Technology Desc

Kate

The Californian 2023 Q2: Nationwide Communication is Trending with Law Enforcement, Security & Specialized Units

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Nationwide Communication is Trending with Law Enforcement, Security & Specialized Units

We live in a data-driven world where agencies and private security increasingly expect data to flood through theirnetworks at optimum speeds to do their jobs better, smarter, and faster. Today, 75% of the workplace is said to be themillennial generation (1), and many believe that millennial workers are addicted to the “instant gratification”phenomenon. This is a generation that grew up with texting, instant messaging, social media, and more, all at theirservice to deliver information in an instant. As the speed of our data-driven world continues to increase, so are theexpectations of workers whose jobs rely on instant data-driven communications.

While the idea of instant push-to-talk communications has been around since 1933 when a New Jersey police department operated the first Land Mobile Radio (LMR) system, this new data-hungry workforce continues to push thereliability and speed of their communication system. But the need for speed simply isn’t enough in an increasingly mobile world …

According to a recent Gallup study, 43% of employees reported working offsite at least at some point during theircareers compared to 30% just 4 years earlier (2). With this increasingly mobile workforce that can now work anywherebeyond the office, an instant communication solution to support these requirements is simply non- negotiable. In aMotorola Solutions Communications Survey, 64% of workers stated it is important to have instant, nationwidecommunication at their workplace (3).

Today you can get the best of both worlds with instant two-way radio communication features at a nationwide scale.By connecting existing Land Mobile Radio (LMR) systems and smartphones, the LTE Broadband radio, extendspush-to-talk benefits for all team members, whether they’re on the same job site or across the country.

PRIVATE SECURITY:

INSTANT COMMUNICATION WHEN IT’S NEEDED MOST

Security personnel can use one device anywhere.

  • Communicate critical encrypted communication instantly with team members across the country at the push of a button.
  • Bridge multiple facilities and operations without needing to set up or maintain complicated infrastructure.
  • Connect with teams regardless of their network, on existing LMR devices to smartphones, and more.
  • Fast-track security operations with a nationwide push-to-talk network that powers the quickest setup, programchanges, and connectivity.
  • Even the freshest new hire can pick up the device and immediately share information with the rest of the team.

Perhaps no industry requires instant communication more than security, where safety often depends on split second decisions.

  1. Key Statistics About Millennials in the Workplace, Mark Emmons
  2. America’s Coming Workplace: Home Alone, Annamarie Mann, and Amy Adkins
  3. 2019 Motorola Solutions Communications

JoJo Tran is Chief Executive Officer of Telepath Corporation. Tran joined Telepath in 1990 and became CEO in September 2010. Previously, he headed several business units at Telepath, including mission critical infrastructure, customer service, sales and mobile team. Mr. Tran’s vision is to be the industry’s premier sales, service and program management company. Customers and partners will see Telepath as an integral to their success. Telepath will anticipate their needs and deliver on every commitment. People will be proud to work at Telepath. Telepath will create opportunities to achieve the extraordinary and will reward their success.

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Kate

The Californian 2023 Q2: Balancing Ops and Back-Office Resources for Profitable Growth

Balancing Ops and Back-Office Resources for Profitable Growth

Lindsay Uleman, TEAM Software, CALSAGA Network Partner

The security industry is one of the most critical, essential and rapidly evolving sectors in the world. With a market size already over $54 billion and expected growth in the years to come, security companies should be positioning their businesses to best win new business and scale services to match growth projections.

To do this, you must first have a clear understanding of potential roadblocks in your management of field operations and the correlating resources built into your back office. Once you overcome these barriers, you can move towards more nuanced elements of winning more business and scaling revenue-driven business growth.

Managing your field officers – better
The fact of the matter is that a growing business needs technologies and processes to keep pace with their growth. That means having a system that can accurately:
? Record and track timekeeping including nuanced needs like meal and rest breaks
? Ensure the right officer is assigned to the right contract based on compliance needs and qualifications
? Keep up with scheduling changes, including no-shows, tardiness and supervisors standing post
? Provide a system for clear incident management and resolution
? Improve proof of service tracking and reporting on work being completed in the field

The truth is, many security companies are still trying to achieve these standards using spreadsheets or hard-copy documentation. Others may have implemented a specific software solution for each bullet point, resulting in manual data manipulation and inaccurate data reference points.

The technologies you use to support your business can just as easily stall growth than support it. What may have worked for your business in the past might not be scalable as you’re taking on more contracts (and hiring more employees to execute on them).

