Niven Perumal, Vox Telecom

Most businesses have some form of data link, such as an ADSL or Diginet line, which is used for various business functions. There are ways of optimising an existing data link to secure a company’s physical premises. At night, when the link is idle because employees have finished working for the day, it can be used to monitor an office, shop or warehouse. A remote monitoring system can eradicate many chinks in companies’ security armour.

We all know that on-premises guarding has some potential shortcomings. It is not only expensive, but subject to collusion, intimidation or even physical shortcomings – such as guards that fall asleep on duty. Most companies use a day and a night guard post, with one extra guard on standby. A typical grade C guard would earn about R3 000 per month, making the total expenditure about R9 000 per month. An eight-channel CCTV system would be less than half of that cost, with the added benefit that the client is increasing the ROI of its data link.

The system provides an immediate reaction to alarm incidents through IP communication to the actual site. A control room environment that monitors the premises via CCTV will then follow a predetermined escalation procedure based on the client’s requirements – contacting the client’s armed response service, for example. The next day, a detailed incident report will be submitted, specifying the date and time of the incident as well as a snapshot of the actual event, and the resolution thereof.

Business owners also have the option of viewing the CCTV footage in real-time once an alarm is activated, using a smart device such as an iPad or tablet.

It’s so sophisticated that remote access control can be implemented if needed – opening gates remotely so that security can enter the premises, for example, or taking snapshots of licence plates and identifying any anomalies with vehicles entering and leaving the premises. All that is required is a minimum 128kb data link (such as ADSL, Diginet, Broadlink, YahClick, etc).

The service won’t go down when the Internet is down either.

For complete redundancy, a 3G modem, satellite link or other redundant service can be installed on the site that will take over when the primary data link is down.

With today’s rapidly changing environment, is it worth your business not investing in cutting-edge security services?

About the author: Niven Perumal is product manager at Vox Telecom