once inside, regulate accessibility to parts of your business. When a commercial premises has multiple employees and customers who need freedom of movement, it is time to think past a lock and key solution. Video intercoms are a useful way to see, as well as hear, who wishes to enter your property. Access control tags can also be used – and it is a good idea to make sure employees’ and visitors’ entries only allow them access to the areas that they need and are qualified to be in. Photo ID cards are also a good way to quickly check a person is permitted on site. Of course, IDs and swipe cards can be lost or stolen, so for higher level access control, biometric or fingerprint recognition gives enhanced entry security.

Sharing is caring

Talk to your staff about your security procedures. Employees need to understand the importance of security, so you can work together to protect your assets and each other. Devise a clear set of easy to follow security procedures and communicate the policies to all staff.

Warn your team about common methods of breaching security, such as tailgating (people following legitimate entry). Everyone should be aware and reminded to stay observant, this way staff can make sure they don’t allow an unauthorised visitor into a restricted area or have their pass code observed by a bystander.

Practice what you preach 

Set a good example of best practice security. Make sure any access codes you have are changed regularly and don’t forget to change or remove them when a member of staff leaves your employment. If you’ve invested time and money in security – don’t forget to keep your systems maintained. Most security systems work best when checked and serviced regularly.

And finally, make sure you close the windows and remember to turn on your intruder alarm when you leave the building!

Chris Lewis Fire and Security is an experienced and award-winning company with a team skilled in designing and installing fire and security systems for commercial offices, retailers and licensed premises. We cover anything from access control gates to CCTV systems, and everything in-between.