If you own a security company, providing full accountability and proving return on investment (ROI) give you a business edge over competitors. Clients expect you to know where, when, and what the security guards are doing when in the field in real-time — nothing less. You can meet your client's expectations with security guard software.
A reliable security guard software keeps your fingers on the pulse of every site and guard's activity. It lets you visualize the story behind the guard's tour from start to finish. There's no more guessing where the guards are or where they clocked in or out. It gives clients a sneak peek at the security stature within their sites.
If you're shopping for security guard management software that ticks all these boxes, we got you covered. We'll discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the top five security guard software. If you're short on time, Timeero and GuardsPro are the top solutions. Still, you can stick around to learn how the solutions streamline your security services.
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What Makes the Best Security Guard Management Software?
When picking a security guard software, use your needs as the guideposts. An ideal solution should offer time tracking, location tracking, scheduling, incident reporting, and communication features. We'll tell you why these features matter in a bit, but here is a low-down on our top security guard tools:
Timeero — Time tracking with facial recognition
GuardsPro — Location tracking with GPS live tracker
TrackTik — Guard software with watch mode and panic button
Silvertrac — Simplify operations with an Issue monitor
Officer Reports — Easy reports with Electronic reporting
Your selection criterion has to be guided by your company's needs. Some of the key features to look for in your next security guard software include:
GPS Location Tracking — The security guard tool should have real-time GPS tracking tools. This will help you ensure security officers check in at the right time and man the assigned zone when clocked in.
Time tracking — If you pay guards by the hour, you have to compensate them for hours worked and pay them one and a half times their regular pay for overtime. To that end, you have to track all work hours, including break time and overtime.
The security guard software should have features to track time and simplify employee overtime calculation for fair remuneration. Even if your guards cover more than one post in a week, the solution should count all hours together to facilitate overtime compensation.
Effective Communication — In addition, effective communication is essential. The software should facilitate communication between field officers and managers, and clients. Beyond the regular messaging boards, things such as SOS or panic buttons can be helpful in an emergency.
5 Best Security Guard Management Software
Numerous security guard tools can elevate your firm, but these five apps sit at the top of that list. From guard patrol monitoring, dispatching, scheduling, and incident reporting, these tools get your operations in order, boosting client satisfaction.
Let's delve into their nitty-gritty details.
Timeero: Track Time Accurately With Facial Recognition
Timeero offers an intuitive interface on mobile devices for an excellent user experience.
Timeero snags the top spot thanks to its ease of use, GPS-enabled time tracking, and real-time location tracking. If you need help tracking real-time guard's location or your guards are constantly clocking in and out outside their assigned zones, Timeero can be helpful.
Scheduling Guards with Timeero
Timeero lets you create recurring guards' shifts for any period: weekly, biweekly, or monthly. It's normal for security companies to reshuffle security teams and assign one-off tasks, especially when responding to an incident. This is where Timeero comes in handy.
The scheduling module enables to edit schedules and assign shifts to available guards on the fly. You can open the "Who's Working" tab to see guards available to swiftly respond to nearby tasks or stand in when their colleague cancels at the last minute.
The app instantly alerts relevant guards when you publish, change, or edit the schedule. Guards can accept or decline shifts in time to help you address any schedule conflict and prevent understaffing.
Time Tracking
In addition, Timeero GPS-enabled time clock helps logs guards' hour as they work their shift. For increased efficiency, we recommend creating a geofence around the guard's assigned areas: entrance, parking lot, employee parking, courtyard, etc.
This way, when the guard arrives at the assigned area, Timeero prompts them to clock in. You can also configure the app to restrict guards from clocking in outside the designated zones. This thwarts off-site punching, a vice that can create a potential security lapse and leave your company bleeding money through time theft.
Moreover, if you have a team of security guards covering the same building or location, you could use Timeero facial recognition to prevent buddy punching. The feature is available on iPad and takes a photo of employees as they clock in/out. It then compares the image with what's in the guard's profile and alerts you in case of a mismatch.
Your guards need adequate breaks to maintain high productivity and alertness on duty. Plus, you should compensate them for overtime to boost their morale and comply with FLSA and state laws. Thankfully, Timeero lets you enforce break and overtime rules in compliance with FSLA and state rules.