Take the time to make sure you have the right framework in place to support your growing workforce with effective timekeeping, scheduling, service delivery and reporting processes. Doing so now will reduce rework – or needing to start from scratch – years down the road when your clients may walk away from you because of it.

Building an effective back office at scale
As many security companies secure bids and hire officers to meet those specific SLAs, many are finding themselves having to commensurately increase the resources they’re putting into their back office to keep pace.

That’s not sustainable. If you’re constantly increasing your operations and back-office at a 1:1 growth rate, the revenue gained from new contracts will constantly be allocated to cover your growing overhead. Essentially, that just means everyone is doing more work without much to show for it.

Instead, invest in solutions that reduce the amount of time your back-office teams are spending on manual tasks related to payroll, HR, accounting and reconciliation. It’s even better if your solution can take the data that’s already been collected from the field – especially time keeping records – and funnel that downstream to inform client invoicing and issuing accurate payroll.

When looking for a system that can do these things, keep an eye out for:
? Automated workflows
? Shared data
? Inform employee and customer self service portals
? Support integrated accounting
? Reduce liability
? Support compliance
? Cut back on manual work

There will always be a need for back-office management and support. But when given the right tools, your existing teams should be able to complete more work at scale no matter your company’s growth rate.

Achieving a balanced ratio
With the growing market, there’s no reason you can’t scoop up available market share in the years to come – as long as you have the right systems in place.

Enterprise software solutions can help in balancing the needs of both your field-based officers and your back office. With appropriate resource allocation, you can maintain a growth trajectory that is profitable and scalable no matter what lies ahead.

Learn more about striking the right balance with your team. Watch this video case study on achieving scalable growth without growing support staff at teamsoftware.com.

With TEAM Software by WorkWave since 2018, Lindsay assists customers improve processes to achieve strategic goals by engaging, collaborating and supporting streamlining efforts. Prior to TEAM Software, Lindsay earned a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Marketing and Management along with several years of professional experience including various client engagement and administration roles.

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Aley Moyer

The Californian Q1 2023 – From Putting Out Fires to Addressing Issues Before They Happen

From Putting Out Fires to Addressing Issues Before They Happen

Jordan Wallach, Belfry Software, Associate Member

Managing all the pieces of a successful security operation is challenging. From recruiting, hiring, and training employees to scheduling, billing clients, and retaining employees, all these elements are interconnected and impact one another. When just one aspect falters, it affects the entire operation and leads to a negative client experience.

Unfortunately, most companies in the security guard services industry rely on fragmented systems to evaluate the health of their business. This leads to a reactive approach, where issues are addressed only after they arise. The problem here is that it doesn’t reduce the risk of these issues happening in the first place – driving you to constantly be putting out fires.

But having one integrated system isn’t enough – it needs to be intuitive for everyone on your staff and it needs to meaningfully save them time. Moreover, it needs to enable proactive, informed decisions, reducing the risk of issues arising in the first place. True business intelligence requires harnessing your company’s data and putting it to work across multiple functions.

For example, imagine having a system that schedules your officers and also processes their payroll. This way, you can match up timesheets exactly with the hours that were supposed to be worked – reducing payroll processing time from 3 days to 3 hours. By tracking officer performance across all areas, you could highlight great service to clients and provide training where needed. And with accurate billing generated from the same system, you can get paid quickly and on time.

Belfry has been solving these problems for customers across California and the US with the industry’s most modern application. Our goal is to help you turn data into actionable business intelligence, beginning to spend more time with your customers and less time putting out fires.

Jordan Wallach is the Co-Founder and CEO of Belfry, the modern operating system for security guard services companies and a CALSAGA Member. Prior to founding Belfry, Jordan was a consultant at McKinsey & Company and a Product Manager at Microsoft, building software used by millions of people worldwide. He has a bachelor’s degree in Data Science from Stanford University.

 

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Aley Moyer

The Californian Q1 2023 – Profitability in a New Year

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Profitability in a New Year

Brandy Tomasek, TEAM Software, CALSAGA Network Partner

One of the most straight-forward ways to increase job profitability is to decrease job-related spending. As much of the world faces the possibility of a recession, decreasing spending is top of mind across industries. 

Still, it can seem impossible to cut back on necessary expenditures. Our industry-specific labor market analysis suggests ongoing competitiveness. Labor and overhead – already a significant portion of a security company’s expenses – will likely remain high. 

