A CCTV access control system has the huge advantage of offering information to more than one of the senses.

If you have no access control to your office or other building and rely on a simple doorbell it means that someone has physically to go to the door and open it in order to see who is calling. This can be a real nuisance if your office is on the second floor.

Even if you have a buzzer entry system, you still cannot see the caller. You are relying on the caller to be who they say they are, but this may not be the case.

If only they had CCTV access control…

In a recent incident, an abusive former boyfriend of a secretary at a certain company called the company’s premises claiming that he had a delivery. He was allowed entry through the use of the buzzer system and managed to get to the secretary’s office where he began attacking her. He was overpowered by three male employees, but not before he had smashed the girl’s glasses and broken her nose.

In the course of the ensuing scuffle, two laptops and a printer were damaged beyond repair and a filing cabinet was overturned, while one of the male employees suffered a broken wrist.

All of this could have been prevented by the use of a simple CCTV system. It would have been crystal clear that the caller was not carrying a parcel and entry would have been denied.

If you don’t like what you see…

Quite simply, a CCTV access control system lets you SEE the caller and identify him or her. If you don’t like what you see, you just deny access to that individual.

Of course, a CCTV access system can do more than simply control access. A prominently placed CCTV camera, together with a warning sign will prevent many potential incidents simply because the caller knows that he can be identified. For an easy life, he’ll move on to the less well-protected premises.

You can record it!

If the camera is linked to a recording device it can be used to identify intruders at night time. It can also record vehicle number plates and other identifying information, all of which can be very valuable to the police in the event of a crime.

In addition, modern CCTV cameras can be set to record twenty-four hours a day but dump images after a certain period of time. If a predetermined incident should take place – perhaps an intruder triggering a security light – the camera will store images from a few minutes before the incident took place until after the event, thus saving the need to store images when nothing untoward is happening.

Furthermore, if an alarm is triggered, CCTV cameras can be programmed to send video to smartphones, laptops and other devices so that those concerned can decide how to respond. Alarm verification, especially when you are not on the premises, can be an extremely useful additional tool.

It can also offer peace of mind when you realise that the security light was triggered by the neighbour’s cat.

Get peace of mind with a Guardian CCTV system for your home or business premises.