Heavy equipment theft (i.e. forklifts, trucks, etc.) can be costly for business owners at the jobsite or rental yard, but deterring it can be difficult with an unplanned, piecemeal approach.
Fortunately for material handling companies with heavy equipment, fully integrating the latest capabilities of physical security and access control systems can significantly cut theft and the cost of deterrence.
This “virtual” approach combines video surveillance, access control, and information technology (IT) integration to replace many of the functions of in-person security personnel, dramatically reducing costs. Virtual systems can be customized to loss prevention situations no matter the size of the operation or type of assets protected.
Recently, Southwest ToyotaLift, a material handling equipment dealer with four locations in California and Nevada, bought a new facility. However, the site’s location made it susceptible to theft from break-ins, according to Barry Westenhaver, operations manager of the new facility.
Southwest ToyotaLift purchased an integrated security camera system from BTI Communications Group, a technology convergence provider serving the loss prevention sector, installed it at its new facility, and pays a modest monthly fee for equipment maintenance and camera monitoring.
“Calling out to a suspect over loudspeakers [with the system] can deter theft before it starts. Or, in the case of a serious break-in that you have on video, calling the police immediately is better,” he says.
Westenhaver prefers the remote monitoring arrangement, rather than the more costly traditional option of paying onsite personnel to monitor security cameras, which the material handling equipment dealer had previously tried.
“When we pay BTI for remote monitoring, they only focus on our cameras when the devices sense motion, so one person can cost effectively monitor many properties just like he or she is onsite. So, it is not necessary to watch all the cameras all the time [which can waste resources],” he says.
In another example, burglars were already inside the yard attempting to steal equipment.
“When a BTI security technician called out to the thieves via loudspeakers, two started running immediately. One dropped his wrenches where he stood and ran. Both left the property, and we did not lose any equipment.”
Westenhaver notes that the camera system’s motion sensing capability enables efficient tracking of perpetrators.
“Because the cameras sense motion, a remote technician can follow suspects throughout the yard wherever they go, tracking from one camera to the next. The camera focus can also be adjusted to the height of a person to prevent dog [or small animal] movement from triggering a notification.”
“The integrated surveillance technology is a step above anything we have seen. So far it has resolved our theft and break-in issues where nothing else would work,” concludes Westenhaver.
For more information on BTI Communications Group, please call 1-800-HELPBTI (1-800-435-7284), contact info@btigroup.com, or visit www.btigroup.com.
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