That’s why it is more important than ever to maintain a clear and accurate picture of your profitability. Job costing should be the driving data force behind every decision you make. 

Job costing: explained

Job costing is an accounting term that enables a business to track costs by individual jobs. The more granular detail you can gather, the more opportunity you have to protect your profit margins. That’s why getting accurate numbers and recording each one down to the job level is so important in protecting profitability – and helping support a data-backed strategy to help you operate better in the future.  

Typically, companies have some kind of process in place that is capturing a 1,000 foot view of profitability. Opportunities are often missed by neglecting to calculate true cost overhead expenses into job-level data. This can include anything from payroll taxes and workers comp, to general liability insurance, supplies, fuel and more. When you don’t account for a portion of these expenses as a cost per job, you really aren’t getting an accurate picture of what it took from your expense budget to service that contract. As labor and supply shortages continue, continuing to take on unprofitable contracts can be dangerous to your resources, time and bottom-line. 

Here’s how job costing should work as a part of your back-office system: 

Process every financial transaction with an associated job number. That includes everything from payroll, to accounts receivable and payable, to adjusting journal entries. At TEAM Software, we’ve built our software solution to include even more features that allow for payroll taxes and miscellaneous insurance costs to be taken down to the job level, based on payroll dollars at that specific job. 

After recording all associated activity to the job level, the rendered data can be used to review accurate accounting practices, compare the data to budgets and (of course) make sure you’re profiting. This information can and should be heavily relied upon for contract renegotiation and bidding future work that might be similar to an existing job.

This kind of feature, when built as a part of an integrated software solution that connects operations, accounting and finance, and the back-office, really sets up security companies to scale, even when times are tough. Remember, your clients are likely seeking to conserve costs as much as you are. Reliable and accurate data gathered through activities like job costing give you the tools to provide clear reporting on the services – and value – you’re delivering on each job. Having this data gathered in one integrated software solution also helps preserve knowledge in the case of turnover at the back-office level, too. 

Now’s the time to fine-tune processes

In an age where manpower is harder to come by, improving back-end systems and software solutions can create efficiencies to reduce your dependency on added overhead. Not only does it shed light onto how much money your company has brought in for a particular job, it provides clear data on how much money your company actually made per job. Once you have this knowledge, you can better allocate resources, adjust SLAs and billing, and fine-tune operations so that you are curbing costs and maximizing profit as much as possible in a tightened economy. 

If you’re new to job costing, remember the industry experts at TEAM Software are always available to help support your goal of reducing costs, maximizing opportunities and supporting profitability. 

Brandy Tomasek joined TEAM Software by WorkWave in 2016. She’s a part of the Client Experience team, working as a Sr. Implementation Lead and Business Consultant. Prior to joining TEAM Software, Brandy earned a Bachelor’s degree in Management and Marketing, as well as her MBA in Organizational Leadership. Brandy’s professional experience spans a range of disciplines from back office accounting to management and leadership in various industries.

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Aley Moyer

The Californian 2022 Q4 – Shaping the Optimal SaaS Ecosystem How CSA360 Software follows through on their Core Values

Shaping the Optimal SaaS Ecosystem
How CSA360 Software follows through on their Core Values

Tony Unfried, CSA360

Dream Big. At CSA360 Software, our vision is to create the best software possible. When  we design our interface, we are thinking globally by asking if all users would benefit. We’re  committed to creating a roadmap that is always improving. 

Maintaining your Mission, Vision and Values may seem like a daunting task, however, setting a  clear vision for your security company can help you attract and retain talent, keep your  leadership focused, and help you scale strategically. 

Leadership expert Simon Sinek often talks about knowing ‘the why’ of our business. He defines it  as “The compelling higher purpose that inspires us and acts as the source of all we do”. At  CSA360 Software, our ‘why’ stems from the belief in our product as well as our steadfast  commitment to our clients to help them reach their business goals without breaking the bank. 

Growth acceleration is a byproduct of clear core values. In the last twelve months, our company  has strategically expanded. First, there was a defined initiative to create a better user experience.  New developers and talented UX designers were added to the team, executing useful updates to  our current modules. 

Consistently improving our modules delights our current and future clients. Our workforce  management module, HR Commander, has new views, filters and scheduling features, and can  easily integrate with different payroll software. Our Text Commander module has experienced a  complete overhaul, making it easy to send notifications to staff, guests or segments of groups  that could benefit from real-time information. 

