The market is full of choices for security systems for your company, at every tech and price point. Choosing security cameras, access point security permissions, alarm systems and surveillance can cost your company a bundle, and have a profound impact on the way the IT network is configured for your company now, and in the future.
There are lots of options at nearly every price point. If security is crucial to your business, with a great deal of integration and networking needs, we generally steer our customers toward higher end systems such as Avigilon.
But, whether you work with Hoosier Security or another firm to buy your commercial security system, we urge you to ask these questions:
- What quality of stream can I expect from your cameras?
The best systems offer HD streaming. But the best of the best offer 20+ megapixel loss-free HD streaming. This feature can be critical. HD streaming, if it is not compressed at a high enough speed, can lead to packetized data with “hitches”, blackouts and difficulty with scrolling. This can lead you to miss important details that can be critical in an emergency, when you need to search crystal clear images, fast.
- How easy is this system to scale up?
Some cheaper systems are OK for small-scale operations. But it gets suddenly more expensive when your existing equipment requires complicated networking solutions to integrate new access entry points, or surveillance cameras. The best systems will allow you to scale up infinitely, no matter how many buildings you add. In the best-case scenario, you should always be able to have a fully networked system that can be controlled from as little as one desktop station.
- How well does this system integrate with my existing IT hardware?
You should never have a security system that requires running on a system totally divorced from your main IT infrastructure. Not only does it cost more, but it creates a nightmare anytime you have to scale up operations. Your access control management solutions should support open field hardware from various leading manufacturers such as Mercury Security and HID. When you couple this with your security system’s retrofit programs, it should enables you to leverage past hardware installations, so your legacy investments don’t go to waste.
- How long does it take to install this product?
If you have ever worked on a security system install that requires cross company installation on a variety of workstations, you know this pain. Any security system product you buy should be able to be installed quickly and efficiently, on as few stations as possible. In most cases, we can have system software installed in an hour on your existing hardware.
- What happens in the event of power surges and outages?
Power outages provide an open door for criminals. Don’t let it happen to you, just because your security system lacks adequate back up. Hot-standby/auto-failover is offered with the better brands, which means your system is always on, and backed up cloud based server architecture. A good security product should switch to your backup system automatically in the event of a fatal failure. This saves you from having to set up costly redundant systems for backup.
To learn more about the best security system for your enterprise, contact us today for a free analysis and estimate.
