We talk a lot about digital security for your business, but what about physical security? Are you doing all you can to secure your physical office location and the assets, resources, and employees within? Today, we want to discuss some of the options you have for controlling your physical infrastructure.
Understanding Your Business’ Needs
The first step in implementing any new technology is to assess your business’ needs, as no two organizations are alike.
Consider the physical space of your business and determine what vulnerabilities might exist. For example, you might get a lot of foot traffic, store sensitive information, and keep valuable merchandise in inventory. Additionally, you’ll want to consider the access points for your business, like doors and windows, for common areas, private locations, and storage areas.
The reason we’re doing all of this is simple: to see what you need to implement and what you can do without, so you get protection your business actually needs.
Identifying the Right Technology
Once you’ve got an idea of how your office is laid out, you can get to the fun part: the technology element.
First, we recommend thinking about what level of security you need, as some businesses might be able to get away with a simple digital surveillance system that keeps an eye on the place when you’re not around. If your business works with more sensitive information, though, you might consider access control solutions like key card entry or biometrics to limit who can access certain parts of your office. With access control logs, you can also see who comes and goes at any given time, helping you keep tabs on things accordingly.
Really, you want solutions that meet your current needs while remaining flexible enough to adapt to your business’ anticipated growth.
Planning and Monitoring for Response
However, what happens when your surveillance system catches something that’s a little sus?
That’s where your plan of action comes in, and it all depends on whether you’re monitoring your systems yourself or if you’ve hired someone to do it for you. Monitoring services are capable of 24/7 security so the proper authorities can be contacted if necessary. Regardless, you need to have a plan for what happens when your alarms are tripped, and especially whose responsibility it is to follow up on potential issues.
With a solid plan in place, you can minimize loss and know with confidence that your business can respond appropriately to any potential physical security threat.
Need a hand with your physical security processes and technologies? Lantek can help. To learn more, call us at (610) 683-6883.