The restaurant business is notoriously challenging when it comes to turning a profit. As a restaurant owner, you know how important it is to run operations efficiently, to make sure everyone is doing their job, and to protect your property from everything from careless oversight to outright theft.
From late deliveries to inattentive employees, there’s a lot that can derail your success. Unattended food can go bad. Spills can cause accidents. Cash can disappear from the register.
And you can’t be everywhere, watching everything at once, especially if you have multiple locations. You’d occasionally like to take a day off, too!
The good news is that restaurant security is constantly improving, with smart technology to make your job easier and keep your business safer. And what better way to learn about how this technology can benefit you than to see it in action in real life?
Today we’re not going to tell you about security alarm systems, we’re going to show you how a pizzeria in Aberdeen, New Jersey uses smart security to protect the business operations, whether the owner Mike, or another manager is onsite or not.
Manage Deliveries
Not all deliveries happen during convenient business hours. Many restaurants receive deliveries overnight and the first employees arrive expecting to see supplies in the morning. But what happens when those deliveries don’t arrive? And how do you control who has access in order to make those deliveries in the first place?
Smart technology helps Mike oversee deliveries from anywhere, any time. Each night he gets a bread delivery to complete the meals he serves his customers each day. It’s a key component of his business, and one that can’t be left to chance.
That’s why Mike has added his delivery person as an authorized user on his alarm system. With the tap of his cell phone, the delivery person can enter the building securely and disarm the system while the delivery is made. He can then re-arm the system and move on, and rest easy knowing his business is protected.
“What I like is I get an alert every time the alarm is disarmed, and the name of the person who disarmed it, whether it’s my bread guy or my cleaning person, or my air conditioning and refrigeration guy,” said Mike. “They all have keys to my business and so do some of my employees.
In my old system everyone had the same code. This makes it easy because everyone who has a key has their own code.”
But what if the delivery is delayed or never happens? That’s when Mike gets an alert on his smart phone letting him know that nobody showed up at the designated time. He can take action immediately instead of waiting for an unpleasant surprise or call from an employee later.
Keep Eyes On Who Is Accessing The Restaurant
Wouldn’t you like to know whether employees are showing up on time, especially if their job is to open up? And what about trespassers? Can you possible have eyes on everything all the time? No, but your security cameras can!
With a smart alarm, Mike can protect his business from lost profits, whether from the lapse of employees or the maliciousness of an intruder.
His first employee is expected by 9AM. If nobody shows up, Mike receives an immediate push notification to his smart phone so he can take action.
Whenever anyone enters the building and shuts off the alarm, a picture is taken of the person that disarmed the system and a video clip is sent to Mike showing him who entered. That makes it easy for him to keep track of whether his business is operating smoothly, and he never has to guess at who is entering. He knows exactly who has entered, who has disarmed his system, and when.
But what if the system is not disarmed and the alarm is activated? If that happens, Mike gets an immediate alert to his phone in addition to a video clip showing any activity at the point of intrusion. Mike can also check all the cameras inside and outside the restaurant to see if anyone is onsite and update the police in real time if he sees a suspect.
The camera system in Mike’s restaurant is always recording, but more importantly it is always uploading video clips to the cloud. Why? Because if someone breaks in and thinks it’s a smart idea to steal the video recorder, the clips are still available for the police to act on. That’s a level of security that will thwart even the savvier criminals.
Avoid Costly Mistakes
Security is only as good as the people who manage it. If someone forgets to arm the system, that’s a huge failure point. If someone forgets to close a freezer, it could cost you big in spoiled food. If someone forgets to adjust the temperature after hours, the energy bills alone could put you out of business.
Sometimes good security is about the big things, like fire and intrusion detection. But sometimes it’s about the small things, like a few degrees of temperature. With smart technology and instant alerts, you can bypass those challenges and protect your business.
In Mike’s restaurant, the refrigerators and freezers have a high temperature setting so that if doors are left open for too long it notifies him instantly. The temperature sensors can be set to delay for a predetermined length of time to avoid false alarms if employees are actively working in the coolers. Better yet, if the temperature ever hits a preset high point it will immediately let him know that the food is at risk.
When it’s time to lock up after customers have gone, thermostats will adjust to a predetermined temperature as soon as the alarm system is armed. That means that depending on the time of year, the heat and air conditioning will be automatically set to the exact temperature he determines in order to keep the premises safe and keep his energy bills down. Mike appreciates this feature in particular.
“I have a temperature sensor so I get an alert is someone forgets to turn off the heat or AC,” Mike said. “I can monitor that through my phone. It really helps on energy costs.”
But you may have noticed that there’s still room for human error. What happens is someone forgets to arm the system? Fortunately there are contingencies for that, too. If the alarm system is not armed by a certain time, Mike and his managers get a push notification letting them know.
From there it’s a few taps of a smart phone to adjust the temperature and arm the security system. That means nobody has to be inconvenienced and return to the restaurant to set it, and it also means Mike has full confidence that his business is protected.
Thanks to smart technology and a professional security system with video cameras, door access control, intrusion detection, temperature control and more, Mike can rest easy knowing his business and investment is secure. Live agent monitoring and instant push notifications keep him apprised of what’s happening in his restaurant day and night, whether he’s onsite, or on a beach with a tiki cocktail in his hand.
And Mike knows he has an ally in New Jersey Fire & Technology.
“Everything I do in terms my business, in all the years I’ve been in business – almost 40 years now – I do it in a comfort zone,” Mike told us. “I was very comfortable dealing with this company. My past relationship with them has always been great, always thorough. This is their fifth installation for me over the years.”
Whether you have one location or many, we can design and install a security system for your restaurant that suits your needs. With a single visual dashboard that gives you key information including arm/disarm status, temperatures of coolers, thermostat settings, and live video feeds, you can have full control of all your locations in one spot.
Contact us for a free onsite analysis and quote and start protecting your business today. Simply call or text us at (732) 795-0611 or complete our easy form and we will respond promptly. We bring over 75 years of experience in both the alarm and electrical contracting business to your service. Peace of mind is only one click away.