Timeero generates employee timesheets, considering total work hours, break time, and overtime.
Guards Location Tracking
During our testing of the best GPS trackers, Timeero has shown its supremacy. The software lets you maintain a 360-degree view of all client's sites. You don't have to be in the field to monitor the guard's activity. The GPS location tracker updates the guard's location data in real time. You can open the "Who's Working" tab to see where every guard is located and how long they have been working.
Another helpful guard tracking feature is geofencing. Timeero allows you to create a virtual boundary around guards' assigned zones: parking lots, entry points, exit points, buildings, etc. The geofence and the 'Who's Working feature' helps you monitor guards' movement in real-time. If you catch guards straying from their areas, you can question them about the same.
The suggested route feature helps you create an appropriate route for mobile patrol and guard tours. At the same time, the route replay enables you to trace the path the patrol team took when on the clock.
Timeero Message Blast
The message blast allows managers and dispatchers to connect with the field guards. It's a handy tool for sharing instructions, post orders, and other important information with field security officers.
However, message blast is a one-way communication tool, meaning only admin and managers can send messages. In other words, a dispatcher or manager can send a message, but guards can't reply. The advantage of one-way communication is that guards are not bombarded with group replies. It eliminates unnecessary distractions, allowing guards to focus on their job.
How do you know the message hit home?
When you send the message, guards get notified via push notification. The message blast provides the read count information. You'll see how many guards read the message versus those yet to open it.
Timeero pricing: 14-day free trial. Pricing starts at $4 per user per month.
GuardsPro: Track Guard Location with Live Tracker
GuardsPro helps you create geofenced zones to enhance guards and tour tracking.
GuardsPro is tailored for security guard companies that need to keep track of guards activity and log hours with less hassle. The mobile apps are user-friendly for all guards, and the web dashboard is intuitive and designed for a smooth admin operation.
When it comes to guards scheduling, GuardsPro is a dab hand. It offers a full-scale scheduling module with features to create shifts, check shift status, and manage day-off requests. You also get a GPS-enabled time clock to log detailed, location-based work hours data — including breaks and overtime. Like Timeero, you can opt for manual or automatic breaks.
If you need to connect with guards and share vital information on the go, GuardsPro messenger will be helpful. Dispatchers and managers can create chatrooms based on post site or individual guards to keep communication relevant and professional.
GuardsPro GPS Live Tracker
The GPS live tracker sets GuardsPro apart from other security guard software. As the name suggests, the handy tool helps you monitor a guard's position in real time. It leverages GPS and geofencing technology to ensure each guard stays within their assigned zones.
You can set "allowed" and "restricted" geofences. The allowed zones correspond to the guard's assigned area: entrance, exit, parking lot, or any other place on a site. The good thing is that the app notifies you every time a guard enters or leaves a geofence, making it easy to catch guards who stray outside their "allowed" zones.
In addition, GuardsPro provides the tracking history on the client's portal. This way, clients can replay the guard's movement on their sites and view activity history for better decision-making.
GuardsPro pricing: 30-day free trial; pricing starts at $10 per user per month
TrackTik: Enhance Guard Security with Panic Button
Besides creating geofenced zones, TrackTik enables managers to create optimized patrol routes for field security guards.
TrackTik helps companies ditch paper logs and save time on repetitive admin tasks. The software offers a scheduling module to ensure guards are where they need to be at the right time. The scheduler lets you assign one-off or recurring tasks and reshuffle guards anytime.
Beyond that, TrackTik supports geofenced check-in/out. It lets you create "allowed" and "restricted" zones for your security personnel. Guards can only check in from the allowed areas. If the guard moves into a forbidden zone, the app notifies the supervisor by email or SMS alert. In addition, TrackTik records all instances when the guard enters or exits a geofence on the Events tab.
Another arrow in TrackTik's quiver is the message board. Supervisors and managers can create a message board for a site or group to relay critical information in real time. The chatrooms work best for teams that rely on temporary or event-driven communication — such as sharing information about events at a client's site.
Watch Mode and Panic Button
Guards can use the panic button and watch mode if they encounter potentially dangerous situations. Guards only need to tap the panic button on their mobile apps to call for help during an emergency.
The watch mode lets guards capture video footage of the incidents to give managers and supervisors an inside view of what's happening. With the full scale of the issue, managers, supervisors, and security personnel can better devise a way to respond to the emergency.
