We tend to think of technology as being something that is great for entertainment or for making our lives richer. But it’s also being put to use to protect businesses from customers and unscrupulous employees.

Companies that effectively deploy protective technologies are liable to make smaller losses and to reap bigger profits, whether that’s catching shoplifters in the act or using databases to cross-check a potential employee’s records.

Here are the technologies that will help you protect your business.

Facial Recognition Software

Facial recognition software is pretty futuristic stuff. Machines are now able to recognize a person’s face and compare it to a database of known criminal offenders collected by police. If a person with a face match enters your business premises, you immediately get an alert which can then be sent to the store manager, alerting them to the problem.

Some companies use this technology to alert them as to when a particular person on their premises needs monitoring. But others take it as an opportunity to ask a customer to leave the store before any theft has even taken place.

The cool thing about this software is that it can be used to generate patterns. If you own a chain of stores and think you’re being targeted by an organized crime ring, then it’s possible to track multiple people over multiple locations and see where and when you’re being targeted.

Criminal Databases

In recent years, we’ve seen search algorithms and databases perfected. Now enormous volumes of data are searchable and tractable in ways that they simply weren’t in the past. Advances in digital technology mean that is it easier than ever before to get an arrest warrant search. This is especially useful for small businesses who want to check a client and see whether they are who they say they are before any money changes hands.

Smart Displays

Traditionally, retailers have protected their high-value items using locked cabinets. In some ways, these were good because they made it much harder to steal things like jewelry and expensive perfume. But on the other hand, it created an artificial barrier between customers and products, meaning that companies could potentially lose business.

Currently, a new technology is being floated that purports to solve this problem: the smart display system. The idea here is to have a display that can tell the difference between a regular customer and a thief. Regular customers will usually only pick up one or two bottles of Cologne from a shelf at most. A thief, on the other hand, will grab as many as they can if they get the chance. Smart display systems are able to tell the difference between regular shopping habits and the habits of thieves. When they detect a potential risk, they immediately let out an audible alarm alerting staff and store managers to the incident.

Right now the system is being trialed mainly on health and beauty items. It’s is hoped that in the future, it will be used for smaller items, like jewelry and enable customers to pick up items they are interested in without annoying bits of glass in the way.