Security patrolling is a core responsibility of security services. The traditional ‘observe and report’ model used by security businesses is outdated. Organizations offering security services must consider improvements like integrating a guard tour system to make a difference. Using guard patrol software can enhance processes. This can result in a well-managed guard checkpoint system, prioritizing the types of security issues and adding context to incident reports.
In this write-up, let’s discuss how integrating a guard patrol system helps in increasing security.
What is Meant by a Guard Tour System?
A security guard tour patrol system is a technology that allows businesses to organize, log, and conduct patrols and guard tours in their assets ensuring the security officers are finishing their tasks on a pre-defined time. It facilitates easy management and monitoring of guards on duty. It also allows the security guards to report incidents on-spot.
Guard patrol systems can be divided into two categories:
- Wand Tour System: Wand tour system comprises of handheld devices
- Could Tour System: A cloud tour system is built on mobile or cloud technology.
A guard tour patrol system contains certain checkpoints. When a guard is touring an area, the guard tour system scans the checkpoints to trace the time. The checkpoints are located at intervals in different locations of the site to allow management staff to find out each point separately. The guards on the site scan the checkpoints for sending alerts, tracking, and recording events in real-time.
Which Industries Can Use a Guard Patrol System?
Incorporating a guard tour system fosters easy and effective officer monitoring and asset management. This also helps in improving the security operations of businesses. Guard tour systems can be useful in various types of industries and work processes:
- Security Companies
- Educational Organizations
- Real Estate Businesses
- Public Transport Services
- Warehouse Departments
- Financial Institutions
- Cleaning and Maintenance Services
- Manufacturing Units
Why Use Guard Tour System to Enhance Security?
There are numerous ways in which a security guard patrol system helps in enhancing security and keeping your clients satisfied. Here are the various benefits of the guard tour system to improve security:
1. Simplifies security tasks:
A guard patrol system simplifies security work. Previously, the security officers carried notebooks while touring a site. While monitoring checkpoints the guards had to note down any incident taking place. It included describing the incident and difficulties and writing down recommendations to improve the safety features on the site.
The entire task of carrying a notebook and writing down incident descriptions and improvement suggestions is a time-consuming task. Moreover, it is also difficult for the management officials to go through different notebooks of multiple security professionals, adding extra workload to check information from various sources.
Incorporating a guard tour system simplifies the work process for both the security guards and the management officials. The guards can simply send reports by tapping buttons on their rugged devices or smartphones. They can scan the specific checkpoints and describe the incident via an easy-to-use interface. The software also allows programming activities and security tours via mobile devices, completely ditching paper loads and reducing work time.
2. Ensuring Accountability:
Accountability is another significant reason for companies to consider integrating a security guard patrol tracking system. Collecting data and analyzing it for future improvements is crucial for all businesses. It is not possible to keep records of work processes without integrating technology. Even if a company follows a strict set of regulations for conducting reports or any other important documents, there is always a chance of losing valuable data.
With a guard patrol system, all the data related to security is kept safe in secure databases. The management can easily retrieve all the information from anywhere at any time as the need arises. It allows the management officials to keep track of activities, set and organize schedules, and make digital footprints of the security officials. The managers can also validate if the tours were conducted efficiently and at the right time. This kind of accountability adds more value to work and eliminates complicated and error-prone tasks.
3. Keeping Log History:
A security guard tour patrol system allows managers to get all the data of the previously executed patrol at specific time frames. All the security tours remain securely stored in databases. This further makes it easy for the managing staff to get any information on tours conducted in the past. They no longer depend on archives and folders to track down previous security patrols.
The ability to keep a record of historical data like patrolling time, guard signature, images of incidents, and sound recordings enables businesses to eliminate ambiguity issues related to the reliability of the guards and the past patrolling duration. A guard tour system provides precise, real-time information concerning any guard tour, incidents, and activities.
4. Automating Tasks:
The automation feature of the guard patrol system is a game changer for businesses. It simplifies the work of the guards who can send real-time alerts, images, SOS messages, and time-report signatures by using a simple mobile application.
