On this page (5)
In-house security and security companies
Two kinds of buyer purchase software for security. A plant that employs its own security staff wants to know what is happening on site and to have documentation when something does happen. The decision then usually goes through the security manager and the site director.
A security company running a contract buys the system because the client has written electronic guard tour monitoring into the tender requirements, or because it wants evidence to show when the contract comes up for renewal. The decision path is then often much shorter, because the contract manager is also the decision-maker.
A security company can also run several sites in TraxSystem at once. Visibility scope means that staff at one site cannot see another, while the company’s management sees all of them.
Patrols, the duty log and incidents on shift
In TraxSystem a patrol is carried out on a mobile device that works without signal, because coverage on sites is often weak or non-existent, and the patrol cannot depend on it. Checkpoints are confirmed with a proximity tag or by position on the map, and a photo can be made mandatory at selected checkpoints.
A route can be open or fixed-sequence. A missed checkpoint, a delay or a round that runs longer than planned closes the patrol with the status ‘with remarks’, so the shift supervisor sees it by the next morning.
The duty log, official notes and incidents are electronic and tied to the user account and the shift. An incident is recorded on the spot: description, photos, a marker on the map and a signature, and what comes out is a finished PDF report ready to send to the client.
Post check-ins for lone working run separately: a missed confirmation triggers a repeat request, and then a notification to the people named in the configuration.
Patrol and incident reports for the security manager
In TraxSystem the security manager gets summaries of patrols, incidents and check-ins, with export and automatic sending at a set time. On a contract with an external client, the monthly report therefore stops being somebody’s job in the office.
On a site with vehicle traffic, security works in the same system as the gate, so an entry, a person passing through, an incident and a patrol all form one set of data. In a disputed case, that connection counts for more than any single feature.
What TraxSystem will not do on a guarded site
TraxSystem changes what the person at the post spends their time on, but it will not replace staffing where regulations or the insurance contract require it.
Nor will the system detect an incident on its own. It documents what a person or an alerting rule reports, and it does not analyse camera images to look for events. For alarm panels from other manufacturers it shows status and history, but it does not control them. It is not a video surveillance system: it does not record continuously, and from the cameras it keeps only photos and short clips of passages and entries.
A lone-working check-in confirms contact with the person and does not collect their location. A position trail is recorded by a patrol carried out on a mobile device out on the site.
Related
Site security supportMobile devicesRandom inspection and on-site trafficAccess control
Further reading: Software for security companies · Guard tour monitoring: checkpoints · Guard post check-ins and lone working · Missed check-in: the procedure