As a security professional who is approaching almost 40 years in the industry, I have the privilege of working with clients who have diverse needs, unique environments and evolving challenges.
Finding solutions for each of their challenges is not always easy. In fact, solutions become more complex as our technology evolves. The technology, as well as the design, is more complicated, and the end product is superior in almost every way. In this article, we’re going to talk about the end-user experience, and how we can make this positive, despite the complexity we face.
Most integrators have had that difficult conversation with a client, or end user, about a failure of the technology they deployed. The CCTV, access control or other system failed to capture an important event and they want an answer as to why.
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Maybe a police officer or insurance adjuster requested to see a video event and made a comment about poor quality. There could be any number of reasons this conversation is initiated and we need to be prepared for it. The best preparation is to fully understand the expectation before you install the system. We cannot expect to meet the client’s needs unless we (and the client) know their expectations before they purchase a new system (or expand an existing one).
I am a proponent of identifying the task required of each piece of hardware in the early stages.
- What does the camera need to see and why?
- What is the purpose of access control on that door?
- Who will require access to the system?
- What are future expansion plans?
- How long do we require video or data storage?
- Who will be involved in the installation (property management, IT, integrator, others)?
- Is there a requirement for redundancy of any components?
- Does the budget meet the expectations?
This is a very short list of the types of questions that must be answered long before the installation. It is an illustration of what we need to be thinking about to avoid the pitfalls that will lead to blaming a poor system or installation, when it may in fact be a poor solution. Many of the systems I’ve looked at that were believed to be faulty or poor in some way were actually meeting the originally intended needs; there was a disconnect at some point that altered the perception of what was expected.
As an illustration, if we don’t know the specific intent of a camera, how can we possibly install the right camera for that task? We simply cannot meet the expectation if we don’t understand it.
If you are providing a solution for your client, you need to have these conversations before you do the work. This ensures that you and your client are both working towards the same goal and should expect the same outcomes.
With today’s costs, we should push back when a client says they want to view an area “just to see what’s happening there.” We must educate them that this is a recipe for failure and frankly, a waste of a camera. As I mentioned earlier, each device should be suited to a specific task, then that performance can be measured after the installation. That is realistically the only way to measure success or failure.
The “set it and forget it” way of thinking must change, which means it is partly up to us to educate the clients we serve. The system should be assessed weekly to ensure all of the devices are performing as they should. Annually, the CCTV system should be audited to ensure it is continuing to meet the needs of the end user. Annual budgets for maintenance or upgrades would be based on this annual assessment.
In the next column we will look closer at the details of how we can deploy technology to specific tasks — to improve safety and security as a whole.
Roger Miller is the president of Northeastern Protection Service Inc. (www.protectionpartner.ca).
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