Know where your guards are.
Possibly the most motivating factor for buying into housing estates or complexes is the expected intensity of security with visible patrolling of guards to alert of any suspicious activity.
But humans are creatures of habit and guards may follow the same route at the same pace day in and day out. All it takes for the intelligent would-be intruder is to observe a guard’s patrolling routine to know when and where to enter and the length of time at his disposal before the guard will return.
Ian Pattrick, GM for the up-market lifestyle estate Lakelands, situated on the banks of Hartbeespoort Dam in North West Province, is convinced that the implementation of mobile tracking devices based on GPS and GPRS technology to allow real-time monitoring of guards, has been instrumental in tightening the overall security of the estate.
“I believe every estate in the country should have this type of system in place. We started using the Beget TrackIT system six months ago when we changed security companies. Previously we had touch batons where guards had to follow a specific route and clock-in times. It was possible for the guards to remove the clock points every night, take them to one location and simply clock-in at the required times, then these clocks would be placed back into their positions in the morning. We did not have a visual picture of where the guards were during their patrol periods or what they did between clock points leaving them with time on hand to perform tasks unrelated to patrolling.”
Monitoring the monitors
Each guard is now supplied with a TrackIT device which is the convenient size of a smartphone. These are strapped to their belts in a carry case at all times while on duty. Lakelands has four patrolling guards who look after 150 houses and 200 boat lockers on 60 hectares. The perimeter fence of the estate is 3 kms with a water frontage of another 1,5 km. Each guard walks between 15 and 20 km per shift.
Pattrick says that TrackIT allows the guards the freedom to move about within a prescribed area. “The random patrolling pattern where known hot spots can be targeted, encourages the guards to take the initiative rather than perform their duties as robots walking the same route.”
The system allows management to monitor the guards’ movements in real-time on the Internet, plotted on a Google map of the estate site. At any time it is known where the guard is, the hours walked, where he stopped and for how long. The advantage of the wireless system is that even if the device is switched off, submerged in water or hidden somewhere, this immobility will be recorded. Reports can be generated to allow in-depth analysis.
Pattrick explains, “Each day I go through the reports with the security supervisor and look at the tracks of the guards and the areas covered and at the stopped times. Anything over 15 minutes is queried with the employee and if excessive, I reduce the monthly payment to the security company accordingly. Initially guards were very much against the tracking system, but it allowed us to weed out the lazy and we now have excellent men who regard TrackIT as a work aid. The Beget TrackIT is also equipped with a panic alert button that is also useful as there is no audio or visual signal. An SMS is sent to the supervisor and me to summon help and we are able to establish where the incident occurred.”
Flexible application
The uses for TrackIT are not only as a tracking device for people. For Lakelands, Pattrick has applied the system to map out where pipelines run. “It can be used as a management tool to pinpoint the positions within an area of cables, fire extinguishers etc. Because it is so portable the device can be slipped into a vehicle to ensure it is being used for work purposes.”
Although TrackIT was initially a more expensive outlay for devices and setup than the previous baton security system, there are no-going costs involved with contracts to Beget. Lakelands carries out its own guard monitoring via the Internet. But, as Pattrick reiterates, “In the final analysis the improvement in security cannot be dictated by cost, it is non-negotiable.”
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