With a variety of valuable equipment stored inside and outside of their building, a security system is a tool General Rental Center in Monticello can’t be without. They had an analog VCR security system in place for quite some time — until they discovered the additional benefits they could gain with a digital video surveillance system.

Steve Marsden, Marco Technology Advisor, contacted Todd Chihos, manager of General Rental, about a year ago to show him the features and benefits of digital video. Todd explained, “Steve was a very good salesperson and helped us start to think about digital video a lot more.” Some of these benefits include improved audio recording features, better video quality, and the ability to search video footage within seconds. It also eliminates having to manually replace VCR tapes. “With our analog system we had to replace our VCR tapes every evening,” said Todd. “And the quality of the audio and video on the VCR tapes was not very good. On three different occasions we provided the police with video footage of break-in incidents, but the quality wasn’t good enough to hold up in court.”

After looking at three other brands, Todd found the March Networks digital video system from Marco to be their best option. In fall of 2006, Marco provided General Rental with a March Networks 3108 Digital Video Recorder (DVR) with four new digital cameras for the inside of their building and three outside. Todd explained, “The March Networks DVR had a lot more features than the other systems we looked at. We no longer have to worry about someone having to change the VCR tapes, and it’s amazing how easy it is to find incidents with digital video.”

Not only does General Rental find their new DVR system a great tool for the physical security of their building and inventory, they have found it to be very beneficial for their internal operations as well. According to Todd, “We had a situation that involved a disagreement between two employees. The conversation was recorded on our DVR system so we were able to go back and review exactly what had taken place.”

He went on, “In another situation, an employee gave a customer a price quote over the phone and there was a discrepancy in what the customer said he had been quoted. We were able to go back and review the audio tape to confirm the price.”

“There are so many details to take care of,” said Todd, “From a managerial standpoint, it’s nice to have the DVR system to really track what happens in a given day – it gives us peace of mind when we’re not able to be here.” After the system was installed, Steve Marsden and Scot Schriefels, Marco’s Video Service Manager, setup the system software and provided Todd with hands-on training. “Marco’s people are just great! If I have any questions, they are right there to answer them for me. The system has been incredible and Marco has been there for us for everything.”