Know The Pros and Cons Of Hiring A Security Guard

Hiring a security guard to protect your property is the oldest and most popular method of security. It’s easy to see why so many businesses choose this path.

Many business owners — as well as their staff and customers – feel safer with a security guard on site. Would-be burglars are deterred by security guards.

In the event that a crime occurs, security driver are on hand to deal with the situation promptly and quickly, giving company owners piece of mind.

While onsite security personnel may have been the greatest option in the past, video surveillance technology has improved to the point that it is now a stronger physical security strategy, delivering many of the benefits of onsite guards without the liabilities and flaws.

Liabilities of Security Guards

Employing a security guard who is never called into action is the ideal security outcome for any firm.

The presence of the guard alone would dissuade all crime, eliminating the need to engage a suspect. But we all know this isn’t the case.

Crime occurs when the security guard is on duty for a variety of reasons, and here is where legal liability comes into play.

For instance, your business could be held accountable if:

All of these instances can have major legal ramifications for your company, not to mention put your security guard and other onsite employees in danger.

The good news is that, thanks to recent improvements in video technology, live remote video monitoring services (RVMS) can provide businesses with many of the advantages of physical security guards without the legal obligations and risk.

RVMS, such as Pro- Vigil’s, provide live “virtual guards” who provide full monitoring, deterrent, and site security in the same way that real guards do, but from distant operations centers rather than onsite.

Because they don’t have a physical presence on your site, all the liability scenarios we just detailed are no longer a risk.

We understand that utilizing remote guards eliminates the requirement for an onsite physical presence to deter crime, but that’s fine because you don’t need a live body to deter crime and apprehend criminals.

To deter would-be offenders, virtual guards can remotely activate audio and visual components such as flashing lights and pre-recorded vocal warnings. They can also immediately notify business owners or authorities if necessary. Virtual guards may often react equally as quickly as onsite guards, if not faster.

Human Flaws are Overcome by Technology

Aside from legal ramifications, there are a few more factors to consider when determining whether to hire a physical security guard or use an RVMS with virtual guards.

You’ll always have to deal with the human factor when hiring a physical security guard.

Security guards are human, and they get sick, have bad days, make mistakes, and even fall asleep on the job.

Consider the following dangers: “Microsoft determined that since the year 2000 (about when the mobile revolution began), the average attention span has plummeted from 12 seconds to eight seconds,” according to Time.com.

There’s no reason to believe security officers have significantly longer attention spans than the general public. They are diverted from providing full-time surveillance and deterrence by their mobile devices, other job commitments, and other factors.

All of these are human flaws that organizations cannot control and that crooks can detect and exploit.

RVMS, on the other hand, mitigates these risks by integrating people, technology, and processes. Technology never gets ill, sleeps, or becomes distracted.

Virtual guards have a supervisor on duty at all times, ensuring that security specialists are only focused on your organization. Virtual guards working at a distant facility alongside coworkers are also less likely to fall asleep or become distracted than a single guard stationed at the front of your property.

Finally, while security guards are only as good as their line of sight, RVMS security cameras provide round-the-clock, 360-degree coverage – and they can record and save HD footage to the cloud, so it’s always available when needed.

For example, if a theft, vandalism, or other crime occurs on your property, RVMS allows you to quickly locate and access the incident in question to obtain the information you need to report the crime and possibly apprehend the perpetrator.

Reviewing archived footage can also help you figure out what went wrong so you can plug any security gaps.