Having TV Cameras Can Change Your Security Outlook

Whats the point of having TV Cameras A considerable number of coin laundry owners have tried to fight back against vandalism, counterfeiters and -customer fraud by installing television cameras to cover their laundries. Are the systems very expensive? According to a security specialist, a full surveillance system for a typical coin laundry can vary in size, complexity and price. He says systems can be installed for under $125 per month on a lease/purchase basis. The agreement will include scanning cameras with housings and a 24-hour commercial grade VCR with day, date & time stamp capability. Some companies charge for installation, plus a monthly monitoring fee. On a lease purchase basis, payments can be deducted as a regular business expense. And at the end of 36 months there can be a one-dollar buyout to make the system the property of the laundry. Be sure to check with your tax advisor. Also during the lease, responsibility for keeping up the equipment, including any replacement or maintenance, remains with the system''s installer. It is not the responsibility of the laundry owner. Usually these companies guarantee repairs will be done within a business day or two. Laundry owners usually don''t need to review their tapes unless something goes wrong. Most retain tapes for a few weeks. However, since tapes are fairly inexpensive, laundry operators are encouraged to retain tapes for several months, just in case. Some of the latest VCR technology offers digital recording on a disc or hard drive that will make information, including pictures, available for months and months. Some detail minded operators will review all tapes before erasing them for reuse. As for discs, some will be filed for years, just in case. With fast forward, a review can be done quickly. If or when something odd happens, tapes should be kept until any potential legal liability is ended. Let''s say the tape showed a customer slip or fall without injury. If they were to sue, it could be months or even years later. Film of the event could be critical for a legal defense. One of the great, unsung benefits of having video surveillance cameras in an unattended laundry is that their presence has made a considerable reduction in the number and size of fake slip and fall claims made against coin laundries. Video cameras change attitudes. There is something about having security cameras around that changes the attitude of people in coin laundries. Knowing that there are cameras makes even crooks behave differently. No one wants to be taped doing anything that might get them into legal trouble. Criminal types tend to look the situation over before making a move. The sight of security cameras may discourage them from trying anything. They may just move on to a competitor''s laundry where there are no cameras on duty. Normal customers feel more secure at first, and then soon forget that cameras are even there. Laundry operators tend to feel more secure and comfortable having their business constantly surveyed and recorded by the cameras. This all makes having security cameras a win, win situation. The customers feel secure, so does the owner. The crooks win too because they are less likely to do anything in front of the cameras that could cause them to do hard time. Cameras help to reduce customer fraud. One owner installed cameras in her coin laundry and shortly after received a complaint from a lady who said she had been in and tried several machines. None worked and she wanted her money back. The owner looked at the tape, which showed the customer using a single washer. It worked fine. She dried her clothes and left. In another laundry a customer claimed he put $10 in the changer and got nothing back. The tape showed him filling his hand with quarters. In both cases the customers sheepishly withdrew the claims. A couple went to the coffee shop next door while their clothes were drying. They returned to find several pairs of jeans missing. A review of the tapes showed who had taken the jeans. When confronted, the woman said she thought it was her dryer and her jeans. The pair was happy to get back the Levis, and now feel the laundry is ''really safe''. The other customer still uses the laundry too. But now she knows she''s on ''Candid Camera''. Cameras help to catch vandals & thieves. Two teens backed up their pickup next to the laundry door. They entered and began to rob money boxes. Their license showed up in the laundry''s tape. The teen''s parents agreed to make restitution as a condition of reducing the amount of time to be served. Another laundry operator hadn''t carefully been comparing coins in to bills out at the changer. Yet, he had the sense something was wrong. Looking at security tapes, he saw a man who got change about the same time every day. He told his suspicions to the local police. They staked out the place just before the usual time, and nailed him. He was a wanted felon who had devices to milk change machines. This laundry was only one stop on a regular daily route he had been following. Now he is back in prison. In another laundry, some one stole video cameras. However, they couldn''t get at the VCR. A sheriff''s deputy who reviewed the tape with the owner recognized the thief and arrested him before he could sell the cameras. The stolen property was returned. Are there are any other uses for these tapes? The long time laundry owner had made a decision to sell. Through his Broker he had a qualified buyer and was in the ''proof of income'' phase of the deal. The sales agreement included a chance to review the books, period of joint collections, plus instruction on how to run the business. He was showing the buyer the laundry''s videotape system, which included a few weeks of tape. The buyer watched through all the tapes and announced that he was satisfied that the laundry was actually doing the amount of income claimed by the seller. The tapes showed consistent crowds of customers and it''s what finally convinced the buyer to close the deal. One really professional coin laundry owner regularly reviews his VCR tapes in order to identify exactly who his really good customers are. The next time he sees them, he thanks them for their business and makes a special point of telling them when it was that they were last in the laundry. It''s great psychology for two reasons. First, it creates a closer bond and greater loyalty between a laundry''s clientele and the owner. Next, it spreads the word around the local area that nothing happens in that coin laundry that the owner doesn''t know about. This word also spreads out to the local community and helps reduce vandalism and possible cases of customer fraud. An amusing story about surveillance cameras saving the day comes from a northern California operator of a small unattended laundry. He came to his laundry to find a man in a wheelchair waiting in front of the laundry. The man claimed the door of the laundry was too small for wheelchair access, and that he was being denied his rights under the Disabilities Act. He could sue, but if he were paid $500 now, he would just go away. The owner asked for a day or two to think over the ''offer'' and went to review tapes. He saw the wheelchair bound man arrive on foot, look in, then walk in with a tape measure. He measured the door''s width, and was seemingly happy about it. Then he walked back to his car and drove away. The owner told police about this possible fraud. With marked bills and an out of sight detective, he waited, but the guy never showed. It may just have been a spur of the moment idea on how to make a quick buck, or else he scored enough somewhere else then left town. Using surveillance cameras, tapes and monitors is an idea whose time has come. While a good system isn''t cheap, it isn''t expensive either. When comparing costs against possible losses those camera systems helps to stop, do laundry owners really have a choice? Personal experience tells us the fastest and easiest way to find which security camera system supplier is right for your laundry is to ask neighboring business people who they use and ask if they are satisfied. You also can walk around your business area and look for the signs that identify which security service those businesses use. If you use the yellow pages, don''t just settle for the first one or two guys you talk to. And, do not believe that the larger the ad the better the service will be. The full-page company may be working out of someone''s car trunk. Though it''s not a big cash layout, with the service and monitoring agreement, it''s worth investigating carefully and completely.