Usually when business owners think about security camera systems and CCTV they think only about the value they are likely to bring in terms of protecting their physical assets. Which CCTV certainly does and that’s a great thing.

Research study after research study has shown that installing these security systems both cuts down on theft and serves as a powerful deterrent to anything like that happening in the first place. However; your surveillance system can offer more—much more.

Today’s surveillance systems are significantly more advanced than they were just a couple of years ago. Here we’ll explore a few of the ways you can get the most from adding surveillance cameras to your business.

24/7 Business Protection

As we mentioned, the most obvious benefit of installing a business CCTV surveillance system is having the ability to monitor your business or various business locations from anywhere, at anytime, including with a mobile app and device.

You can log into the app from anywhere to quickly view live and recorded video of your business. You can search footage for specific time frames and incidents when and where needed, whether you’re across town or across the country, after hours or on vacation. Keeping an eye on your business has never been easier and it’s more affordable than you might think.

Boost Productivity

Washington University conducted a study on the impact of video monitoring on employee behavior at almost 400 restaurants. And the results were a little surprising.

Employee theft predictably went down. (This is a big deal for that industry because profit margins are so thin, and traditions like giving out a free round to get a big tip are standard practice for a lot of servers.) The unexpected thing, however, was that productivity and sales actually went up even more than theft went down

This obviously doesn’t apply to every situation. If employees feel like the video monitoring is going to lead to their every action being questioned and picked apart, they’ll start following every last protocol and process that’s assigned to them. You’ll get only what you’ve asked of them, and they’re less likely to try experiments or innovations that could lead to productivity gains.

Video and Remote Surveillance Protects You from Liability

Another benefit you might not initially consider when looking at business CCTV is the protection it offers you and your employees in the case of liability. So many of these instances can boil down to a he-said-she-said, so having a video record to back you up can be invaluable.

Liability can affect a small business in any number of ways. A customer can have an accident on your property and sue you for damages. Employees can file a harassment, discrimination, or other suit against you. Depending on what industry you’re in, you might also need to have records handy for compliance issues. The key is to make it clear to employees that the video cameras are there for their protection and that, no matter what happens, the recording will have their back if a situation gets out of hand

Customer Journey Analysis

For retailers, and even restaurants, when it comes to video surveillance, it’s not just employees that you can analyze. If you want to create a customer experience that is truly top-notch, you need to start taking a look at how your customers move through your store, and what you can do to streamline that process.

The key when it comes to looking at customer behavior is to figure out an organized way to turn your video into data. You need to find a way to take what you’re looking at and turn it into numbers that you can slice into different perspectives.

For every customer journey, you want to know where they were and when, so that you can look at both what sections of your business are popular, and also if that varies by time of day or day of week. These insights might make you rethink your ground plan, spacing out the most popular sections of the store so you can drive traffic to less popular sections that might benefit from more attention.

Going deeper, identify customers who have made a purchase, and then work backward to look at what a successful buying journey looks like. Are there things that these customers have in common? You want to look at everything, from what they’re buying to what time of day they generally come by.

Reduced Business Insurance Premiums

In some instances, a remote surveillance system can actually lower your insurance premiums, although this varies by the insurance provider. You will need to check with your insurance company on what is available as well as the requirements.

Summing Up the Benefits

While we normally think of video surveillance as a security solution, there are a lot of other ways it can help your business. Using video surveillance as positive reinforcement can boost employee productivity and show your team that you have their back. In cases of liability or compliance, your camera system can be an important source of evidence to protect you.

Finally, using business video surveillance to analyze your customers’ behavior patterns can lead to important insights that can help you boost sales and fine-tune your layout.

In a nutshell, taking advantage of new ways of using video surveillance can give you the edge you need to boost sales and productivity.

To learn more about the benefits of business CCTV, and how Data Installers can ensure you get the best possible return on any investment you make in it, contact us today.