Risks for professional services firms
From lawyers to architects and financial advisors to engineers, these professional services experts often serve clients across multiple office locations, providing convenience and reliability but also creating a unique set of challenges and needs when it comes to operational efficiency and security. Video cloud and access control services is often an overlooked opportunity for these businesses.
For example, these entities are obligated to protect confidential client information. Storing sensitive data can make a professional services firm a target for bad actors or cybercriminals. Additionally, professional services firms must ensure employee safety around the clock, as staff members are likely to work long hours late into the evening for particular occasions (such as during tax season). These firms are also prone to internal theft and thus, have a need for preventative security measures.
Many professional services firms with offices in multiple locations rely on their property management companies for security solutions, but this is not always the ideal choice. These solutions can be fragmented and disconnected, varied in each location and out of the hands of the business owners leasing the office space. This leaves professional services firms vulnerable to risks that should be within their control.
Cloud-based video and access control as an option
The good news is that there’s another option for these establishments that’s simple, cost-effective and secure: cloud-based video and access control services. As a service that is easy to implement and manage, the cloud provides numerous benefits for professional services firms, such as:
- Centralization. By leveraging the cloud, all office locations can be monitored from any Web-based or mobile device at any time. This allows operators to be in complete control of authorizing specific users, user groups, camera views, recordings and more, and creates the ability to manually schedule maintenance at any location when it’s most convenient.
- Customization. A cloud-based service is specifically tailored to each company’s needs. Users can be alerted to behavior that may indicate potential theft or criminal activity, such as camera tampering, unauthorized access to the building or offices during non-business hours and even people entering private, “off-limits” offices or areas.
- Intelligent analytics. The cloud enables organizations to proactively respond to incidents rather than just react after the fact by providing business intelligence generated from people counting, vehicles-in-region, heat mapping and more.
- Scalability. Professional services firms tend to grow over time, which isn’t a problem when a security system exists in the cloud. Whether a company is expanding security within one property or adding additional properties and venues — or even moving to a different location — a cloud service quickly scales with the business.
- Cybersecurity. The cloud has grown to become one of the most secure options for protecting data and is safer than on-premise servers that run the risk of tampering or data loss. Data transmitted to and from the cloud is always encrypted and maintained, ensuring that the private information professional services firms typically work with is safeguarded at all times.
- ROI. The initial investment in a cloud-based service is lower than on-premise software solutions, as companies may use existing CCTV systems and don’t need staff to monitor video 24/7 with automatic alarms and notifications.
Many people rely on professional services firms every day, for both assistance and to keep their information protected, therefore creating the need for these entities to deploy solutions that enhance safety and optimize operations. Learn more about how the cloud’s myriad of advantages can allow professional services firms to meet this goal.
