A guard tour system can be the source of peace of mind or misfortune for a security company.
Conducting guard tours for properties ranging from hospitals to malls can get the best of a company at times. Using an antiquated system doesn’t make the situation any better either.
There’s no question security teams have a never-ending list of work to complete.
How does a security operation track all of their vital information and ensure their team is getting the work done? It’s a simple question that might’ve only had a complex answer – in the past.
Provided in this article is the foresight needed when choosing the right system for a security operation where improving accountability is the focus, and the present.
Wands Are a Legacy Security Companies Must Forget
Guard tours were once conducted with a radio and pen and paper. Then, there was the introduction of wands. Many security teams still use wands, but progressive organizations can get into the present and go beyond the wands.
Security companies can’t afford the time it takes mounting extra receptacles and screwing plates on walls. Issuing wands to security guards only to find them meaninglessly walking around time stamping during their shift is less than productive. It’s also “a thing of the past.”
It’d be better if security teams had the ability to truly inspect all areas of a property. Sticking a wand into a plate on the wall doesn’t have the effect we’re looking for.
Guard tours can be tiresome and tedious, especially with outdated methods where implementation begins with:
- Which security guard is assigned to which security zone?
- How do supervisors track guard locations?
- Which wands have they been issued?
- Are they touring locations at their own will or do they follow their assigned schedule?
- When and how often are guards conducting location inspections?
- What processes can help supervisors efficiently track tours in real time? With an old system, this question will never be answered.
Removing wands from the equation can give owners the peace of mind to answer all these questions.
It’ll help to identify problem areas and problem employees in order to improve accountability. Problem employees can certainly affect a company’s ability to achieve efficiency and peace of mind.
With antiquated wand systems, a dynamic flaw exists first: the lack of documentation for managing security guards.
- The data isn’t reliable.
- There’s no way to regularly track, manage and understand how effective security processes actually are.
- Bottom line: There’s no accountability.
Security guards are the people tasked with the responsibility of ensuring the property, its employees and customers are all safe.
But what generally happens instead of them accomplishing all of this? Missed inspections.
What’s an overlooked inspection when another guard will make their rounds later on, right? They couldn’t care any less.
What’s the effect when a security company owner or its supervisors can’t trust staff? How’s knowing that implementing the improper guard tour system can lead to a serious inability to control any of these occurrences?
A “legacy” system prevents security companies from identifying problems in their operation and inadequacies among their security guards. A positive end result doesn’t exist.
Accountability: When Less Leads to More…Liability.
A lack of accountability leads to lawsuits. Lawsuits lead to an involuntary exit strategy.
It’s important to understand that it’ll cost an organization more money in the long run not having the tools for the awareness needed to know whether security guards are working effectively.
It could also lead to some business-threatening legal ramifications.
What if someone snuck into a property and left a backpack filled with explosives near a high pedestrian traffic zone? The legal proceedings to follow could be disastrous, especially if security guards should’ve been regularly touring this location…and didn’t.
Would a timestamp really provide the risk management team with enough documentation to save the company from paying out settlement checks? You don’t know. Within that lies the greater problem.
The need to remove wands from a security organization’s guard tour system is clear. Now the next important question is:
How do security companies fully validate whether security guards completed a tour while obtaining all the vital details to stay in business?
Here’s a viable solution to consider: Watch out for inefficiencies to keep your company from having to close its doors early.
There’s no reason employees should be spending unanswered hours handling tours that take much less time when using a guard tour system.
A Guard Tour System and Accountability Can Coexist
Security companies looking for their first system or a new one can conquer accountability with some effort, and the remaining contents of this article.
No more wasting valuable time using pen and paper, unreliable information, cumbersome hardware, and wands. Enhancing all security tours with RFID technology is the effective and ideal solution.
Using a software solution that’s easy enough to operate, that provides a security company with proper documentation – and most importantly – fosters accountability is a much-needed one to say the least.
We know from experience (and from what the experts are saying) that efficiency and ease of use are two unchanging requirements when moving to new software.
Modernized software available to security companies for improved security operations, guard tours and location inspections gives them the accountability necessary to grow and maintain a successful business.
Let’s turn our focus back to the scenario with the backpack of explosives. A security guard tours this specific location as designated for today’s schedule. Now that they’re touring this location at the appropriate times, they notice the backpack. How do they handle this with the modern touring system?
Using the new wand-less system with RFID technology, they’re able to:
- Record the date and time of the location.
- Take a picture of the suspicious package.
- Record the details of the incident
- Notify all need to know people. Is your team using rapid response initiatives as identified in your emergency management plan (EMP)? Check out this blog for updating your EMP.
How’s that for efficiency? It’s the total picture, and it’s clear: Awareness, documentation and accountability all make up an efficient and effective security operation.
Proof of guard tours and location inspections can now be maintained. A security company using this system can ensure guards are held accountable for their scheduled tours and location inspections.
There’s no more ambiguity and useless hardware, only accountability.
Over to You – Always Be Measuring
A system like this will also provide you with historical data for all tours conducted at your property. Information about a guard tour is recorded and reported at time of the inspection, in real time.
With real-time data, there’s no time for questions of accountability or useless data. Something those old, outdated wand systems can’t provide you with.
Accurate documentation 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 all aspects of your security operation.
Use the built-in analytics provided by your system to also measure the success of your growth and accountability efforts. Discover how you can better train employees and manage the overall touring process – now that you’ve covered accountability.
Stop looking aimlessly for peace of mind. It’s right in front of you.
