Managing security for one location is hard enough, but when you find yourself responsible for multiple sites spread across different cities or states, the complexity starts to multiply. Multi-location businesses face challenges that standalone businesses do not. You need to determine how to maintain systems and consistent protection when you can’t be at every location.

Benefits of centralized monitoring

Centralized monitoring consolidates multi-site security from disparate systems, into a localized, coordinated network, where every alarm, camera, and access point alert is monitored by professionals 24/7. Having a single monitoring center eliminates confusion on who to call in the event of an emergency. This also makes response procedures and your billing and reporting consistent. You don’t need to scramble to find which emergency contacts you need to call for each site.

Trained Monitoring Center Agents are also verifying alarms in real-time using video, logs, and sensor data so you receive an immediate response to incidents at any location, at any time. This creates faster response times from emergency services and false alarms are reduced.

Maintaining visibility and control while offsite

The ability to see what’s happening at any location in real time and take immediate action from anywhere transforms the way multi-site businesses manage security and operations.

Having live camera feeds of every location through a single platform allows business owners to review footage from any site without having to physically be on site. You can also receive video alerts based on motion, business rules, or motion triggers so that you don’t need to constantly be monitoring the sites. Then, the videos that are saved can be shared with law enforcement, insurance companies or corporate security instantly in the event of a safety or security breach.

A system’s dashboard shows every location’s alarm status, gives you instant notifications when something is off, and can automate reports on any system usage. Since you can manage everything on the go, you can arm or disarm your systems remotely, grant temporary access, and troubleshoot system issues remotely, so operations continue without unnecessary downtime.

Unified access control and backup communications across sites

Managing who has access to which locations and ensuring your security systems stay connected even when primary communications fail requires unified infrastructure across all of your buildings.

Having a single database allows you to control employee credentials across all locations in one place. If someone gets transferred, someone leaves the business, or a new employee comes in, all of your needs can be met through a single access control dashboard.

Having a standardized process takes out all of your guesswork. You will know how to make the changes you need without needing to remember how to make edits on different systems.

Then, in the event of power failures, integrated systems can also rely on emergency battery-power, so your security systems remain armed and locations protected. Additionally, cellular backup ensures that if internet and phone lines are down your systems can still transmit signals.

To further drive home the importance of having backup communication systems, it’s worth noting that certain events, like rain or extreme weather events, can increase the chances of burglaries and break ins. According to MagidLaw, “criminals often take advantage of bad weather. Rain provides cover, reducing foot traffic in neighborhoods and making it easier for burglars to break into homes or businesses unnoticed”.

Plus, if the chances of power outages are high, this puts an extra target on your business, so having backup communication is key to keeping all of your locations safe.

Managing security across multiple locations doesn’t mean you need to juggle different vendors, inconsistent systems, or constant travel. With centralized monitoring and reliable backup communications, you can have complete visibility from wherever you are, whenever you need, so as a business owner you have consistent security and safety infrastructure across your multi-site business.

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