Reasons Remote Video Monitoring (RVM) Is Important

What is Remote Video Monitoring?

Remote video monitoring uses the power of the internet to connect a virtual security guard with all of the cameras on your property. The captured footage travels in real-time straight to the eyes and ears of trained security professionals. The guard watches a bank of monitors that track everything the cameras see and can respond immediately to any perceived problems. The details the cameras capture is still being recorded just they would on a CCTV network. The big difference is that you’re adding the ability to respond immediately and not after the crime occurs.

This service ups the ante on criminals while protecting your investments. It can even stop crime before it happens.

How Can a Remote Video Monitoring System Stop Crime from Happening?

Video surveillance is a great tool for watching your business when you can’t be there. The problem is that these static systems merely record the crime as it happens. That’s not true with a remote video monitoring system. These tools incorporate the power of real-time action into your static video surveillance. 

Live remote video monitoring incorporates the eyes, ears, and decision-making capabilities of a trained security team. These teams use your video surveillance cameras to carefully monitor from corner to corner on your property. But that’s not all. 

Modern video surveillance cameras are much smarter than older analog cameras. These tools have security features that a live remote video monitoring team can control. For example, a remote guard can take control of a camera at your business and pan or zoom in to carefully see and record the actions of a trespasser. They can use audio and visual deterrents to question the trespasser or intimidate them with a booming voice recording that says the police have been dispatched. 

Alternatively, they can deploy flashing bright lights to scare off intruders. All of this is possible with a remote video monitoring service. Can your CCTV system do this? Why would these tactics even be necessary?

Today’s criminals are more aggressive, and determined than ever before. They’re not just going after the cash, either, but the supplies and even the very infrastructure that makes up your business. For example:

• Business Insider reports that lumber prices are so high today they’ve created a black market for raw materials. Lumber theft from construction sites, lumber yards, and even right off the logging trucks is skyrocketing.
• Plumbing supplies have fallen way behind demand, so the price of copper has increased by 75%, steel pipe has gone up 138% in eight months, and hot-rolled coil escalated by almost 80%. This has created a whole new market for theft. In one example, cast iron pipe is being stolen right off plumbing company property. It’s the same for heating and cooling companies.

If these companies made use of a live remote video monitoring service, video camera security could have caught the criminals before they left the property. The live security guard off-site could have called the police while sounding alarms and even interacting with the criminals. Unfortunately, none of this happened.

Is Live Remote Video Monitoring Better Than a Live On-Site Security Guard?

If you’ve ever seen a movie where a live security guard is asleep on the job (usually in front of video monitors) you’ll understand the problems inherent in a live security presence. Who monitors your live security guard at 2 am? While the security guard may be strolling your property, what’s happening at the other end of the property before the guard can get there? Also, what kind of risks are you subjecting the guard to, particularly if they confront a desperate criminal?

These are all valid concerns to consider if you’ve invested in a live on-site guard service. 

But a remote video monitor service can solve all of these problems. For example:

• Live remote video monitoring happens in a call center setting. There are multiple people on staff to ensure no one is sleeping on the job.
• A remote video monitoring system watches all of the nooks and crannies of your property simultaneously and in real-time.
• There is zero liability to a remote security guard who runs into a desperate criminal at 4 in the morning.

Consider the potential liability and slip-ups that could occur from a live guard. Then think about the new technologies available today for video surveillance. Now add in the power of real-time surveillance and you start to understand why remote video monitoring solutions are now the top choice for companies of all sizes and in every industry.

How Does Remote Video Monitoring Boost the Effectiveness Video Surveillance Equipment?

When combined with today’s powerful IP cameras, a firm like Pro-Vigil can use their remote security presence to detect suspicious activity within 24 seconds and deter it in 30. Our live remote video monitoring service deters 97% of intruders before the crime even occurs. Instead of using your video surveillance equipment simply to record an event, we up the ante on criminals by using this equipment more effectively to respond to a crime before it occurs. 

Is a Remote Video Monitoring Service Expensive When Compared to Live Security Guards?

Depending on the service, remote video monitoring can be up to 50% less expensive than a live security guard. You’re on the hook for the security guards’ hourly rate, which usually includes licensing and insurance rolled into the service. You’ll pay more depending on your location, time of day, and the guard’s experience, which could cost you $75 per hour or more. In contrast, Pro-Vigil’s remote video monitoring service offers a low monthly subscription rate that can include:

• Audio and visual deterrents
• Camera health monitoring
• Mobile application
• Video analytics

If you’d like to find out more about remote video monitoring, download our free guide by clicking here.