Security Guards vs. CCTV Systems: How To Choose Which Is Right For You

If you’re a business or property owner, staying safe and secure at all times is likely to be pretty high on your priority list.

Whether you manage a car park, own a currently vacated building, are organising an upcoming event or want to protect your home, keeping your contents, customers, family and staff well protected is imperative for a whole host of reasons – from preventing unauthorised access to keeping confidential data safe.

Keeping your site secure in this way will often lead you to the age-old debate between whether to invest in the tried-and-tested system of using security guards or trust in more of a technological process that utilises CCTV camera solutions.

In an ideal scenario you would want to use both for a two-pronged ‘belt and braces’ approach. However, if you only have the budget available for one of the two options, join us as we run through a few of the key benefits and drawbacks of each system, helping you decide which is right for your current circumstances.

The Pros & Cons of CCTV Systems

While they may be widely considered to be the more technological option of the two, today’s sophisticated CCTV systems include what’s known as remote monitoring, which adds a human response element to each CCTV package.

In practice, remote monitoring enables CCTV security systems to notify you as soon as there is any potentially suspicious behaviour, allowing you to ‘take a look’ and actively prevent attacks in advance, rather than deal with them afterwards.

What’s more, CCTV systems offer a whole host of additional benefits, as you will see below:

• Visible deterrent. Seeing a CCTV system will put potential criminals off and discourage them from unlawfully accessing your premises.
• Interactivity. Most CCTV systems now come equipped with integrated audio systems that can broadcast warning messages, alerts and enable security personnel to directly address intruders.
• 24/7 coverage. CCTV systems are always on, allowing you to keep track of movements throughout every hour of every day.
• Recorded evidence. If the worst happens and a criminal does access the property, CCTV systems provide you with the evidence you need to apprehend them.
• Adaptability. CCTV systems can be used at any kind of site – whether it be a vacant property, a car park or a business.
• Durability. CCTV systems are not easy to disarm and are designed for longevity.

However, CCTV systems do also come with a few drawbacks. From the upfront installation cost to the ongoing running costs, CCTV systems are also recognised as being less of a deterrent when used as a stand-alone security measure.

Plus, many types of CCTV systems may not offer the risk-free guarantee that householders or businesses are ideally looking for, so it could be worth considering an alternative measure instead, which brings me on to my next point.

The Pros & Cons of Security Guards

Like CCTV systems, human security guards can offer a wide range of benefits to homes and businesses looking to stay safe. These include:

• More responsive. Security guards can be responsive to other issues that CCTV systems may not pick up, such as utility, gas or chemical leaks, as well as weather damage, fly tipping or any hidden blind spots.
• Visual deterrent. Research has found that security guards are a much bigger visual deterrent to criminals than CCTV systems are.
• Fewer false alarms. Security guards will only alert you to events they feel you need to be aware of, limiting the number of false alarms you will receive.
• Reduced overall costs. There is no up-front installation cost and savings can be made by doubling up guard personnel with other responsibilities, such as management services.
• Real-time & on-site surveillance. If both systems are used, security guards can monitor the CCTV systems on a regular basis to provide surveillance of every potential access point.

That said, security guards being human means that obtaining 24/7 security can come at a fairly hefty cost. What’s more, hiring security guards will also bring an additional need to invest in areas such as training, job retention and job satisfaction. In essence, you’ll need to ensure they are well looked after, since you will effectively be hiring them for your protection.

Final thoughts…

We hope the points made above help you decide which type of security service is right for you. If you are still struggling to pick and would like to ask us any questions you might have, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Here at Maltaward, we are experts in a wide variety of security solutions – from concrete barriers to CCTV camera solutions. So, to pick our brains, simply give us a call at your earliest convenience. We’d be more than happy to help.