Tech Connect: Keeping an eye on business

It's simply smart technology.

Whether for nabbing shoplifters or keeping an eye on employees, the latest tech for surveillance system cameras - thanks to the digital base - can offer a variety of business uses.

If you own a retail business, for example, you may want to consider some well-placed cameras and signs to alert potential shoplifters that you are protecting your merchandise.

Many shoplifters can steal merchandise in the smallest of shops. In one small optical shop, an employee was shadowing a suspicious person who still managed to lift a very expensive pair of sunglasses.

However, a camera caught him hiding the sunglasses up his sleeve, and the staff were able to see it on the monitor. He was apprehended when he left the store.

In that same store, when some expensive sunglasses were discovered to be missing, the clerks immediately went to the recordings. What they found was not another shoplifter, but that a customers simply had returned the frames to the wrong spot in the store.

As small-business owners know, a majority of theft comes from employees, not from the public. Again, well-placed cameras can spot merchandise being stolen by employees in backrooms, not being rung up.

Another role for cameras in businesses is to use them to assist supervisors in enforcing important policies. Bar owners, for example, often use cameras to make sure that the bartenders are not drinking on the job.

Cameras in banks, in place to identify robbers, also are employed to monitor the behavior of their tellers to make certain that they are not behaving unprofessionally or in some way that violate policies. Playing games, putting their feet up on the counter, reading books during slow times, etc., are all things that could violate policies but would go unseen by a supervisor working elsewhere in the bank.

Cameras also can provide some level of security for employees and customers. Cameras on the outside of the building can monitor the surroundings to see if there are any suspicious loiterers near doors - especially at side or rear exits.

Cameras also can be wired to provide two-way audio. This adds communication capabilities to surveillance cameras in warehouses, on the grounds or in remote areas.

So, now you may be thinking that all of this sounds very complicated and expensive. It is neither.

For starters, a surveillance system consists of a camera, network wiring, a low-end computer with an adequate amount of storage space for the recordings, a standard monitor and some free software.

Hard-drive storage itself is very inexpensive. In addition, you can determine how many hours, days, months, etc., of recording you want to keep. You then erase what you don't need to free up storage space.

These cameras are designed to run on a network (LAN). If your network is connected to the Internet, as most are, this means that you can view your business operations from any browser, anywhere.

Think about that for a second. As your home computer has a browser, your smartphone and your tablet have browsers, you can “look through” your cameras from anywhere you have an Internet connection.

Might that be of value to you, if not just for peace of mind?

The new cameras can come with about any level of picture quality that you want or need. You can use the standard resolution, which is very good, or you can opt for cameras made to accept lenses providing superior resolution and telephoto capabilities.

The free software allows you to display the images from up to 32 cameras on a single computer monitor. The software also allows for easy and intuitive roving between the displays from the different cameras.

Standard features in the cameras include options for you to start recording when there is movement or sound, and stop when there is not. This automatically cuts down on the amount of storage space required for the recordings.

Infrared is standard on these new cameras, which is required in low-light conditions. This is especially helpful for cameras mounted outside or in backrooms.

In case you think that the bad guys can just cover up one of your cameras or spray paint the lens, fear not. The cameras automatically will send you a message that there has been tampering.