Guard tours: accountability is the key

MERELY PLACING SECURITY OFFICERS ON AN assignment and asking them to protect and defend isn’t enough for the majority of today’s discerning clients. More and more, proof that the job has been done is becoming a Service Level Agreement ‘essential’, with many customers demanding hard copy confirmation before agreeing to pay for their security.

A good many of today’s operations managers will remember the Night Watchman’s clocking system, and the locations that had to be visited on shift (identified by a key hanging on a length of chain). Each key made a unique indentation on the time-stamped tape contained in the clock itself. Some will also remember the interrogation of these tapes when an incident occurred or a break-in was discovered to identify when the officer was last attendant at that location.

The tape couldn’t always provide the necessary confirmation, though, so it was a breath of fresh air when new technology allowed the development of today’s guard tour systems. Simple-to-use, hand-held data collection devices that electronically interact with key points.

The latter are simple and inexpensive barcodes, ibuttons or RFID tags, all offering a unique location identifier. These systems can also record incidents such as ‘window open’ and ‘door unlocked’, all to be downloaded to a computer for the automatic generation of reports that may then be sent on to the client.

The data collection devices

Not surprisingly, such technology proved popular among security companies and their clients, to the extent that there are now dozens of manufacturers with varying types of system to choose from. Arguably, all of those systems suffer from the same limitation – namely that the hand-held unit deployed doubles-up as the data collection device. This necessarily means that the information for all guard tours is fragmented, stored on portable devices spread throughout the company.

At some point, that information has to be transferred or downloaded to a computer for collation, interrogation and reporting purposes. Either the device must be returned to base, downloading equipment has to be taken to it or some form of modern transfer equipment is required. The gathering of this information can be both time-consuming and costly, particularly if many hand-held units are used by the guarding contractor.

Furthermore, the information that the system produces is always historic. At best, the data will be retrieved at some time the next day. In reality, it’s usually collected once a week or once a month, or simply whenever the device has reached its storage limit. Most important of all, the data will need to be retrieved when a serious incident occurs on site, and the operations manager urgently requires some all-important proof for the client that the officer involved has complied with the Terms and Conditions of the contract. How many times will the manager attempt to download critical information, only to find that there’s no data in the device? By then it’s too late. You cannot go back in time and complete the tour again.

Guard tour: the next level

Norwich-based systems developer Ask Technologies may have developed the perfect solution. The company has devised software – aptly named Point in Time – which enables guard tours to be monitored in real time.

The data is not stored in the hand-held device at all. At the same time as the data from the key point is received by the reader device, it is immediately transmitted to the Control Room computer running the Point in Time software. This provides immediate, centralised collection of data and information of all the patrols and tours for reporting purposes.

More and more, proof that the job has been done is becoming a Service Level Agreement ‘essential’, with many customers demanding hard copy confirmation before agreeing to pay for their security

The transfer itself is achieved by using GPRS data facilities in modern mobile telephones. Generally speaking, any data capture device that’s able to communicate with a mobile phone using Bluetooth or similar technology can use the Point in Time software for monitoring guard tour systems in real time. In essence, as the officer attends a key point the controller can see on the screen that the officer is at that destination at that time.

If required, key points may be assigned configurable time windows specifically for identifying the requirement of an officer’s attendance. The system will therefore alert the Control Room operating staff if a key point is missed or is overdue, such that the controller may be truly proactive.

How many security companies would like to be able to say to their clients: “We will not miss any key points – guaranteed”.

How does the system work?

Using the Bluetooth-enabled scanners, the officer will tag the key point as he or she would with a standard data collector. The unit then transmits the key point details to the Point in Time software that’s running on a smart phone carried by the security officer.

This Symbian-based phone – it could be a Nokia 6670 or a Siemens SX1 – will then attempt to transmit the date and time-stamped data to Ask’s secured distribution servers via the phone’s GPRS data service. The whole procedure takes less than five seconds.

If for any reason the transfer should fail – there may be no signal coverage available if an officer is checking a basement area, for instance – the software on the phone will store the key point details and attempt once again to send the data as soon as a signal has been re-established. Once the key point data is received at the distribution servers, the scan details are attributed to the appropriate customer and collected in the Control Room across a standard Internet connection. Larger customers with their own server infrastructures can be supplied with their own dedicated distribution servers.

If officers are issued with tagged ID badges, the units can also be used to book them on and off duty by assigning them to that particular scanner (the system then identifies that all key point scans are attributable to that officer). Point in Time may also be used for incident reporting whereby particular tags in an incident book are used to identify a given event (ie an unlocked door, etc).

Not many security companies can boast that they’re 100% successful in fulfilling their customers’ requirements, but the better ones will always do their utmost to achieve that level of service. The jewel in the crown is their customers’ trust. To gain that trust, an open book policy of information dissemination to the client is crucial. The contractor must be seen to be accountable at all times.

Point in Time helps that desire to be realised in a number of ways. Once set up, for example, reports can be configured such that they’re automatically e-mailed to the client at the same time each day. More importantly, perhaps, the client has the capability to log-on to the security company’s web site and access a live control screen showing only their sites and any activities occurring at the time.