Car dealership security systems used to be so antiquated, it’s a wonder that any inventory stayed on the lot at all. From relying on one untrained guard to patrol an entire sprawling lot in the middle of the night, to sparsely placed and low-resolution video cameras — it’s been time for a change for years. Luckily, that time has finally arrived. Remote guarding represents the undeniable future of auto dealer security, and it starts by looking at 5 huge reasons why this is such a revolution in the auto dealership surveillance world.
Before we get into all the benefits of remote guarding for car dealerships, let’s look at the alternative — namely, what’s going on currently at a majority of lots across the country. Incredibly, whether the dealer is big or small, the same standard approach is typically applied in blanket fashion to just about every car lot. Hire a night guard for $15/hour or so, and hope that he or she has some semblance of professional ethics and/or accountability to not fall asleep overnight (and actually make their required rounds). If you’re an auto dealership owner, when was the last time you showed up at 3am to see what your security guard was actually doing?
From there, maybe you have one or two old-fashioned CCTV systems, probably watching the interior office space plus maybe one wide-angle shot of your entire outdoor inventory. Enough perhaps to verify that a crime went down, but certainly not comprehensive enough to glean any meaningful or actionable details about the security event even if you do catch it on this grainy camera.
It’s simply not effective, and car dealerships are well aware of the amount of inventory loss that happens each year due to inadequate security. But remote guarding can change all of that the very first day after being installed. Instead of an on-site guard who can’t possibly be everywhere at once, you get a whole team of security experts watching your facility. And they’re watching not from fuzzy SD camera feeds, but from crystal-clear HD transmissions equipped with futuristic technology like facial recognition, license plate recognition, and more.
Thieves aren’t still relying on methods from 1980 to perpetrate crimes against you and your business. So why are you still protecting your assets and livelihood with 1980-era methods? Would you want the encryption on your bank account to still be using technology from years ago? Then why would you allow it at your business?
Many car dealership owners are aware of the superior nature of remote guarding, but put off making the switch anyway. That’s due to a misconception surrounding the cost of remote guarding services these days. Sure, when this technology first arrived on the scene, it was more expensive than the old security guard method. However, this tech has been around for several years now, and security firms like Galaxy Protection have been at the forefront of bringing these advancements to businesses of every size.
These days, remote guarding can pay for itself in an average of only 9 months compared to a traditional on-site guard. That’s due to a variety of factors ranging from lowered insurance premiums, to wage savings, to reduced inventory loss, to the removal of expensive and outdated infrastructure choices.
If you’re thinking that you couldn’t possibly afford security features like HD cameras and facial recognition, think again. The technology is now within reach of even small auto dealers… and in fact, may even save them money.
One of the most immediate benefits of implementing a remote guarding solution at your car dealership is the fact that it will usually lower your premiums pretty substantially, as it shows that you’re serious about guarding your site from theft and vandalism. However, those monthly or annual savings are only part of the story.
When a security event does occur after investing in remote guarding technology, you now have unassailable proof of exactly what happened, in razor-sharp detail for all to see. False workers comp claims? A thing of the past. Untrustworthy employees thinking they can take advantage of “shrinkage” margins? Forget about it. Insurance companies playing hardball by sticking to their version of events? Simply impossible.
With remote guarding, you’re making a considerable smart investment towards the business’ future by documenting what is actually happening in every corner of the dealership — 24/7. With that peace of mind, you can focus on growing your profits instead of getting mired in frustrating insurance battles.
At Galaxy Protection, every single client is a complete custom job. Anybody who’s spent more than a few minutes contemplating the nature of effective site security realizes that there’s no such thing as a one-size-fits-all solution to guarding a car dealership.
That’s an important point because it suggests that the layout of your site, your security history, and your specific concerns are all relevant factors in designing your remote guarding solution. All those things are inherently true, and it’s why we’re such sticklers about integrating intelligent design into your security system from the very beginning.
That way, your security system is working for you — and not the other way around. Galaxy Protection won’t try to upsell you or “piecemeal” your security features. We simply design the best fit for your unique needs, period.
Right now, if you’re guarding your car dealership by more traditional (read: outdated) means, you might think that you’re being protected at all times, but nothing could be farther from the truth. Let’s take a moment and assume in good faith that your on-site guard is hard-working, means well, and is committed to doing the best job he or she possibly can. That’s already a leap of faith, but for the purposes of this train of thought let’s make that assumption.
Even with that as a given, there’s no possible way your guard can be everywhere at one time. Criminals in the 21st century aren’t like stray cats that will just wander directly into the path of an onlooker. They study guard movements, study their target, and actively look for weaknesses in their security structures. When was the last time you, as an owner or manager, put that kind of mental energy into actively identifying potential weaknesses?
Furthermore, many on-site guards are reluctant to engage criminals when they do see them, due to perceived safety threats or the idea that their life is worth more than the inventory of a company they don’t even work directly for. With remote guarding, however, your security team can interface with a criminal in the very moment of the crime by utilizing two-way audio. By removing the face-to-face threat, Galaxy’s operatives are free to be as direct or forceful as necessary to deter the event before it even fully takes place.
While one Galaxy Protection security operative communicates with the suspect, another is already on the phone with local police, providing critical details to aid in apprehension.
For once, with remote guarding in place, the business has the upper hand… instead of the criminal.
Call us today at 844-GALAXY5