Our Dispatch Module can show all stages from ‘reported’ to ‘in progress’ to ‘all clear’ in real time.  Use a special form in the field? Get up to five custom forms specifically designed for your  business.  

Gather and measure analytics with Custom Summary Reporting, written to your exact  requirements. In addition, with modules such as Tour Confirmation, Communications Log, and  Push Notifications, your security staff is fully accountable.

Our Binder Module is a digital manual to store EOPs, EAPs and SOPs at the touch of a button.  This feature is great for events with large staff and volunteers. 

Other modules such as Lost & Found match the item to the owner with minimal time and effort. 

CSA360 Software offers nineteen complete modules. Clients can learn from our experienced  sales staff to receive a perfectly curated order of only what they need. Clients can request any  combination of one to all nineteen pieces. The software is available on a monthly, annual, three year subscription. 

CSA360 Software has four core values. First is the Business Mullet: we’ve got productivity with  personality! We bring authenticity to our workplace. Second is the White Glove Partnership:  client success is our focus. Through Quarterly Business Reviews, NPS scoring, trainer surveys  and monthly check ins, we strive to give the best service possible to our clients. Third is Street  Cred: this software was built by security professionals for security professionals. Our CEO, Tony  Unfried, started this business with over 20 year of security experience in the field. Finally, we  care about Proactive Innovation: using our resources to remain leaders in the industry.  

Our team’s mission is to create the best security software in the industry. We understand the  need to work proactively instead of reactively. With a leadership team looking laser-focused in  the same direction, at the same goals, it has served us well. 

How do your Core Values align the Big Picture with your Day-to-Day? 

Learn more about us at www.csa360software.com

Tony Unfried, CEO of CSA360, holds a master’s degree in Public Affairs and Criminal Justice from Indiana University, where he graduated with honors. While enrolled in his master’s program, Tony worked for The TJX Companies, Inc., leading the region in loss prevention and moving the company toward technology use in Security. Tony went on to join the most significant security company in Indiana, managing more than 500 employees and 50 sites, including the Indiana Convention Center, Bankers Life Fieldhouse, and Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center. Seeing a noticeable gap in technology use in the physical security sector, Tony created his first security software application, launched at the Super Bowl in 2012, and recognized twice for Excellence in Mobile Technology by Techpoint. Tony has also spoken on Tech in Physical Security on panels with ASIS and IAVM.

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Aley Moyer

The Californian 2022 Q3 – TIPS FOR CHOOSING A SOFTWARE PARTNER

TIPS FOR CHOOSING A SOFTWARE PARTNER

Tony Unfried, CSA360

As companies grow or become acquired, they tend to change; whether it’s an increase in price, a  decrease in customer service, or both. It’s important to be aware of these changes because it affects  the quality of service you receive. As you navigate your relationships with trusted partners, we’ve found  some best practices that can help you assess whether your needs are being met: 

The company you choose provides consistent outstanding client services. This is the most important  asset a partner can provide. Do your users have access to knowledge base articles? Do their support  tickets get fast and efficient responses? Your team should be able to ask questions and be provided with  high-quality answers. 

Does the company know your business goals? Is your trusted partner checking in quarterly to connect  with stakeholders to learn how they can support your growth? Do they know exactly what tools you will  need further down the pipeline? Maintaining clear communication is key so your partner can launch  new services the moment your team is ready. 

They supply hands-on training. Being able to work through real time scenarios with a highly trained  implementation specialist can make all the difference in your onboarding experience. Being able to learn  the software by doing is the best way to retain training. In addition, it’s important to have a key team  member to hold that knowledge to train new staff and manage any turnover that may occur. 

Along with training through real time scenarios, having homework scenarios prior to the next training  can be equally as helpful. It provides a challenge to learning the software and allows the trainers to see  what needs more focus and if trainees are truly retaining the information.  

Leadership in innovation. In this competitive market, companies grow by staying innovative.  Introducing new features and benefits can help improve the status quo. Receiving these  communications via newsletter or email can give you access to new features, often without any  additional cost. 

Company transparency is everything. Is your partner following through with promises made to their  client base, to the employees, and to their product? As some companies grow, their transparency can  become opaque. They focus less on the quality of what they provide and more on the quantity of who  they can provide too. 

