Your team is responsible for the safety of your property.
That means everyone from personnel to the customers that come and go.
But, you’re using an outdated software solution.
One that works… but doesn’t really work.
Agree?
It’s frustrating to you because you’ve trained your team – hours and hours were spent on it.
But, we’re all human.
So we forget things, and you cannot expect your rookie to remember every SOP you have.
You want them to, but you know you need to remove obstacles from their patch.
Setting them up to be accurate and efficiency is what’s important to you, their safety, and that of everyone on your property.
That’s why you need to choose a guard tour system that meets the needs of your property.
Not the property in front of you, behind you, or next to you.
Your property is different, and you know you need a software solution that’s different.
You need a proactive guard your system.
THERE IS NO MAGIC IN THAT WAND
Guard tours used to be conducted with radio, and pen and paper.
Then, there was the introduction of wands.
Today, technology has evolved even more.
You can get into the present and go beyond the wands.
Although operations continue to use wands, consider it a new beginning for your operation – a fresh start so to speak.
You might have done some spring cleaning in another part of your operation, but now it’s time to evaluate this system.
- Aren’t you tired of mounting additional receptacles and screwing plates on the walls?
- Aren’t you sick of issuing wands to your staff only to have them aimlessly walk around time stamping during their shift?
- Are you tired of using guard tour software that is only a tool and not part of any unified operations management software?
Wouldn’t it be better if your security team could truly inspect those areas, not merely walk by and stick a wand in a plate or log the information into an individual tool?
Unfortunately, guard tours can be a drag.
All the hardware it takes to implement one of these systems that we’re all familiar with is not cheap.
The dreaded implementation starts with the questions you must ask:
- Who is assigned to each zone?
- How do you track their location and which equipment they’ve been issued?
- Are they touring areas at their own will or do they truly follow the “schedule” you assigned to them?
- Most importantly, when and how often are they conducting their patrols?
The next challenge is fostering a process to track tours in real time and efficiently.
Removing wands and other individual tools from your strategy can give you the peace of mind to answer all the previous questions.
We think it’ll help you identify your problem areas and problem employees.
Problem employees can negatively affect your ability to achieve efficiency and peace of mind.
With antiquated technology, a vital flaw exists, the lack of documentation for managing your security personnel in alignment with the rest of your operation.
There’s no accountability.
The data isn’t reliable, and there’s no way to regularly track, manage and understand how efficient your processes are.
Consider this: These are your employees.
Yes, the people who have the responsibility of ensuring your property, its employees, and customers are all safe.
And this happens.
Missed patrols.
To them, what’s a missed check when someone else is more than likely going to make their rounds later, during their shift?
What difference does it make to them after all, right?
How’s knowing you might not be able to trust your staff?
Better yet, how’s knowing that implementing the improper guard tour software can lead to your inability to control these occurrences?
Your system can prevent you from having the ability to spot problems in your operation and shortcomings in your team.
You might be looking for your first system or a new one.
Whichever the case, know this: If you don’t have the tools for the awareness needed to know your employees are not working efficiently, it’s going to cost you money in the long run.
Can you forecast the possibilities 10 miles down the road?
It could lead to legal repercussions.
The legal proceedings could be disastrous if someone snuck into your property, left a package of explosives near a high traffic zone where your team should regularly be inspecting.
Would a time stamp indeed provide you with enough documentation to save your property from writing more checks?
We don’t know.
That’s the problem.
You don’t know.
By now you’ve recognized the need to remove the individual, outdated tools from your operation.
Now the question is:
How do you fully validate whether your team completed a tour, and obtain all the vital details to cover your bottom line?
Here’s a viable solution you’ll want to consider when choosing your new or next system.
INVEST IN A PROACTIVE GUARD TOUR SYSTEM
Enhancing all your security tours with barcode technology that talks to unified software – is your solution.
It’s proactive.
No more wasting your valuable time with pen and paper, unreliable information, cumbersome hardware, and a tool that only helps you accomplish one aspect of your operational responsibilities.
Using a software solution that’s easy enough to use, that provides you with proper documentation and accountability that would give you quite the peace of mind you’re going for, right?
We’ve got great news for you.
We know from experience that efficiency and ease of use are two non-negotiable must-haves when moving to a new software solution and moving your outdated solution to the archives closet.
Built for Accountability
The innovative, and we don’t say innovative lightly, software available to you for optimized event or daily security operations and guard tours give you the accountability you desperately need.
Security staff can conduct tours and include details with attached pictures, video, and even audio.
Let’s go back to the package of explosives.
Your security personnel takes a stroll to this particular location you’ve now designated for today.
Now that they’re touring this site at the appropriate times, they notice an unmarked package.
How do they handle this with the modern touring system?
Using the new, wand-less system they record the date and time of the location, take a picture of the suspicious package, record the details of the incident, and notify all need to know people.
How’s that for efficiency?!
You have the total picture now.
Awareness, documentation, and accountability all make up your highly efficient operation.
It’s official.
You now have proof of guard tours.
Ensure guards are held accountable for their scheduled patrols.
No more ambiguity and useless hardware.
DRIVE EFFICIENCY WITH EXPERT ANALYSIS
A system like this also gives you historical data for all tours conducted at your property.
Information about a guard tour is recorded and reported in real time.
There’s no time for questions of accountability and useless data.
Accurate documentation also gives you a way to analyze the enormous amounts of useful and valuable information you’ve got.
All data is precise and can be used to improve your security operation during daily activities and for events.
The reporting features built into these solutions give your data purpose.
Manage, analyze and use the statistics for executing guard patrols with full efficiency every single time.
For instance, rather than having your security staff walk in circles, you can randomize their schedule and make it extremely difficult for a security breach to occur.
Data tells you a story.
A story with the critical details so you can lead the most proactive team ever!
OVER TO YOU
Today’s requirements to run a property operation are much different from a year ago. Yes, there are similarities and a continuation of critical needs. But, now more than ever you need to be proactive.
That means having the best tools, team, and processes in place. It also means using a software solution that moves you from an individual tool for your security operations to one that coordinates and collaborates with other personnel.
Are you ready to choose the best guard tour system for your property? Let us know. We want to help.
Editor's note: This post was originally published in January 2019 and has been updated for comprehensiveness and freshness.
