If your business has a parking lot, it is an important part of your entire business operation. Your parking lot is most likely the beginning and end point of every employee’s workday, most customer’s visits, and all suppliers’ deliveries. Whatever kind of business you have, parking lot security gates can make this area of your business safer, more efficient, and more attractive.
Most businesses have the basic security measures of burglar alarms, sturdy doors and locks, and maybe even CCTV cameras. A parking lot security gate gives you even more protection by limiting who can readily reach the doors and loading docks of your business, preventing burglars from easy access to valuables inside.
Security gates also have other advantages like giving your business more curb appeal and prestige and improving the value of the property. Installing an attractive and functional security gate system can benefit your business in more ways than one.
Here are 5 reasons for considering security gates on your business parking lot.
Protect Your Customers, Employees, and Property
A parking lot security gate protects everyone at your business. Even if part of your lot needs unrestricted access during certain business hours, security gated sections can provide safety for employees, convenience for delivery people, and streamlined access for visitors.
Unwanted visitors and passersby can be restricted from employee parking areas with security gates, giving employees greater safer when walking to and from their cars. A gated employee lot also means no one will show up for work to find they are unable to find a parking space.
When delivery docks and warehouse doors are secured with their own access gate, suppliers and delivery people have an easier and faster time servicing your business. This improves workflow and also creates a more relaxed and pleasant environment for the delivery providers and the employees who interact with them.
Unless a business is a retail establishment with a need for unfettered access to the parking area during business hours, security gates keep the vehicles of customers and visitors safe from theft and vandalism and also protect the people themselves as they enter and leave your business.
Security gates can also improve the conditions in a parking lot by assisting in the management of traffic flow through the lot. Gates at entry points can delay traffic entering a road or other area where unregulated entry could cause a traffic jam or make accidents more likely. A well placed gate can prevent drivers from taking short-cuts that could lead to property damage or pedestrian accidents.
Most types of parking lot security gates can be equipped with easily programmable push-button or card access panels. This allows authorized personnel to enter and leave the lot while giving you an easy way of rescinding access at any time. Programmable gate openers can also easily be programmed to open for anyone who pushes the button. This kind of access system helps regulate entry into and out of the lot without requiring people to have a code or card.
A parking lot security gate system can also alert you inside the building when someone arrives on the property. When coupled with a CCTV camera, you can have advanced knowledge of everyone who is coming into your building before they arrive at the door.
Increase Your Business Property Value
A gate secured parking lot can improve your property value. A new security gate can be an attractive addition to the exterior appearance of your business property, and there are hundreds of gate styles to choose from when choosing a new gate – from ornamental wrought iron to square tubular posts to ultra-functional swinging-arm models.
Attractive driveway security gates are reported to increase the value of residential properties by as much as five percent. A gated and secure business parking area may well improve the value of a business property by a similar amount.
Reduce Liability
While it is common to see signs in parking lots saying the owner is not responsible for vehicles parked there, this is often not really true. If you own a parking lot, you can be held responsible by courts when an accident, vandalism, or other crime happens there, especially if there is some kind of negligence involved.
Reducing your liability for your parking area can be made easier by installing security gates. If you keep out people who do not really belong in your lot, the chances of a negative event happening are reduced. Ungated lots are attractive places for anyone looking for hard to find parking. Excess traffic in your lot increases the chances of an accident happening on your property.
There are other important steps for reducing insurance liability in a parking lot. Repairing potholes and other damage, removing ice and snow, keeping pedestrian areas open and safe, and picking up trash regularly are also important for a safe parking area and reducing the chances of an insurance claim.
Good lighting is also essential. Metal-halide lamps inside vandal-resistant lamp housings are one of many options for lighting your parking area and reducing the chances of accidents or crime. Good lighting makes a gated parking area even safer, and the installation of CCTV cameras has been shown to reduce the incidence of crime in parking lots by 51 percent.
Improve Your Business Image
A parking lot secured by an attractive and formidable security gate can make your business look more professional and secure. Because there are so many styles of security gate to choose from, you can select one that adds just the right touch in complementing your business’s exterior appearance and your overall business message.
Gates in a parking lot send a strong visual signal to everyone coming to your business. It shows you take security and safety seriously, and this alone may be enough to keep criminals from targeting your business. For others, a security gate can project a feeling of professionalism and concern for the welfare of those who work or do business there.
Keep Unwanted Guests and Burglars Out
Last but not least, the reason most people invest in a parking lot security gate for their business is protection against burglary. Most burglaries are inspired by opportunity when thieves see an unprotected location with potential valuables inside. A parking lot with a security gate and fence makes it harder for burglars to pull up close to doors, window, or loading docks.
Burglars are probably not the only people you want to keep out of your parking lot. Unwanted drop-ins by salespeople also becomes harder if you have a security gate restricting access to your lot.
An ungated parking lot is also often an open invitation to drivers looking for a place to park, even if they are not coming to your business. Parking lot security gates assure that the only people using your lot are the people you want to be there.
Why You Need a Parking Lot Security Gate
If you own a business of any kind with a parking lot, a security gate can reduce the chances of your business being targeted for burglary. Security gates also make your parking area safer and easier to use for your employees, suppliers, and customers and can add to the location’s curb appeal.
Looking to install a security gate for your New York based business? Get in touch with New York Gates at 718-614-0616.