The security landscape is constantly changing with new challenges to be met. It’s now more important  than ever to vet your choices. Plan a meeting with potential partners to find out what they’re about and  be ready to make the switch if they can’t provide these key aspects. You want to choose someone who  can provide you with unwavering customer support- a White Glove Partnership. 

Tony Unfried, CEO of CSA360, holds a master’s degree in Public Affairs and Criminal Justice from Indiana University, where he graduated with honors. While enrolled in his master’s program, Tony worked for The TJX Companies, Inc., leading the region in loss prevention and moving the company toward technology use in Security. Tony went on to join the most significant security company in Indiana, managing more than 500 employees and 50 sites, including the Indiana Convention Center, Bankers Life Fieldhouse, and Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center. Seeing a noticeable gap in technology use in the physical security sector, Tony created his first security software application, launched at the Super Bowl in 2012, and recognized twice for Excellence in Mobile Technology by Techpoint. Tony has also spoken on Tech in Physical Security on panels with ASIS and IAVM.

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Aley Moyer

The Californian 2022 Q3 – Three Tips to Reduce Overtime, Now.

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THREE TIPS TO REDUCE OVERTIME, NOW. 

Plus: Things to keep in mind when dealing with overtime during a labor shortage.

Gail Tutt, TEAM Software by WorkWave

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: the best way to reduce overtime is to stop it before it starts. It’s a little cliché, especially when overtime (and, unfortunately, non-billable overtime) is an inherent part of the security industry. Still, there are several tactics you can use to get a handle on overtime and manage labor costs. 

1. Know your service-level agreements. This doesn’t just mean at the executive level. Because SLAs dictate the service standards and pricing obligations you’re required to deliver to your customers, it’s imperative that any employee who is involved in managing your company’s scheduling is well versed in bill and pay rates by contract. By ensuring understanding in all scheduling roles, you can prevent costly mistakes (like wage creep, which can occur in a variety of scenarios, but especially when officers are scheduled for overtime shifts outside of the scope of what’s budgeted per job.) 

By knowing your SLAs inside and out, your company is also setting up the foundation for best practices in job costing. With industry-specific software solutions to assist in the heavy lifting of tracking and analyzing job performance, you can see at a glance which jobs are lending themselves to your profit margins, and which are under performing.

2. Don’t forget about compliance. In some cases, there’s no way around scheduling overtime without compromising your compliance with state and federal labor law regulations and overtime rules. In our industry, there are compliance risks posed from misclassification, recordkeeping and other hour and wage-related activities that can turn your timekeeping and overtime tracking into a headache. Earlier this year, even, this entity reported a wage settlement (with waiting time penalties) due to an upheld ruling alleging an employer failed to include meal period premiums on wage statements. A different case in 2021 found the California Supreme Court upholding that employers are required to pay meal and rest break violation premiums at the same rate as when paying overtime. Translation: these costs add up quickly.

While many integrated workforce management solutions don’t track compliance for you, they do provide tools to more easily prove compliance. Look for feature sets which include things like time and attendance (including punch times), scheduling, regulation monitoring and reporting to gain well-rounded visibility into your compliance.  

3. Become friends with your data. This point is straightforward: dig into your data early on in your scheduling process. In available TEAM solutions, we recommend including criteria like parameter searches for available guards that fit within the bill rate specified per job. That way, your schedulers will only be able to assign officers to shifts whose rate fits the given budget (see our first point).

Often, we find companies can implement at least one of these tips to help prevent and improve overtime. But we also recognize that the current labor market throws a new wrench into the mix. When it’s hard to find officers to fill shifts in general, of course it becomes more likely for regular shifts to turn into overtime to stay on top of SLAs. While there’s no easy answer, it’s possible resolving this particular overtime challenge can be addressed by refocusing on retention.

Start by taking a few steps back to analyze what your voluntary separations look like. Are officers leaving for higher hourly rates or benefits? Or are they leaving for more flexibility in their schedules? Maybe they’re pivoting careers into adjacent industries or taking even bigger leaps into entirely new verticals. The common theme of all these scenarios is that it is likely not a separation on bad terms. This could be an opportunity to think outside the box in the form of a self-scheduling program. This way, employees stay in your employee management system (as part-time or ad hoc employees) and can pick up shifts based on when they want to work (even if they are employed elsewhere). While it may not work for everyone, it is an interesting tactic to reduce overtime needs while increasing employee retention.

It’s hard to theorize if there will ever be a world without overtime in some capacity. But, there are steps you can take to improve this metric now. See how at teamsoftware.com. 