The monitoring managers do not need to wait to get paper reports. They will receive real-time notifications of the guards’ position as well as activities. The reports drafted from patrolling tours can be sent to the clients or site owners. Therefore, integrating guard tour systems provides more automation and ensures maximum efficiency.
5. Ensuring Reliability:
When conducting a guard tour, the officer is generally alone and not under supervision. In this case, it is hard to ensure that the guard has performed his duty appropriately within the scheduled time frame. Sometimes, the guards can decide to remain at posts and not patrol as per the given schedule. This can mostly happen during harsh weather or even when the guard himself chooses to skip his duty.
A guard tour system is a note to the security officials that the company cares about patrol conduction. This can further influence them to perform better by ensuring the utmost professionalism on their part. Using a security guard tour patrol system will also help in finding guards who are reliable and work dedicatedly and the ones who underperform. Thus, a guard patrol system is the perfect tool for monitoring guards as it records the activities of the patrolling officers ensuring that they are conducting guard tours properly.
6. Analyzing Data:
A security guard patrol tracking system simplifies the process of large amounts of data related to patrol execution and the concerned areas. If the security guards are only concerned with one area, data analysis might not be crucial. However, if multiple areas are under watch, analyzing data becomes vital.
The technology allows us to store data that can further be exported for analysis. This makes it easy for the companies to realize the loopholes in the processes and work on them. Information about patrolling activities missed checkpoints, and areas under continuous alerts allows companies to make changes in security policies to reinforce safety.
7. GPS Monitoring:
GPS tracking not only ensures the position of the security guards but also helps assure their safety. A guard tour system helps facilitate remote tracking allowing the company to know about the real-time patrolling location of the guards and ensuring that they are protected and doing their job. The GPS monitoring facility not only enhances reliability for the security company but also for their customers, thus improving safety and security levels.
8. Real-time Tour Tracking:
The most common challenge in any software is enabling real-time actions that help both the users and the administrators. In this regard, the guard patrol system is an exception. Managing territories along with real-time guard tracking is one of the most unique features of this system.
Previously, the managing officials of the security company couldn’t get real-time patrol reports or track the activities of the guards. Cloud-based guard tour systems have changed the way security patrols are used. The software allows real-time information delivery and acquisition. The security company online needs a strong internet connection to facilitate the prompt transmission of real-time patrolling updates about guards’ positioning, activities, and incident reports. This leads to enhanced safety of the areas under security and the security guards’ safety.
9. Proper Scheduling:
When planning guard tour schedules, companies consider certain questions regarding the availability of officers for different zones, methods for tracking issues, monitoring activities of the guard, and so on. These concerns remain unsolved without an automated system for structuring and planning schedules for guards.
A security guard patrol tracking system provides a consistent solution to solve these concerns by utilizing technology to allow the managers to manage guard patrols by making a scheduled program for the security company.
10. Budget Control:
Security guards are invaluable assets of a security company. However, security professionals need various devices to carry out their daily role and improve performance. This further increases the cost of processes. These expenses can include the transportation cost of the guards, the equipment costs, the cost of additional inspection for analyzing the guard’s performance and reliability, the cost of repetitive administrative tasks, etc.
The guard tour system is designed to eliminate extra expenses. A guard patrol system helps in cutting the excessive cost of transportation for checking missed scans and executed tours. The software always reduces the time spent on conducting repetitive processes. This allows remote management to patrol locations, as managing officials get real-time information by simply pressing buttons on their system. The guard patrol system can be used to verify guards without any additional expense on devices needed for these executions. The verification can be simply done through smartphones.
Final Thoughts
A guard tour system is a beneficial technological upgrade for security companies. The software can enhance the security of the protected areas and the security guards. Features like real-time tracking, task automation, and scheduling ensure that the guards conduct patrols efficiently and take immediate action in case of emergencies. Incorporating this technology helps security companies in better security management and improved property protection for their customers.