Sun City Security transforms operations with Real-Time Guard Management Solution

Sun City Security Service, Inc. (SCS), one of the oldest and largest security companies in El Paso, Texas, provides customized security programs, including on-site security personnel, nighttime security patrols, and event management. The company operates a 24-hour live dispatch center where managers administer operations by communicating with customers and more than 100 guards in the field.

SCS monitored its guard force using a standard industry guard tour wand system in which guards touched small ID chips at certain checkpoint locations throughout their shifts. The wands recorded time and location information from when the chip was touched. The data from each guard’s tour round was manually downloaded into the software program only after the shift was completed, and often times not until the next day. In addition, there was no way for supervisors to know if an incident occurred, or if a guard wasn’t manning his or her post until after a shift was completed. These guard tour wands frequently crashed and were unreliable since they depended on guards to correctly touch checkpoints to record information.

The company recognized that it needed a real-time guard management solution so managers could better monitor and manage their force in real-time.

President and CEO, Dave Scepanski, selected Intergis and its tracking and reporting solution for security organizations – the GuardTrax™ Security Force Locator (SFL) Solution. “I immediately witnessed the immense benefits of the state-of-the-art guard management solution, because GuardTrax SFL was exactly what the company needed,” Scepanski explains.

The GPS/wireless GuardTrax SFL units are slightly larger than cell phones and easy to carry. The devices pinpoint the exact locations of the company’s entire workforce at any time through a secure Web-based graphical user interface (GUI). SCS supervisors are able to view real-time location information or historical information from the past year over the Internet. The cell phone feature allows guards and supervisors to communicate but doesn’t permit outside personal calls. In addition, GuardTrax SFL units have a unique customizable incident reporting system that enables SCS officers to communicate “real-time” incident notifications to the supervisor, such as a burglary, injury, or intrusion. If a GuardTrax SFL device remains motionless for a predetermined period of time, usually five minutes, or if it’s removed from a predefined area, such as a customer property, then an e-mail or SMS message is immediately sent to SCS supervisors notifying them of the issue.

Because managers are equipped with continuous real-time information, they can respond to incidents immediately and solve problems before it becomes an issue for SCS clients.

SCS currently has GuardTrax SFL units at four of its sites, and according to Scepanski, “It’s a major benefit that I can shift the devices from site to site as needed, which keeps all our clients happy and the guards on their toes. If a guard at a site knows they’re always being watched, they’ll keep moving and do their job.”

Scepanski also said that GuardTrax SFL, “is a necessity on construction sites, which are usually only manned by one guard and are vulnerable to theft. With a GuardTrax SFL unit, managers keep a constant watch on the sites and can send reinforcements immediately if needed.”

The GuardTrax SFL device literally transformed SCS’s security operations, providing the optimal guard management system. Instead of waiting two or three days to review guards’ activities and reports as with the previous wands, managers now keep constant watch on personnel, ensuring they’re upholding their duties.

A huge benefit, according to Scepanski, is that SCS significantly improved its ability to keep its clients. “I almost lost a client once because a guard was sleeping on the job and now I can absolutely guarantee that won’t happen,” he says.

Instead, Scepanski says that in five short months, SCS is the only guard company in El Paso using GuardTrax SFL, which has given the company a major competitive advantage. “I can show my clients on screen, without any doubt, that my guards are where they’re supposed to be at all times. No one else can offer that level of safety, protection and professionalism to ensure their stations are always being guarded.”

SCS plans to implement GuardTrax SFL devices at all its clients’ sites, since it’s been so successful in optimizing guard management procedures, and has produced an extremely positive customer response. In addition, the company is including GuardTrax SFL in its bid proposals as a selling tool, since executives are confident that it’s what clients want.

To learn more about GuardTrax SFL and other Intergis Mobile Resource Management solutions, click on Contact Us.