Gail has spent over 35 years in the private sector as a senior level finance and operations manager across multiple industry. Most recently CFO of a regional security company in San Jose, CA, Gail now works providing invaluable insight and expertise as a business consultant with TEAM Software.  Her hobbies include breeding and showing standard wirehair dachshunds, hiking and spending time with her family.

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Aley Moyer

The Californian 2022 Q2 – 3 STEPS TO COST-EFFECTIVELY STREAMLINE YOUR SECURITY GUARD MANAGEMENT PROCESS

3 STEPS TO COST-EFFECTIVELY STREAMLINE YOUR SECURITY GUARD MANAGEMENT PROCESS

Tony Unfried, CSA360

Are you looking to improve your security guard management processes? Adding a security management software system is key. With all the options out there, finding a budget-friendly system that effectively manages your team can feel like a daunting task. But there is an option that can easily meet both goals. A customizable security guard software system is a game changer for security teams of all sizes. 

The benefits of implementing a customizable security guard management system are vast. But most importantly, it puts the control in your hands. A customizable system means: 

You can pick and choose which modules you need most. Many security guard management systems require you to buy every tool and feature, which significantly drives up costs. But a customizable system means you can choose which tools, features, and modules are best for your team.

A custom system is budget-friendly. A customizable security software system means you only pay for the modules you want. This makes it much simpler to stay within your budget. 

You can plan for future growth. A customizable system allows your team to grow with the software. The modules you decide are unnecessary today may change in the future. Simply add more modules and tools as your needs change. 

Ready to see how security guard management software can modernize your security management processes? 

Here are 3 Steps to Cost-Effectively Streamline Your Security Management System

Step 1. Decide Which Software Features Are Most Important for Your Security Team

Your security guards need modern, innovative, and user-friendly tools available to help them do their best work. A security software system is the ideal way to do this. Not only does security software reduce challenges for security teams, but the modules and features also improve processes at an affordable cost. 

Some security guard management software features and tools to consider include: 

  • Cloud access. Cloud access eliminates location hassles for your security team. This software feature allows you to log into the software anywhere, from any device. 
  • Technical support. Technical support means a highly-trained technical support person is only a phone call, email, or web ticket away. 
  • Customizable modules. This is a huge perk for cost-conscious security teams. Customizable modules allow you to only pay for the modules, workflows, and documentations tools you want.

Step 2. Customize Your Security Software Solution

Customizing your security guard management system gives you total control over everything in your software, from workforce management to incident reporting. And remember, you can further customize your software to fit your needs as your security team continues to grow. 

Some security software modules to consider include: 

  • Live dashboards and widgets. Interactive live dashboards deliver the real-time information you need, including incident locations and issues, news and weather, guard tour and facility maps, and more. All can be customized and organized for your unique team. 
  • Automatic connection to dispatch. Forget scrambling for a phone or a radio during a security breach. An automatic connection to dispatch gets backup to your guards quickly. 
  • Customizable incident reports. Toss those antiquated reporting templates. Customizable summary and incident reporting streamlines reporting processes and resolves issues quickly. 
  • Guard tour management. GPS locations and mobile QR technology make tracking and monitoring guard tours easy, even with a smaller security guard team. 
  • Txt Commander. Utilizing a unique phone number, this security software module allows clients, guests and staff to text questions and concerns to your security team. 
  • Automated visitor management. With smart check-in capabilities, pre-registration tools, electronic notifications, and facial recognition tools, automated visitor management is a must-have for security teams.  
  • Workforce management with HR commander. Say goodbye to the old way of scheduling. Security guard scheduling software gives managers a clear view of the upcoming schedule, requested PTO, potential overtime, and any staffing gaps. 
  • Digitized forms. This security guard software feature allows you to take standard business forms and digitize them, streamlining filing and communication all in one tool.  

Step 3. Choose the Right Security Software Partner 

There are many different security software options out there. But careful research is needed before making a final decision. The bottom line is that you need a security software partner that can provide an innovative security solution that fits your team and budget. A customized software solution is by far the most affordable option. Choosing what modules and tools you need puts you in control of your team and budget.

