We’re now in October, which means we are fast approaching the incredibly busy festive period. For most organizations, the holiday season represents one of the busiest times of the year, but also the only time of the year where your front doors are locked up for extended periods of time.

This represents a huge opportunity for criminals. Not only do they know that your business will have more assets and cash on its premises than normal, they also know that your store or office will be left unattended more frequently.

As a result, businesses are far more prone to criminal acts that disrupt their operations during the holiday season. This includes anything from break-and-enters, pickpocketing, vandalism and even arson. 

While your business should have a proper security solution implemented all-year round, if you don’t already have one then the holiday season is the most important time for you to fix that. Thankfully, you still have a couple of months to review your security policies and make any changes necessary to ensure your company is fully secure.

To help protect your organization, Sonitrol Western Canada has listed some tips and best practices that will improve the security of any business this festive season:

#1 - Test your security equipment to make sure it works 

Will your business be closed for an extended period of time over the holiday season? If so, it’s absolutely crucial that all of your security equipment is tested multiple times to ensure it’s working properly.

Make sure that your organization’s fire alarms, security camera, managed access control systems and any other security technologies that you have are working correctly. Doing this a month or two before you actually close will give you enough time to fix any solutions that aren’t working.  

#2 - Lock up valuable assets

Since you’ll likely be shut for extended periods of time and potentially have an increased number of products on your premises, it’s important that you take extra precautions to lock up any valuable assets. 

Adding some additional barriers to your most expensive assets is likely enough to deter thieves if they do make it onto your premises. Ultimately, criminals know that once they make it into your store or office they need to get out as soon as possible. If they see your items are protected they’ll more than likely leave straight away.

#3 - Consider whether it’s worth posting your holiday hours

Some customer-facing businesses, or even professional offices, may think it’s a good idea to post their seasonal holiday hours on their front door. While this may be beneficial for some companies, for others it may be simply telling criminals when your premises are left unattended.

If the benefit doesn’t outweigh the risk of doing this for your business, consider using a different tactic instead. One way to tell customers your hours without telling criminals is to post a sign on your front door that asks customers to call your business for holiday hours.

#4 - Invest in a verified security solution

To properly secure your business, and move away from ineffective conventional CCTV solutions, you should consider investing in a verified alarm solution from Sonitrol Western Canada. 

Our innovative verified alarms are monitored by security experts in a central monitoring station who are able to verify whether a threat is real or not. Unlike traditional CCTV, they don’t just record a criminal act as it’s taken place - they prevent it from happening. Once an alarm is verified as a real crime, police are notified immediately and dispatch on average in just three to four minutes.

Want to learn more about how a Sonitrol Western Canada verified alarm system will protect your business during the active holiday season, and all-year-round? Contact our team of security experts today. We would be happy to help.