No small-to medium-sized enterprise is safe from any kind of dishonesty. Let’s face it: employees are not always going to make the honorable choice, especially when, for example, they are tempted by an open cash register full of coins and notes. Or it might not even be thievery; these same people might be slacking off and taking too many coffee breaks or just using work hours as personal time.
In both instances it is the owners of these small to medium enterprises, or SMEs, that are at a losing end. Not only do they lose money directly, in terms of employee pilfering; they potentially lose more because they are paying the salaries of inefficient workers. This is the kind of thing that can truly ruin any kind of business because it is a problem that happens from within. If not taken care of immediately, this can mean the possible downfall of any commercial enterprise.
Problems such as these happen from the inside, which makes them that much harder to tackle. There is the human aspect of actually confronting an employee about this sort of thing — which is not easy because accusations such as these are no joking matter. What’s more, any such allegations must be supported by cold, hard evidence. Literally, you have to be able to show the guilty party that you caught him with his hand in the cookie jar.
And now, with technology, you can do that. Not only that, you can do it with your cellular phone, laptop, PC or any device that has a DSL Internet connection. Leading telecommunications provider Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) has introduced an easy-to-use security solution to help SMEs protect their profits from laggard work crews and theft. It’s called Watcher and it does exactly as its name implies.
The PLDT Watcher is a video monitoring program that uses an IP (Internet Protocol) camera and bundled viewing software that allows business owners to monitor multiple sites in one viewing of their offices through a 3G mobile phone, a laptop or a PC with a DSL connection. PLDT Watcher also features a motion detector that fits up to three windows onsite. When activated, these windows automatically record video images, which are e-mailed to the user.
The product’s launch at the Members Only club at The Fort invited people from different SMEs to come together, sporting 1920s mobster fashion. At the event, people donned fedoras and feather boas, looking like they belonged to big-time gangs making the big bucks. Kind of a mixed message, since mobs and gangsters usually represent money that is made illegally. Although the guests looked like classy mobsters, these same people, representing their respective SMEs, know what hard work means; and that is why a product like PLDT’s Watcher is important to them.
In this age when global and local economies are either on the fritz or are erratic and unpredictable, every centavo counts — especially for a company or business that is just starting up and part of an entrepreneurial plan. Applying for the Watcher program is like paying a small fee for someone to keep you informed and in the know. If there’s one thing people need — gangsters or not — it’s to be properly informed, so that proper and apt decisions can be swiftly executed.
The Watcher brings elements of the “private eye” era into modern times. Back in those days, people used to hire private eyes to trail people and document the moves of suspicious individuals. PLDT Watcher works in the same way, but it is technology-based. Due to all the advances being made in the fields of Internet connections and computers, its results are fast and always on cue.
Watcher stays very true to its name: it will watch out for your business when you can’t. Doing so will save you time and money, as well as the need to take care of problematic individuals the old-fashioned, Godfather way.
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For more about PLDT Watcher, visit www.pldtsme-nation.com.ph
E-mail me at enricomiguelsubido@yahoo.com.