 

Tony Unfried, CEO of CSA360, holds a master’s degree in Public Affairs and Criminal Justice from Indiana University, where he graduated with honors. While enrolled in his master’s program, Tony worked for The TJX Companies, Inc., leading the region in loss prevention and moving the company toward technology use in Security. Tony went on to join the most significant security company in Indiana, managing more than 500 employees and 50 sites, including the Indiana Convention Center, Bankers Life Fieldhouse, and Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center. Seeing a noticeable gap in technology use in the physical security sector, Tony created his first security software application, launched at the Super Bowl in 2012, and recognized twice for Excellence in Mobile Technology by Techpoint. Tony has also spoken on Tech in Physical Security on panels with ASIS and IAVM.

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Kate

The Californian 2022 Q1 – 5 BENEFITS OF UTILIZING SECURITY OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE

5 BENEFITS OF UTILIZING SECURITY OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE

Tony Unfried, CSA360

As the physical security industry continues to evolve, so too has the software being utilized by security companies and their teams. The need for high performance, cost-effective, unified software solutions that help ensure a safe and secure environment has grown dramatically over the last decade.

Benefits of Utilizing Security Operations Management Software for Your Security Company

Regardless of the size or type of security team you manage, implementing security operations management software can alleviate many of the challenges you face today. This will allow you to enhance security risk management and add to the integrity of the overall security plan for your clients.

Let’s take a look at some of the top benefits of utilizing security operations management software to improve your processes and procedures.

  1. Manage Risks Associated with Staffing Gaps

Experiencing staffing gaps is a major challenge in the security industry today, with security companies struggling to achieve optimal staffing. By implementing security management software, you will have the tools needed to address these staffing gaps and manage the guards you have more efficiently.

We know that you are focused on hiring, but your client’s risks don’t stop while you are recruiting new guards. The right software will have features and modules that enhance processes like scheduling and remote monitoring, allowing you to continue managing these risks with a smaller staff.

  1. Increasing Workforce Accountability

Increasing workforce accountability can add a range of benefits to your security company. Having a system that makes tracking accountability seamless is crucial in achieving this accountability.

Software that has digital reporting capabilities will allow your guards to submit accurate and complete documentation and allow you to determine who is producing inaccurate reports. With quick access to documentation, like incident reports and daily activity reports, you will decrease the time it takes to address issues with your guards. Having this level of accountability will enhance the effectiveness of your security team and increase client satisfaction.

  1. Mitigate Risk and Legal Liability with Proactive Security Procedures

Mitigating risk and legal liability is best served by implementing proactive security procedures. These procedures allow you to detect risks before they happen and reduce the impact they have on your clients. You don’t need your staff waiting on an alarm to tell them there is trouble, when they could eliminate it from the start.

The key to this proactive approach is knowledge through data —and the more pieces of data gathered, the greater the likelihood of recognizing vulnerabilities and enhancing your proactive security services. Providing that robust data is a key feature of any good security operations management system.

  1. Simplify Guard Tour Management

Effective security operations management software will feature a guard tour system to help you organize, log and execute guard tours. This feature allows you to simplify your touring processes and make tracking accountability seamless – ensuring that guard tours are completed effectively and efficiently, within the pre-defined time intervals.

The days of scattershot paper reports are gone. An effective guard tour system files a tour report with a simple tap of a smartphone or other mobile device, sending the information straight to your command center. Whether you’re establishing a new guard tour plan or updating an existing one, having this accurate information quickly is invaluable to your team.

A bonus benefit for your security company is that software allows your guards to be freed from tedious data entry. This gives them more time to focus on the more significant aspects of their role

  1. Provide Comprehensive Data Analytics and Reporting

Analytics play such a crucial role in an effective security management system. Having a solid data infrastructure in place helps your company increase awareness, enhance communication, provide accurate documentation, and make data-driven proactive decisions.

Security software that features an incident management solution provides all of the above. The analytics provided present a clear understanding of the ways in which you can improve your operation by having instant access to all incident report data. This real time incident report data leads to better solutions and faster response. When looking for your software solution, be sure to choose a system that can cover all of your needs.

Tony Unfried, CEO of CSA360, holds a master’s degree in Public Affairs and Criminal Justice from Indiana University, where he graduated with honors. While enrolled in his master’s program, Tony worked for The TJX Companies, Inc., leading the region in loss prevention and moving the company toward technology use in Security. Tony went on to join the most significant security company in Indiana, managing more than 500 employees and 50 sites, including the Indiana Convention Center, Bankers Life Fieldhouse, and Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center. Seeing a noticeable gap in technology use in the physical security sector, Tony created his first security software application, launched at the Super Bowl in 2012, and recognized twice for Excellence in Mobile Technology by Techpoint. Tony has also spoken on Tech in Physical Security on panels with ASIS and IAVM.

