Posts

New Boston Surveillance Surfaces: Who Watches the Watchers?

/by American Alarm Blogging Team

New Boston Surveillance Surfaces Who Watches the WatchersBoston is getting a next generation closed-circuit television (CCTV) network to help monitor for public threats. As noted by a recent Daily Caller article, the system designed by Texas-based Behavioral Recognition Systems (BRS) will feature a kind of artificial intelligence (AI) which allows it to “recognize, learn and permanently register abnormal behavior.”

While the system has real potential, it also comes with risk: Who’s watching these watchers?

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6 Reasons To Test & Inspect Your Business Fire Alarm System Regularly

/2 Comments/by American Alarm Blogging Team

6 Reasons To Test & Inspect Your Business Fire Alarm System RegularlyBusiness fire alarm systems are designed to protect your business and employees from fire and smoke, but you can’t count on them if they’re not tested and inspected on a routine basis. Having your fire alarm system regularly serviced is critical to the safety of your building’s occupants.

The best way to discover whether your system is in need of maintenance is to have it professionally tested. Inspection and maintenance by licensed technicians can also help you cut down on expenses by preventing emergency repairs and costly false alarms that you haven’t included in your budget.

Testing your business fire alarm system on a regular basis ensures that it’s in compliance with National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 72 standards, as well as the local fire safety requirements and your insurance company’s fire alarm requirements.

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Shoplifting Prevention Series: Are Your Employees in on the Action?

/by American Alarm Blogging Team

american-alarm-shoplifting-preventionRecently, a Framingham, Mass. man was arrested for allegedly stealing $1,367.30 in merchandise from his employer, the Express store in the Natick Mall.

Employee theft is more common than you might think. In fact, every year, retail employees rip off about $15 billion worth of merchandise – 44% of all stolen goods – from their employers, according to the National Retail Federation.

Workers can shoplift in much the same way as customers by hiding merchandise in their purses, pockets, or bags and then taking it out of the store. Employees can also steal money from their registers, let friends or family members steal merchandise, or even commit credit card or check fraud.

Retail store employees are constantly presented with opportunities to steal cash or merchandise. Here are four tips to help you cut down on employee theft from experts who spoke with Entrepreneur magazine.

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Shoplifting Prevention Series: The Mindset of a Thief

/by American Alarm Blogging Team

american-alarm-shoplifting-preventionUnfortunately, shoplifting is often considered a necessary part of doing business for a retailer.

Earlier this year, three people – two from New York and one from Pennsylvania – were arrested for allegedly shoplifting $29,000 worth of fur coats and other clothing from a fur shop on Route 28 in Randolph, Mass.

Police also discovered that the suspects had a list of high-end clothing stores from Pennsylvania to Massachusetts, including stores in Boston and Quincy, according to the Patriot Ledger.

In addition to installing a business security system, understanding the different types of shoplifters – and the way they think – can go a long way toward helping you protect your company.

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Top Ten Ways to Prevent Shoplifting

/by American Alarm Blogging Team

Shoplifting. It may seem like an innocent crime, but it’s costing retailers nearly 11 billion dollars in loss every year. Some of the most common items include clothing, books, music, jewelry, and pretty much anything you can fit in your pocket or purse.

A good video surveillance system can help identify and prosecute a suspect after a theft occurs — but, wouldn’t you like to stop it from happening altogether?

In this video, American Alarm Blogging Team’s Sunny Gault will give you the top 10 ways to help you prevent shoplifting.

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Business Security Trends for 2014

/1 Comment/by American Alarm Blogging Team

american-alarm-business-security-trendsThe business security system market will show strong growth in 2014, driven by access management and video, according to James Cook, sales manager for American Alarm.

The Boston Marathon bombings demonstrated the importance of video cameras, as we mention in a recent blog post. Investigators used video from a number of businesses in the Copley Square area to identify Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who are suspected of the bombings.

The need to manage access to buildings via video surveillance systems and alarm systems that include enhanced access control is being driven in large part by the school shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut as well as other schools across the country, Cook says.

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4 Tips to Protect Your Retail Business During the Holidays

/by American Alarm Blogging Team

4 Tips to Protect Your Retail Business During the HolidaysThe period between Thanksgiving and Christmas is often the most profitable time of the year for retailers. Unfortunately, it’s also a profitable time for thieves as well.

Of course, you should always pay attention to your business security and thwarting shoplifters, but you need to be extra vigilant during the busiest time of the year.

To help you protect your retail business, we want to offer you four tips courtesy of the Business2Community website to help you protect your business against some of the most common holiday scams.

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Sun is Setting on 2G Cellular Security Systems

/by American Alarm Blogging Team

sun setting

It’s a fact: AT&T has called for 2G cellular networks to go away by Jan. 1, 2017. That means alarm companies must swap out security systems that use 2G networks to ensure the safety of their customers.

About three million cellular alarm system communicators currently use the 2G spectrum with about 80% to 90% of those provided by AT&T, according to Alarm System Report.

Many other service providers are also setting their own schedules so they can use the new bandwidth to increase capacity for 3G/4G services to handle the increased data use. Read more →

How to Protect your Business from Scrap Metal Theft

/by American Alarm Blogging Team

One of the fastest growing crimes in the United States is scrap metal theft. Thieves looking for a fast buck are stealing copper, aluminum, nickel, stainless steel and scrap iron from any number of businesses.

Business Security: Prevent Scrap Metal TheftFor example, in February a Nashua, New Hampshire man was charged with stealing a scrap-metal bin containing 20,000 pounds of scrap metal from a recycling company, according to an article in the New Hampshire Union Leader — and police believe the alleged thief is also involved with the thefts of scrap metal bins from other locations.

Even more recently, police in Charlton, Mass. arrested two men they allege stole scrap metal from a railroad year, according to the Telegram & Gazette.

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Prepare Your Business for Natural Disasters

/by American Alarm Blogging Team

Can your business survive a major fire or other natural disaster?

Business Security: Prepare Your Business for Natural Disasters

Unfortunately many companies never open for business again after a hurricane, tornado, fire, flood or other weather-related catastrophe shuts them down — but that doesn’t have to happen to your business.

The key is putting a disaster recovery plan in place – and reviewing it once a year – to protect your employees, customers, your physical assets and your investments.

Here are some tips to help you get started with keeping your business secure in a disaster situation:

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