 | Building Security and Guard Tours
When you own a building that needs security, keeping the guards accountable is important. You need to make sure the security guards are doing their job properly, hitting the right areas at the right time. Before technological advances, guards operated on the honor system in making their rounds.
Now, a security guard tour system helps you to track where he's been in the building. Often shaped like a small flashlight, the security guards can use a wand coded for their use which logs the time they pass areas on their route.
Whatever brand of security guard tour system you use has several basic functions. It ensures that security guards stick to their schedule and tours by the proper area at the proper time. And with that information you then can protect yourself from legal and insurance issues.
Guard tours should be sequenced to inspect important areas of your building. Good examples would include entrances to the building, safes, and computer labs, as well as any other important area of your building. At the areas on the tour you have a button or barcode, which the security guard registers with a data collector—a device which interacts with the checkpoint and registers location information and time.
This requires knowing the most effective route beforehand. It is a good idea to program your guard tour system to have an appropriate time limit between checkpoints. If the guard fails to reach a checkpoint in time, you can send someone to check up on the guard.
Security guard tours need some method of communicating any issues in a timely, appropriate manner. Most guard tour system data collectors also have a way to register problems that will prompt the necessary response. This helps protect you from liability issues.
Each data collector should be encoded with a number specific to the security guard using it. It can collect the route information for anywhere from several days to a couple of weeks. When it is time to download the information, the data collector can be plugged in and will produce a report of the tours it was used with.
Security is a prime concern, whether in an office building at night or in a busy mall during the day. With a security guard tour system you can ensure that the guards you've hired are doing their job correctly. You will be able to rest assured that you've got your insurance and liability concerns covered, even if something goes wrong. |
