Monday, December 12, 2011

How is the best way to handle office stealing?

I work at a five star hotel in a big city. I get along great with all my coworkers; even the one accused of having stolen multiple things in the past (we will call her Sally). “Sally”’s mom also works at the hotel and there have been reports of her stealing (uncaught) before too. I work at the front desk and am video recorded through my entire shift. So I thought nothing of it when I left a small sum of money (for someone’s tip) on my desk during a lunch break. When I returned, the envelope was gone. I was suspicious if perhaps Sally had taken it but I did not ask her because I didn’t want to insult her. The next day I reported it to security and they hauled me into the office to review the tapes. I told them that perhaps I’d misplaced it or “Sally” had given it to the correct employee. (Which I doubted since I hadn’t written a name on it…but I was trying to give her the benefit of the doubt)



Sure enough—Sally is seen on tape twice. The first time she goes to my work station and picks up the envelope. However, I’d forgotten my phone at my desk so I came back out to get it. She sets the money down quickly and goes back to her station. (The security guard said that was suspicious) Then you see me exit the camera again. This time, she returns to pick up the envelope and is caught on the other camera tucking it into her purse. It’s on camera for goodness sake! (She must be brave or stupid) Well, since then….nothing has happened. The security officer reviewing the tapes told me that they had been waiting to catch her “in the act”. But I was never asked any questions for the report and nothing has happened in three days. I know it wasn’t much money…but shouldn’t something be happening? What do I do now? (…except the obvious of not leaving anything valuable around her, haha. So don’t get smart with meh ;)How is the best way to handle office stealing?
CCTV cameras are the only way otherwise its you word agsint there;s.



Not all CCTV equipment is created equal, in fact there are many options that offer varying performance much like the automobile industry. In the world of CCTV you can find the equivalent of a $2,000 golf cart and a $350,000 Ferrari and everything in between. Both have 4 wheels but that's where the similarities end, it’s under the hood that counts.



Just like any other consumer electronic in the end you get what you pay for. Most retailers and sellers make about a 40-80% profit margin, this is after costs like shipping and overhead. That means when you buy a product that costs $100.00 the manufacturer usually has only spent $30 to build it which simply means it’s not a good product and will probably have a working life of about 2 months. There is a reason these products are 1/10 of the price of good and reliable DVR brand names. The type of seller these products attract are online sellers (ebay) and will make profits margins as low as 2% which means they can’t afford to offer good service or allow for RMAs (returns). Cheap products are like disposable razors they are NOT designed to last for a long time and you will end up replacing them every 2 months.



Now some products can be made cheaply like ipod cases, screen protectors, and other simple products with no moving parts or electronics. DVRs need to be good quality as they run 24/7 (20X more than the average electronic device) and process anywhere from 30-480 frames per second which in a year is over 15 billion images, and a good DVR should last 3-5 years.



A true DVR and camera require years of research and development to facilitate the seamless integration of both the hardware and software. DVRs are highly complex systems that must run 24/7, processing millions of images per day and are one of the few products that can’t be made both well and cheaply. Cheap and inexpensive products like Q-see, Swan, Lorex, and other low grade DVR’s and cameras sold by Tiger Direct, Newegg, radio shack Sams Club, are not used by any security professional and should only be used by hobbyists.



I suggest you buy a PC based DVR has they have more processing power and normally have a much smaller file size and offer more features then Standalone DVR's. I know many people buy a cheap standalone DVR, only to upgrade to a PC based in 6 months especially when they are using it to manage a store remotely. Also PC based allows you to record up to 64 cameras where a standalone will have a limit of 16.



File size is crucial to streaming because most DVR’s on the market record at real time performance (30FPS per channel) so on a 4CH is trying to send 120, 8CH 240, and a 16CH 480 images per second which requires way too much bandwidth even for the most extreme internet connections.



The smaller the files size the more images are able to be sent, and the faster they can be processed improving both FPS and speed. File size is the heart of any DVR and goes far beyond just its streaming capabilities, as it also determines the recording storage time, how much you can back up at once, how fast it renders and searches video. The file size of a DVR impacts the performance of the DVR in just about every aspect from speed to longevity and is often the most important spec of any DVR.



If you are buying a DVR and streaming is a high priority I suggest you ask for a demo and connect to the DVR to make sure it is able to stream fast enough for your needs. Most DVRs say they have remote viewing but it is often too slow and laggy to be of any use especially if it is a standalone. Some good DVR brands that I recommend are Bosch, Pelco, Honeywell and Ascendent. These brands are what security professionals use, Q-see, Swan and Lorex are only used in residential applications because they are sold by Tiger Direct, Newegg, Sams Club, Costco and other retail outlets but are not used by any security professionals also their tech support rarely speaks English as their first language...



Some good CCTV brands that I recommend are Bosch, Pelco, Honeywell and Ascendent.



http://www.ascendentgroup.com (Price and performance)

www.honeywell.com

www.pelco.com/

http://www.bosch.com



Economical DVR's

Two good economical DVRs I would recommend are Ascendent's AVP-4120 DVR or Pelco's DX-400. They will allow you to view all your cameras instantly from anywhere in the world using either IE, or a client software. The AVP-4120 uses the latest H.264 codec to improve streaming and recording time, and will allow PCs and Apple computers to remotely view cameras. These are the DVRs I would recommend that are good quality and affordable from companies who stand behind there products.



Hope this Helps,How is the best way to handle office stealing?
As the person who's money was stolen, you should report this to your supervisor, and also let him/her know it was caught on tape.
That's ridiculous that your work hasn't done anything about someone blatantly stealing. You could always play detective and get a covert security camera that you can wear on you or leave around your desk - that way you have a valid copy of her stealing, and maybe you can take it past the security department not doing anything to a higher up at your company. At the very least, maybe you could bring it up in conversation and get her to admit to it as well on a security camera verbally.

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