Relocating a business can be a formidable task. You have to transport expensive equipment, confidential information and expensive supplies/inventory. And you have to do all of it while keeping your assets safe and secure.

If you are about to move your business, here are some steps you can take to reduce chaos and keep your property safe. 

Months before you move, gather employees from each department and go over critical moving information. Make sure that you have covered all of the important moving details to ensure nothing is missed, and review the security plan so that everyone knows what to do to keep them and the company’s property safe.

You will also want to assign team members to specific tasks, including finding credible movers and creating an inventory list so that you can ensure everything made it to the new location once the move is complete.

To help make sure bills and sensitive information arrive at your new address when you move, be sure to contact everyone you do business with before the big move. This will give you time to coordinate address changes and set up electronic email, even if it is temporary. You will also want to organize mail forwarding with the post office.

While you can let customers know you are moving, it’s recommended that you wait to give customers and the general public details of your move until after you are at the new premises. This will prevent criminals from being able to scope out your new location or plan a crime.

Just like moving from your home, relocating your business is the perfect time to go through everything and get rid of excess items. Clear out unwanted supplies and equipment and go through documents to get rid of paperwork that is no longer needed.

But remember … when unloading excess items, throw them out with caution. Shred or professionally archive sensitive documents and properly clear off old computers and hard drives. You may even want to consider a professional service to guarantee there are no informational security breaches.

It’s highly recommended that you number boxes. This will help you quickly note if a box goes missing and you can record what items are in which box for doing inventory once the move is complete. Avoid writing the contents of the box on the outside of it as this can make it easier for criminals to target valuables and sensitive information.

Ensure that you have verified security systems installed at the new location, and don’t trust old systems that have been left behind as they may not be up to scratch. You won’t want to use your old system either as it was designed for a different building. Instead, you should keep it up and running until the move is complete at your previous location. This will ensure you can mitigate crime while you are in the process of moving. 

When installing your new security system before the move, you should consider installing monitored audio/video surveillance for its many benefits including:

• Real time monitoring.
• Alarm verification leads to faster dispatch of authorities (and less false alarm dispatches which can cost your business money).
• Real time updates provided to police.
• Reduce damage and losses.
• Improved apprehension rates.
• The ability to view archived and live security footage.
• 100% coverage.

Have a security professional do an audit of the new location to ensure you have everything you need to keep your employees and business safe. This is also a good opportunity to review the benefits of additional security measures, such as monitored fire systems, controlled access and panic buttons.

Make sure that all movers and employees are bringing items to a single entrance at the new location. This will make monitoring easier and make it harder for criminals to grab something undetected.

Use the check list your team made to confirm everything has arrived at the new location.

Go over the security policies with employees to ensure physical and cyber security protocols are fresh in their mind. Be sure to pay special attention to access control at the new location.

For help establishing a new fully integrated Sonitrol security system for your new office location, please contact our security professionals today.