Car Wash Monitoring and Video Surveillance

Car Wash operators are always looking for ways inchemical levels. Wash owners that never have to
which to both cut costs and save time. Most new Carworry about running out of chemical before a busy
Wash facilities start with both a monitoring system andweekend means they never have to worry about the
a video surveillance system from day one. Manyassociated losses of having to turn away business.
existing facilities are seeing the need to createNow you can go on vacation and know that if
accountability for not just criminals, customers, andchemical runs low your chemical distributor is also sent
employees. Monitoring systems keep honest peoplethe same text message and will have a delivery sent
honest and helps eliminate shrinkage as well.out without you even making the call.
Video Surveillance - Be aware when your not there.Your Evening Status Report Delivered
Car Wash operators already know the value ofWash owners with Car Wash monitoring equipment
having a digital record of what happens at their washtell me that they sleep easier at night because every
when they are not there and when employees AREevening they get a text message to their phone that
there. Having cameras in each bay that can begives them their car counts, daily totals, cash counts,
viewed from the comfort of your home office cancredit card counts, and loyalty card counts. Knowing
help you sleep better at night knowing all is safe andwhether you hit your number for the day was never
secure. Modern camera systems are now accessiblepossible before monitoring systems were installed. The
through a Internet connection at your wash which putsfollowing morning a followup text message arrives to
you one click away from seeing your facility.the wash owners phone while sipping a cup of coffee
Settling Customer Disputeswith the full report for the previous day.
A second value in getting a video system is in anMonitoring Makes Investors HappydFor wash
instance in which a customer makes a false damagebusinesses that have investors or would like to attract
claim. "Your machine dented the side of my car, youpotential investors will be pleased to know that having
need to pay to get it fixed!" is a common thing hearda remote monitoring system is exactly what the
by a wash operator. These instances are quickly putdoctor ordered. Investors want to be getting regular
to rest when an operator can show footage of thereports on how the investment is doing. Since
vehicle (already damaged) when they drove in ontomonitoring equipment tracks all revenue including cash it
the lot. If a picture is worth a thousand words, imaginemakes it easy for investors to remain the silent partner
the worth of 10 seconds of video footage!and allow wash operators to do their day to day
Capturing Crimes of Smashin' on Videooperations without being bogged down with regular
Having quality video footage can help you workprogress reports and financial updates. Consider how
closely with local law enforcement to catchyou can get more done during the day if your most of
destructive vandals and would-be thieves as theyyour paperwork was automated by a monitoring
destroy your wash equipment in order to get at thesystem?
money inside. Most DVR equipment can be wiredLearn from Your Mistakes - Historical Trends
directly into your alarm system which upon triggeringMonitoring systems are powered by powerful
an alarm all cameras can begin to record at fullsoftware that can compare months against previous
resolution in order to have a better chance at gettingmonths or the same time period the year before. By
the footage needed to convict.looking at weather data, car counts, and pricing at the
Car Wash Monitoring - The Secret of the All-Starstime you can help identify trends and business growth
The most successful Car Wash operations relyor loss. The reason monitoring systems play such a
heavily on their Car Wash monitoring system to keeplarge role in a successful wash operation is that wash
them well-informed about the health and wealth ofowners are able to find out where the loss leaders are
their wash business. Information is the most powerfulearly on before it can largely impact overall revenue.
tool that a business owner can have to help makeJust as important as knowing when something is
informed decisions. Car Wash owners and operatorswrong, monitoring lets you know when things are going
that have monitoring systems are able to maintain aright. The key to growth is to identify what works and
higher degree of control over their entire washreplicate those efforts. Many wash operators have
operation.told me that with the assistance of their monitoring
It's a Coin Changer, not an ATMsystem that they learned that they were not charging
One of the big loss-leaders at a Car Wash facility isenough. Bobby Willis of Cool Wave Car Wash says
uncounted money from changer units. One dishonestthat if you have more than 20% of your customers
employee that had been caught told the investigatorbuying the top wash package your not charging
that the change machines were just like an ATM thatenough. How valuable would it be to know whether or
was never counted. Many wash operators report thatnot your leaving money on the table?
they have been the target of theft involving stringingCatch the Small Problems before they become BIG
scams or stolen credit cards that wipes them out ofProblems
their coins and tokens. Car Wash monitoring equipmentLastly, if not most importantly monitoring systems can
can detect these types of crimes in the act andtell you when there are issues at the wash. Error
simultaneously cut power to the changer, send a textcodes from entry stations, faulty equipment errors,
message to the wash owner, and turn on a videodoors that stay open in the winter and won't close, and
camera wired into the security system. Evenany number of other potentially disastrous problems.
employee theft will drop to zero when every coin,Monitoring systems are invaluable for a wash operator
token, and bill is accounted for throughout the washthat wants to operate lean and make the most out of
facility.the equipment that they have. As any vehicle owner
Never Run Out of Chemicalcan tell you, it's better to catch a problem early on
A huge benefit of a Car Wash monitoring system isbefore you end up replacing entire engines or having to
that you can make certain that the main tanks neverget a whole new vehicle all together. Ignorance is not
run out of chemical. You can configure your sensorsbliss and running a business in the dark is no means to
to alert your wash manager and your chemicalrun a business at all. Whether your building a new
distributor with a text message and an email when afacility or have an existing site - wash monitoring and
monitored tank starts running low. This saves youvideo surveillance may be exactly what you've been
money on rush service calls for chemical fills andlooking for because if you aren't, employees and
delivery. This saves chemical distributors the time itcriminals looking to rip you off certainly are.
takes to send a driver around on their route the 'check'