How to Choose the Right Live Video Monitoring Company

You're looking to bump up your security for a better return on your investment and a good way to do that is with live video monitoring services. The challenge is finding the right company to be your partner in security. It's a decision that requires careful thought because you want to avoid changing companies if things don't work out.

Use this checklist to help you find the right remote video surveillance company. These questions help you determine if they have the best set of skills, experience, and processes to handle your security requirements.

Company Background

• Are they strictly a monitoring company?
• Are they a local or national company?
• How long have they been in business?
• Who are some of their clients?
• Will they provide references for you to contact?
• How many monitoring centers do they have?
• Where are their monitoring centers located?
• What can you learn about them from their website?

Live Video Monitoring Experience

• Do they have a lot of videos?
• Do they have videos of arrests?
• Do they have videos of deterring crime?
• How many successful arrests do they have?
• How many crimes have they deterred?
• Have they worked with clients in your industry?
• Are their operators trained?
• How many cameras do they monitor?
• How many sites do they monitor?

Video Surveillance System Services

• Do they watch videos in real-time?
• What options do they offer besides monitoring?
• Do they have audio voice-down to talk to suspects on-site?
• Do they communicate with local law enforcement?
• Do they review and analyze security footage?
• What backup plans do they have to continue monitoring if they lose power?
• What happens if a data center loses archived data?
• What happens if a data center loses power?
• Do they check the health of video systems?
• Can they work with your existing cameras?

No doubt, you want to select the right video surveillance system partner. With all the work that goes into setting up a security monitoring partnership, you need one you can trust — someone you can work with for a long time to come. You should also look for someone with experience, who isn’t learning their business on your time. An added benefit is that anytime you run into an unusual security problem or challenge, you already have a trusted resource available.

These detailed questions help you think through the factors that can affect your security program. Doing a little extra work will save you time because you address everything up front. It will maximize your company's success with remote video monitoring while limiting potential problems.

If you have questions about this checklist and what kind of answers you want to look for, please contact us. We'd be happy to help explain them in detail or answer them.