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Aley Moyer

The Californian 2022 Q1 – USING SMART SCHEDULING IN YOUR JOB COSTING STRATEGY

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USING SMART SCHEDULING IN YOUR JOB COSTING STRATEGY

Gail Tutt, TEAM Software Business Consultant, Network Partner

Moving into the new year, it’s important to look at how you can strengthen your profit margins. Especially when other market factors (like ongoing labor and supply shortages) are carrying over into 2022. One tactic you can consider? Use scheduling, particularly smart scheduling, as a part of your job costing toolkit.

What’s smart scheduling?

In short, smart scheduling is a system that does the heavy lifting for you when it comes to your officer schedules. This means factoring in your contract needs against your available officers, so you can make data-backed decisions when posting officers to jobs based on criteria like qualifications or pay rate. 

One simple way to keep jobs profitable is to deploy smart scheduling early in the process. When scheduling, include a parameter search for available guards that fit within a job’s contract bill rate. That way, you know officers on shift are within the scope of what’s budgeted per job. (If you skip this step, wage creep could get ahead of you, and it can show in your expenses.) 

If this isn’t something you’re used to doing, start by using smart scheduling reports in your enterprise workforce management solution to examine your labor margin direct labor (DL) percentages. If you know a particular job should be performing at a DL of 60%, you can compare it against your actual percentages to see if a job’s material costs are performing higher or lower than budgeted. If it is higher, drill down into the report to identify the problem. Chances are, if there’s a problem with one job going over DL, it’s a problem across your business. Is a manager scheduling officers without factoring in pay scale? Are you scheduling officers for a shift when a different job is needing their certifications? Is wage creep pushing you over budget? 

If your job’s DL is lower than benchmarks, you can still dig into the data and see what processes you can repeat on other jobs. From there, it’s only a matter of adjusting and measuring outcomes. 

At TEAM, we recommend reviewing your DL percentages with regularity. Assuming schedules are updated daily, a good rule of thumb is to review at least weekly. That way, you can catch budget deviation before it comes a larger issue. 

Flexible scheduling to support smart scheduling. 

While software solutions can help automate your scheduling needs with smart scheduling, they improve scheduling in other ways, too.

Think of scheduling as a larger job costing strategy. Self-scheduling through a feature like a mobile job board can improve employee engagement. In turn, this can improve retention and even reduce high-cost activities like overtime.


Where smart scheduling helps identify officers who are the right fit for a given shift, self-scheduling helps empower officers to offer their shifts to others without needing to involve a scheduler or supervisor. Others can then pick up the open extra work, keeping shifts filled without needing to go back-and-forth with a manager.

Don’t forget to factor in compliance. If your scheduling solution allows it (and believe me, it should) configure criteria on your self-scheduling job board so only qualified employees can fill certain shifts. This helps support job costing by keeping direct labor expenses reasonable per job. 

Scheduling for profits — and retention.

Here’s a crazy idea: instead of filling gaps, consider creating them. I know — crazy — but hear me out.

Expand your current, labor-intensive scheduling processes to include self-scheduling. This reduces some of the manual work demands of your managerial staff and engages your officers to have a say in their own schedules.

I’ve heard of some security companies piloting scheduling programs that strategically leave a small percentage of the global work schedule unfilled. By hiring a portion of your workforce in a self-scheduling-only capacity, you can have a subset of officers set their own schedules by filling open shifts. This approaches the smart scheduling, and retention, strategy from a whole new angle.

For example, let’s examine an officer who’s decided to leave your company. They could be leaving to work a different job, but still be hoping to make some extra cash on the side. In the pilot program described above, that officer could choose to stay an active employee within the self-scheduling program, picking and choosing shifts that fit around their new work schedule.

Pros:

  • Your company doesn’t lose out on any investment you’ve put into their hiring.
  • The officer has a flexible avenue to earn extra money by choosing jobs from your available contracts.
  • If the officer ever chooses to return to working for you full-time, their employee records are still on file. This streamlines your rehire process and cuts out added hiring expenses.

 

Gail has spent over 35 years in the private sector as a senior level finance and operations manager across multiple industry. Most recently CFO of a regional security company in San Jose, CA, Gail now works providing invaluable insight and expertise as a business consultant with TEAM Software.  Her hobbies include breeding and showing standard wirehair dachshunds, hiking and spending time with her family.

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