Choosing the right residential security company to protect your home is an important decision. The first rule of thumb is: get to know the security companies that you might use. Each residence or business is unique, and so should be the approach from your security company.
Ask the security company to come out to your property and walk through your situation in detail and advise you of the risks and solutions – not only in general for your area but based on the unique characteristics of your property. What about your work and travel habits – are you often away from home for work for long stretches? Or in the case of a business how often is there no one on site? How about your neighborhood? What kind of property crime is most common there? Have a detailed discussion.
Security Patrol Services
Private patrol companies have security guards on staff who make regular patrols of neighborhoods and look for suspicious situations or activities and sending guards as required.
Some specific questions for patrol companies:
Can they provide foot or vehicle patrols in private areas (if required)? Parking enforcement? Can you call, text, or email anytime? If you go out of town, how often will they check on your property?
Commercial security
When considering security solutions for your business, what are the risks? Certainly, intruders and burglary are risks. But there is also fire, employee safety, customer safety, loss of high-value assets, and regulatory compliance.
Intruders, theft, burglary, vandalism are the risk that we think of first. These threats can mean losing valuable goods and equipement, property damage, and perhaps also loss of information which is critical or sensitive to your business. Your operations are disrupted.
Your company will need a video surveillance system so that your entire premises can be observed and any unusual movements can be caught. Access to certain areas of the premises needs to be restricted with electronic access controls.
Certain industries require additional protection, for example special hazard and explosion suppression systems. These require special extinguishing agents, such as gaseous agents, wet and dry chemicals, and carbon dioxide. These must carry approvals from specialized attestation agencies.
Another security aspect is employee safety and customer safety. Incidents on your premises may result in injuries or even death which in turn can damage the reputation of your company. Solutions include CCTV or video surveillance, fire safety systems, public address systems and emergency lighting for orderly evacuations, and 24 hour monitoring and servicing.
Event security
Security guards at your special event will prevent criminal activities and violations of your house rules. They can report crimes and spot suspicious activity. Questions for event security providers:
Have they ever had an incident with one of their security guards at an event they’ve protected? If they have, ask how they fixed or settled the issue. How long have they been operating? What are their management’s experience and qualifications?
References, quotes and contracts
You’ll want to get quotes from at least three security providers. Ask the security firm for references, and contact them! Make sure that the company that you hire is licensed by your state. Finally, when you are ready to sign, read the contract carefully. Are there any hidden charges? Be sure you are aware of what the cancellation policy is and what the terms are.