Digital Video helping businesses since '97
By Paul F. Vang
Montana Tavern Times
“We're one of the longest-selling providers of digital security technology in Montana,” says Greg Franks, owner of Digital Video Systems, Inc., of Billings.
“Our principle product is digital video systems that give business owners the tools they need to better manage their businesses, as well as deter employee theft and protect customers.”
Franks is a Montana native, born in Laurel, and a graduate of Rocky Mountain College in Billings. He acknowledges, however, that getting into security systems was something of an accident.
“I wanted to be a stockbroker,” he recalls, “but that wasn't working too well. A friend of mine was starting a security system business in California and he asked me to come and work with him in developing marketing strategies.”
With a laugh, Franks says, “I wish we had trade-marked some of our marketing language, because I see so many security companies using much the same material that we developed.”
At that time, security technologies were making a transition from analog equipment to digital equipment and Franks points out that after he launched his own business in 1997 he has used digital-based equipment exclusively and has been intimately involved with that evolving technology as it has developed in terms of capacity, performance and quality.
Of the equipment he sells, he describes it as “high-end equipment with quality pricing.”
In a phone interview, Franks presents a lot of reasons why businesses should be using surveillance technology, and employee theft is at the top of the list. “A new employee represents an average potential of $1,700 in losses through theft. If you have a business with high employee turnover, that potential loss keeps multiplying.”
Franks goes on to say that his digital security system products work seamlessly with embedded P.O.S. (point-of-sale) systems, and that the whole system is locked into a stable platform that's not based on personal computer software. In other words, "nothing else is running in the background,” he explains.
With that pairing of digital security and P.O.S. technology, Franks says, “We can record every customer transaction to make sure that employees are entering transactions correctly. For example, we can see whether or not a bartender is ringing up full sales.”
Franks goes on to list many instances in which digital surveillance has documented employee thefts, such as at a casino where there was a $1,000 shortage and a review of the surveillance video showed how an employee was stealing. It turned out the employee had a gambling problem and attempted to cover personal losses through theft.
There's more than cash involved. Restaurants have identified food loss, with surveillance cameras catching employees bagging up food at the end of the shift, or prepping excess quantities of food.
Franks notes most employee theft problems don't start with an overt plan to steal. More often it's about an employee getting a quick "loan" and replacing the money, but the problem continues and the employee starts forgetting to repay the so-called loan. Still, the bottom line is that if a business has just a narrow margin of profit when everything is going right, any kind of shrinkage may mean the difference between turning a profit or going out of business.
Franks offers other real-life examples of why businesses should have a surveillance system.
One casino had a big winner one evening, and when the customer left to go home he was jumped by a half dozen people and robbed of his winnings. Parking lot surveillance videos caught the whole incident and all the people involved were identified and arrested.
One business owner found himself the target of an allegation of sexual harassment. A review of the surveillance video records for the day in question specifically disproved the employee's allegations.
Other business owners have used surveillance videos to monitor slips and falls as well as to document worker compensation claims and whether the claims were legitimate.
The surveillance system can even be used for videoconferencing.
In other words, there are many ways in which a surveillance system can help people manage their businesses, especially when the system is put in place with a P.O.S. system, and with an internet connection, the operator can continue monitoring the business from anywhere in the world, whether from a laptop or even a mobile phone.
Digital Video Systems, Inc., now has a client list of hospitality businesses from one end of Montana to the other, though Greg Franks has deliberately kept it a business small enough so that he and his wife, plus one part-time employee, can handle the work, and have time to spend with their two boys and still have some time to go fishing once in awhile.
Although he operates a high tech business, Franks also points out that he hasn't established a website.
“That doesn't really suit my business model,” he says. “I get most of my business from referrals and through word of mouth recommendations. I have a small business and I don't choose to spend the time it would take to properly maintain a website.”
“I enjoy my work,” Franks says, adding, “and especially getting to know my customers and helping them out.”