Finding the best way to protect people and property sometimes comes down to a choice between security personnel and technology, but many companies are gaining significant benefits by combining the two approaches, rather than choosing between them. David Dickinson explains. 

• Electronic systems such as CCTV surveillance, intruder and fire alarms, building management and integrated access control systems become more effective because an on-site security presence guarantees an immediate, appropriate and versatile response to emergencies and false alarms alike.
• Security personnel become more effective because the electronic systems extend their reach, enabling fewer people to protect a larger area.
• Perhaps even more importantly, there is considerable evidence for the fact that a permanent security team with good technology support quickly develops a high level of local knowledge and a proprietary interest in the site that often leads to further, continuing improvements in systems and procedures.
  

Tools of the trade

In a purely practical sense, the reason for such improvements is easily explained. Whereas the management and staff at a particular site generally regard security technology as part of the infrastructure - something that is necessary but basically incidental to the company's prime purpose - the security team sees it in precisely the opposite way.

For them, security systems are tools of the trade and the better they work the easier and more effective the officers' jobs become. Like any tools in daily use, their users quickly gain practical experience of how to make them work better. This knowledge becomes a valuable asset for FM.

For example, CCTV surveillance systems can be installed, redesigned, expanded and maintained based on a specialised working knowledge of the site and the unique characteristics that every location possesses. There are countless instances of security officers delivering better functionality and value for money by working closely with technology providers to maximise the capabilities of monitoring and video communications systems. In operational terms, the ability to detect and monitor not only crime but also on-site procedures in real time can have highly beneficial outcomes both for the protection of assets and the maintenance of a good health and safety record.

Similar considerations apply to access control technology, an area where officers quickly come to understand the relationship between the sometimes conflicting demands of security, effective circulation and the convenience of employees, which, if not managed, can generate serious risks in areas like the misuse of emergency exits.

Once again, it is common for security staff to take ownership of this issue by adopting not only the operational control of access, but also its related administrative functions, such as the production and distribution of access cards and continuing database management, including the allocation, monitoring and amendment of individual users' access levels. Administrative tasks alone can remove a significant, continuing workload from HR staff in areas like photography and the physical production, recording and updating of identity cards.

In addition, the day-to-day monitoring of intruder and fire alarms, cashless vending and building management systems creates a fund of practical know-how that not only guarantees an effective, rapid response, but often improves technical performance by, for example, identifying common, recurring causes of faults or false activations and guiding the necessary remedial work.

This level of familiarity obviously ensures better protection, but it also cuts future maintenance costs, enables previously unrecognised risks to be identified and covered, minimises the cost and inconvenience of calling out either in-house or contracted engineering staff and, importantly, avoids the problems associated with false calls to the emergency services.

Just as importantly, the ongoing supervision of a good security team tends to identify technology gaps, as well as maintaining and improving existing systems. There are many recorded instances of security officers playing a lead role in recommending and implementing a wide range of new systems and procedures, from physical protection and key control to new methods for preventing stolen goods leaving the premises - again based on experience of what is really happening 'on the ground'.

Recognition where it's due

In many ways, an on-site security team is analogous to a small town's police force. Team spirit is one aspect of this comparison, but the BSIA receives regular, frequent reports about its member companies that indicate a wide range of benefits arising specifically from the combination of staff and technology.

More than a few of these accounts highlight the commitment of officers in devoting both their working and leisure time to the tasks. Such commitment is recognised each year in the Best Use of Technology category in the BSIA's Annual Security Officer Awards. The following details of three of the 2006 regional and national award winners demonstrate the benefits of coupling security guarding services with technology:

• A Reliance Security Services team won the award for its work at BMW (UK)'s headquarters in Bracknell. The team's work involves using a state-of-the-art security system, incorporating CCTV, access control and intruder alarms. Not only have they got to grips with this sophisticated technology, but they have also developed a comprehensive training package to ensure that new team members can be easily trained. Their success has been proven in that they have ensured that no vehicle-related crime had occurred on site within the 18 months prior to them winning the award.
• A Chubb Security Personnel team based in the Nottingham Traffic Control and CCTV centre was nominated for its outstanding use of CCTV in the area. Their hard work was epitomised in one particular incident involving a burglary of a jewellers in the city centre. Following the burglary, the team acted as the eyes and ears of the Police, tracking the perpetrators as they fled the scene until the Police were able to apprehend them. The team is truly committed to assisting the authorities in making Nottingham a safer place; consequently they deal with incidents every day in a highly professional manner.
• A G4S Security Services (UK) security officer was nominated for his work at Telewest site in Edinburgh. The officer was particularly committed to the effective use of access control on the site. He has spent much of his own time getting to grips with the new technology in order to provide the best possible service to the client. He has also developed a system to proactively train other officers in the use of the technology. The combined effectiveness of the technology and the security officer's diligence has led to improved overall security on site.