Re: Video Tours ?

["Bill" <bill190nospam@xxxxxxxxx>]

Different ways to look at this - I'm just thinking out loud here...

How long would it take for someone walk onto the lot, break into a car, and
take something or take a car? 5 minutes? 10 minutes? 15 minutes?

If the answer is 5 minutes and it takes the cops 5 minutes to get there,
then you would need to be watching the cameras every single minute!

And even if you had someone to sit and watch the monitors 24/7, I think
guards which do this get bored, tend to fill their time with other
activities - reading books, sleeping, etc. i.e. They are not looking at the
monitor(s).

Then with an alarm monitoring center, there are busy times when no one would
have time to look at a monitor.

Another way to look at it... You have employees - are in business to make a
profit. How much does their time cost you and how much profit do you want to
make on their time. So arrive at a cost (include facilities), then factor in
your profit, then that is how much to charge. Figure out how much per
minute.

Then give the customer various options. How frequently to look at the
monitor - the more time spent doing this, the more cost to the customer. Or
if setting up alarms on the lot and only looking at the monitor when an
alarm triggers, then maybe a set monthly charge.

So far as a set monthly charge. If the lot is fenced off and locked, then a
lower monthly charge. If anyone can walk onto the lot and look at cars at
any time (customers looking at cars after hours), then you will spend more
time looking at the monitor. Maybe charge for each time you need to look at
the monitor based on your time spent doing this?

Also log each incident and what is occurring. The customer might like this
idea. Maybe the place closes at 9:00 pm on Fridays, but 10 people wander
through the lot between closing and midnight. All potential sales! Maybe he
would want to stay open longer when these people are showing up? The log
would show this stuff.

And the legal stuff... If not watching the monitor every single second, then
you can't be expected to catch anyone doing anything during the in-between
times. Protect yourself with a contract which spells this out.