Protecting Your Business Premises: Ten Tools You Can Rely On

Having your own premises to operate from has a ton of great benefits, but that isn’t to say there aren’t some significant challenges that come with the privilege. 

One of the biggest is deciding how you’re going to manage the physical security of the place. While on the one hand opening a new building is exciting, it can be stressful knowing that you have a lot of investment in one place that could be taken advantage of. 

This article is here to help alleviate the worry with ten important tools you can rely on to maximize the security of your building.

1. Access Control Systems

First on the list is one of the most basic systems you need to have in place – a robust, reliable way of controlling who comes in and out of the premises. 

Most access control system vendors offer a mixture of mechanical and electronic solutions to provide the best of both worlds. These could include biometric and key card scanning with restricted zones, to interconnected sliding gateways that can link seamlessly with software solutions.

This is one of the most important aspects to get right, so spend plenty of time going through each available method to find the best one for your business and premises.

2. Intrusion Detection Systems

Next up is what you need to consider in the unfortunate event that an intruder does try to physically break in. Intrusion detection systems come in many different forms, but their job is to effectively detect any unauthorized access to your facility (naturally, they’re usually most important when your building is closed). 

At their core, these systems revolve around a central alarm and multiple different sensors, which range in complexity. Motion sensors are the most basic, but you can also get sensors that detect broken glass as well as heat.

3. Fire Alarm Systems

There are also other types of alarms you should implement beyond just those associated with burglaries. In case of an arson attack, it’s important to have a high-quality fire alarm system installed; sometimes, these can be integrated into your overall building security systems for a more comprehensive package, so shop around to see what’s available.

4. Surveillance Cameras

Next up is what your mind probably went to first when you thought of security – surveillance cameras, or closed-circuit television (CCTV). 

CCTV systems are relatively simple: they revolve around a series of interconnected cameras that link to multiple TV monitoring systems to provide visibility of every aspect of the building. They’re used both to spot potential threats as they’re about to occur and record an incident for evidence later. 

Being synonymous with high security, they’re also a great deterrent!

5. Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) Systems

SIEM systems are designed to collect a plethora of relevant security data from your other systems and analyze it to provide insights into how to prevent a potential incident. 

The more complex a security system gets, the more you’ll benefit from a SIEM system because of its ability to collate large amounts of data data and monitor it in real time. You can think of these systems as a sort of overseer, measuring the effectiveness of current protocols and alerting you to what you can do to improve.

6. Physical Storage

The list so far has focused on highly technical solutions, but it’s important to remember the importance of more basic tools like physical storage. 

Your most valuable possessions should be stored in strong safes if physical or encrypted drives if digital; even if a nefarious actor does compromise the security of the building, this way, your most important assets should still be safe.

7. Professional Security Services

If you want to take things to the next level, you could also resort to professional security services for human-manned, on-the-clock surveillance to augment your other efforts. 

If you don’t want to have a team on-site, you could hire a service to monitor your premises remotely: some services even provide a package deal, whereby you’re provided with the physical security systems you need which are then monitored from a different location for a subscription-based fee.

8. Employee Training programs

Your staff must know what to do if building security is compromised. 

Once you’ve implemented some of the solutions in this article, you’ll need to be certain that your staff knows exactly how they work and how to react in an emergency; many security breaches have been caused due to employee error, and even the most advanced systems in the world can’t account for this – it’s up to you and your team to make a collective effort to stay up to date. 

You should all have a refresher once every couple of months to ensure everyone’s knowledge stays as sharp as it should be.

9. Perimeter Security Systems

Particularly if you’re running a large operation, your facility may benefit from perimeter security systems, which are exactly what they sound like – both physical and sensor-based barriers to entry that extend around the perimeter of the building to add an extra layer of protection. 

Again, these systems can (and usually should) be linked in with whatever other systems you have in place. This way, the building can be automatically locked down before an intruder reaches the front door.

10. Cybersecurity Systems

And finally, there’s cybersecurity. While this topic deserves to be covered in its own article, it’s important to mention it amongst the other solutions discussed because so much of a modern business revolves around digital data these days. 

Implementing proper firewalls, encryption, and high-level authentication is crucial for protecting your business in the areas that matter most, as it may be the case that you’re far more likely to experience a digital attack than a physical one. 

Wrapping Up

Many other elements go into providing a maximally secure working environment for you and your staff, but the above areas cover most bases. Work through systematically and do your best to identify any areas you may be lacking in. Stay safe!