A case study of how the guarding contractor LAPA Canine and Security validate their services.
LAPA Canine and Security Ltd based in Kent provide manned guarding services including vacant property 24 hour protection, key-holding and alarm response, patrols, retail security and security for schools, front of house and reception and concierge and porters, events security, close protection and building site security. They have dog handlers on their team all Ministry of Defence (MoD) and HM Prison Service qualified.
Through a recent evaluation of one of their busiest sectors – vacant property – they had been looking for a way to ensure the service is delivered to their clients and that it can be validated. Much the time, their client is not on site at the same time as their guards, so it was vital to install a system whereby full service could be shown via technology, as well as providing validation.
Eddie Richardson, Operations Director of LAPA said: “We were in need of a real time solution rather than a historical system to validate attendance – otherwise we are dealing with a problem after it had occurred rather than proactively as it happened. It is very important to us to demonstrate how proactive we are and give our customers a service they could rely on and trust. It also ensures that we look after the well-being of our officers and can locate them if they run into any trouble.”
LAPA considered a telematics product but due to the fact that most of their staff are on foot realised this was not suitable as they are generally vehicle-based systems. They chose Romex’s Teamfix product part of the Romex Mobile Employee Management products that cover staff on foot, in vehicles and travelling on public transport.
Romex’s Mobile Employee Management is a web-based software app run via a smart phone that monitors an employee’s movements. Given that their mobile phone will always be on a person, it can record where that member of staff is at any time.
Richardson added: “This system gives us validation of site attendance, time of arrival and departure as well as validation of location – which is vital in our industry. It can also monitor ETA’s – travelling time so we know when a member of staff is late. We can quickly see the nearest guard to location for emergency call outs. All Lone Workers are protected as we can locate them at any time and we can ensure safe driving and legal compliance management. It gives us enhanced supervision of our officers.
“From a client perspective – although most of them do trust what guards are doing – they are much happier having real-time information and reports that validate that their sites are being taken care of. We can validate to our clients the exact arrival and departure times from site and how many times the guard has patrolled the site when required, we can also pre-warn customers if guards are going to be late as well as giving them an estimated time of arrival. We get a detailed view of guards moving around the sites (building to building) ensuring rounds are being covered correctly. At least one contract has been saved by having the Romex system and other contracts have been gained.
“We love the versatility of the system and have been able to move phones around and swap them between personnel, a hassle free solution. As our guards are on foot throughout most of their working days, an in-vehicle telematics system would never have really worked for us.”
LAPA report that they have found that by demonstrating their use of this system they have won contracts; validation is key in their industry. The system has given financial benefits too. The real time management means they don’t have to issue credits and are able to validate to clients in real time which in turn makes invoicing simpler. Through the monitoring of the hours of work and paying accordingly management of over-time and payments has been simplified.
Visit http://www.lapasecurity.co.uk and www.romexworld.com.
