Ditek Blog

A retail store suddenly cannot accept payments. A restaurant can’t cook. All the lights go out during a football game in a stadium. Surveillance cameras stop working in a courtroom. These are just a few of the many examples of negative outcomes that could stem from a power outage.

Most organizations have electrical and electronic systems that are critical to their daily operations. If the power goes out and these systems stop working, the consequences can be extremely serious, disrupting business, exposing you to liability or compromising security and safety.

Each day, millions of workers in office buildings around the world use a wide range of electronic equipment to perform their jobs, including laptops, desktop computers, phones, printers, alarm systems, scanners, projectors, and more.

Technology has created many benefits for today’s businesses, including faster communication between devices, integrated usage and optimized operations. It allows us to accomplish everyday office functions efficiently and effectively, while keeping staff connected to suppliers, customers and their sales team. However, with these benefits come new dangers to your operations.

While electrical outlets provide power, they are also susceptible to lighting strikes – and there are more than 20 million cloud-to-ground lightning strikes in the U.S. each year. More common, however, are power surges and spikes that go mostly unnoticed every day. These temporary and instantaneous events exceed “normal” electrical line voltage, and can cause serious damage to anything plugged into those outlets, including sensitive office equipment. 

Preventative measures help people protect themselves from future harm in many ways. Doctors can provide vaccinations against future illness, for example, and auto mechanics can perform regular maintenance to ensure that your car does not suffer a major breakdown. We recognize that spending a modest amount of time and money to perform preventative procedures can stop much larger problems and costs from occurring in the future.

As an IP camera dealer, you work with clients who come to you for help in protecting their organizations. While you might recommend a networked video surveillance system integrated with other systems to provide a complete solution for your client, you would be remiss if you do not also advise them about surge protection. Every device that runs on power is susceptible to power surges and spikes, but networked devices like IP cameras are at an even greater risk as they are connected to other vulnerable devices as well. Surge events can damage or destroy expensive cameras, cause costly or hazardous downtime and increase risk by disabling your clients’ security measures.

A common misconception about power surges is that devices are only at risk during extreme weather, but power surges can happen at any time without warning. According to the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety, lightning strikes account for just two percent of all surge protection damage. That means that 98 percent of the damage is done by the hundreds of power surges that are mostly unnoticed every day.