It’s not uncommon for businesses to close over the Christmas period, especially small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) or start-ups. For business owners, this shouldn’t cause concern over security – when you’re on Christmas leave, you should be able to feel confident that your office and its contents are fully protected. If you don’t feel this way, then here are a few tips to help you secure your business over the festive period.
Befriend your office neighbours
The chances are that most businesses will be shutting up for at least a few days over Christmas, but it’s always worth telling the neighbouring office that you’re going to be away for a bit. This doesn’t mean they have to keep an eye on the office as such, but at least they can alert the authorities if they see someone trying to enter the building while you’re away.
Check in using smart technology
If you own a small business or start-up, or operate from home, then smart technology is a great way to ensure everything is in order while you’re on your Christmas break. With technology like Canary, you can monitor your CCTV system from your smartphone and take action if you see anything suspicious. It works by sending a notification to your phone if movement is detected, linking you with the live CCTV footage, and enabling you to sound the alarm or alert the police from your smartphone if you think there’s a security issue.
You can also use smart technology to make it look as though the office is in use over the Christmas period – either by setting the lights to turn on and off at certain times of the day, or, even better, to turn on and off on a random basis, making the use of lights look as natural as possible. This is better than keeping one light switched on at all times, as anyone watching the property will soon figure out that this is a trick, and you will also have to pay for the wasted electricity costs in the new year!
Lock away valuable business assets
Your office should be secure enough to withstand an attempted burglary or vandalism (e.g. it should have CCTV, burglar alarms and security locks in place), but it’s always best to minimise the chances of a criminal targeting your property in the first place. While it’s obviously not possible to put away items like computers, you should lock away any smaller valuables, such as laptops, iPads and cameras, etc. in a high-security safe so that they’re out of view and fully protected should someone try to break in. We recently carried out a complete burglar alarm installation in New Malden for a concerned business owner.
To find out more about keeping your business secure while you’re away, contact us at Angel Security today.
