It is a typical weeknight in your local shopping mall. People from every walk of life are patronizing a variety of stores in the facility. Mothers and their children are scoping out the latest bathing suit sales. Students are browsing the aisles of the book store for their reports, no doubt due tomorrow. Sports enthusiasts are examining the hottest new cross trainers at the the athletic shoe store. Everyone is caught up in the pace of their personal shopping experience, just as they should be.

Suddenly in the distance, you see a man wearing a ski mask dart out of the corner Jewelry store. And then you hear a scream. And then another. People pour out of the jeweler’s frantically, with little regard for who they run over on their way out. Panic alarms echo throughout the crowded hallway.

Is this really happening? Are my teenage children safe in the food court? Has anyone been injured? Should I make a run for my car or should I wait inside for the authorities to secure the parking lot? All these questions and more are racing through the minds of mall patrons.

Store security sends a page to all guards to be on the look out for the suspect, yet none of them are able to explain the suspect’s appearance via radio in a timely manner. A security guard in the back room full of surveillance monitors zooms in on the suspect and realizes he is only a few yards away from him, near the Pottery Barn. He sends this message via radio, but is unable to chase the suspect himself, for fear of losing track of the perpetrator on the monitors. The suspect escapes. Terror echoes throughout the now empty hallways of the shopping center, and you (the facility manager) have a lot of explaining to do to the local authorities.

The sad truth is that the story didn’t have to end this way. You could have had an extra security guard walking the floor. Your surveillance monitor could have chased after the suspect, while still keeping an eye on his whereabouts. Or better still the situation could have been avoided altogether if all of your guards were able to monitor and control the surveillance cameras simultaneously for suspicious activity.

iRa is a simple solution to this type of security challenge. iRa is Lextech Labs’ remote surveillance viewing and control system that puts the power of multiple live video feeds and direct camera pan-tilt-zoom control in the palm of your security guards’ hands on an iPod Touch or an iPhone. The guards in the unfortunate scenario above would have had access to real time video to rewind and zoom in on the appropriate camera to get a fast, accurate ID. The guard in the surveillance room would be able to watch the video on his iPhone, while intercepting the suspect at one of the exits.

Do you have one or more large facilities that need to be closely monitored by security professionals? Do you employ a person to sit in a back room and watch a bunch of surveillance cameras? Do you want to increase security presence in the main areas of your facility, without neglecting your surveillance videos or adding extra personnel?

Protect your assets and your facility. Visit lextechlabs.com/ira-product-page for more information. Click here to see the latest iRa video demo!