Zero theft, 89% savings: how remote video guarding transformed security at Lee Iron and Metal Company

About Lee Iron and Metal Company

Lee Iron and Metal Company is a family-owned and operated scrap metal recycler in North Carolina. Owners Scot and Robyn Carpenter previously relied on a security guard service to patrol the yard during non-business hours.

The challenge

Even with a guard posted overnight, Lee Iron and Metal Company’s yard faced frequent thefts and other incidents. The guard service was costing the Carpenters money without solving the problem it was hired to solve, and they needed a way to stop the losses without paying more for coverage that wasn’t working.

The solution

Kastle designed a security system built around Lee Iron and Metal Company’s specific yard, working with the company’s existing cameras and infrastructure to hold down installation costs. Where camera coverage didn’t already exist, Kastle added new cameras to close the gaps.

Kastle and Lee Iron and Metal Company worked together to set the security policies and procedures the system would follow. Smart cameras detect intruders and alert Kastle’s operations center in real time, where operators visually verify the alarm and issue an audio challenge to the intruder over the yard’s loudspeakers. If an intruder stays in the yard after that warning, Kastle contacts yard management and local police, based on the procedures the two sides agreed on.

Every intrusion also triggers a snapshot that goes out by email to a pre-approved list of managers and staff. Live and recorded video stays available around the clock, so the Carpenters can check in on the yard from any web-enabled device.

The outcome

Lee Iron and Metal Company has had zero theft losses since Kastle’s remote video guarding went live. The company is also paying 89 percent less per month than it did for its previous security guard service, turning a persistent theft problem into a lower monthly security bill.