US Car Wash Businesses Turn to Mobile Surveillance

River Valley, owns four businessesin western Pennsylvania: Cranberry10 Minute Oil Change, Cranberry Car Wash, Cranberry Pet Wash, and Erie 10 Minute Oil Change. Most are open 24 hours a day and often unmanned, particularly during the night hours. But business owners Joe Lehosky and Dan Klapec found a way to keep an eye on things even when no one is around.

The proliferation of smartphones and tablets — and the explosion of applications for seemingly every life aspect — meant it was only a matter of time before businesses began looking at mobile surveillance as a way to monitor activity while on the move. River Valley is among the growing number of businesses now doing so, using MobileCamViewer to monitor activity at all four businesses.

MobileCamViewer is the mobile surveillance and remote video monitoring application from mobiDEOS, the Milpitas, California-based company blending software and IT expertise with security smarts. River Valley connects the application to a variety of security cameras at all four locations, along with DVRs.

Typically, Lehosky and Klapec use the application to monitor general business activity, communicate with customers and respond to issues as needed. But the cameras, recorders and mobile surveillance application are part of a comprehensive security solution that also includes burglar and fire alarms inside the buildings, around the perimeters and inside the cashier stations.

Lehosky notes that the first security cameras went live in 2004, with all monitoring performed from home computers. This was fine when Lehosky and Klapec were at home — not always the situation for business people with demanding schedules.