TrackTik pricing: No free trial, quote-based pricing available upon request
Silvertrac: Simplify Operations with Issue Monitor
Silvertrac allows security guards to use QR codes and NFC chips at scan checkpoints when arriving or departing from a site.
Silvertrac is an all-in-one security guard software for small and mid-sized security firms that need to manage and track guards in the field. Seasoned security professionals know that efficient operations boil down to meticulous guard scheduling. Thankfully, Silvertrac is no slouch on this front. It enables you to schedule guard tours, security patrols, and other tasks ahead of time.
The time tracker helps automatically log guards' hours. It eliminates paper time cards and enables you to create hour logs with the GPS location of the guard's clock in/out. Sadly, the time clock feature is optional — it doesn't come packed into Silvertrac. You should email Silvertrac customer support and request they activate the feature.
Silvertrac lets you create geofenced zones without "allowed" or "restricted" zones. Still, the geofenced areas enable supervisors and admin to track guards' whereabouts during the shift. Regarding communication, the Silvertrac message board helps admin and dispatchers connect with guards to streamline operations.
Silvertrac Issue Monitor
Most of Silvertrac's functions center around the issue monitor. This handy tool helps managers and admins keep their fingers on the pulse of every issue in the field. When guards or clients report incidents, Silvertrac lists them on the issue monitor and uses color codes to depict their status.
Managers can filter issues in order of urgency and quickly dispatch one-off tasks right from the issue monitor. Once assigned, the app instantly notifies the guard on their device of the post orders and where to complete them. The admin will see when the guard receives the task when they confirm it, and when they accomplish it.
Silvertrac pricing: Quote-based pricing available upon request
Officer Reports: Better Tracking With Electronic Reports
Officer Reports enhances parking lot and visitor management to simplify your guard's job.
If you're looking for a security guard management system for effective reporting, Officer Reports ticks that box. It may be the least aesthetically-pleasing security guard app on our list, but it's pretty apt. Scheduling guards is a cinch; it even alerts you when there's an open post to prevent security mishaps at a client's site.
Moreover, the GPS-enabled time clock lets you restrict guards from clocking in or out outside their designated zones. You also receive a notification when a guard fails to clock in time and organize a stand-in if they fail to show up. The guard's patrol module uses GPS technology to update you on the guards' location in real time.
Regarding communication, Officer Reports doesn't have a full-scale message board like GuardsPro or TrackTik. However, there's an SOS button on Android and iOS apps. Guards can press and hold the SOS button to send an alert and call for help during an emergency.
Electronic Reporting
Officer Reports stand-out feature is electronic reporting. This module enables you to create various reports for a birds-eye view of guards' activity. It lets you and your clients generate reports on multiple aspects, including (but not limited to):
Incident reports
Incident checklist
Daily activity reports
Truck and visitor logs
Pass on Logs
Post orders
Vacation requests
Parking violation
Maintenance requests and more
Officer Report pricing: 14-day free trial, pricing range between $50 - $60 per site
Pick The Best Security Guard Software
As we mentioned, the market is awash with security guard management solutions. With the plethora of options, it can be confusing to find the right solution. We did the leg work for you and narrowed the possibilities to five security guard software.
Still, you'll need to consider your most-pressing needs and spending power to find an ideal solution. If your security firm struggles with tracking guard's work hours and location, Timeero will get you out of quicksand without emptying your pocket. GuardsPro is also a reliable tool, though it's pricey — compared to Timeero.
Ready to streamline time and location tracking with Timeero? Start a 14-day free trial today to get a firsthand feel for Timeero features.
FAQs
What Is Security Guard Software?
Security guard software is a workforce management tool that helps security companies automate security operations and streamline guard management. It helps track time, location, and communication and generates reports for data-backed decision-making.
What Technology Do Security Guards Use?
These days, security officers use advanced technologies, including cloud-based SaaS tools, mobile phones, GPS, integrated biometrics, cameras, and drones.
What Are the Benefits of a Security Guard Software?
Security guard software offers multiple benefits, but the highlight is that it helps security companies monitor and track guards in real time. It also automates tasks such as time tracking and reporting, saving managers time to focus on meaningful tasks.
Are you looking to stay on top of the security guard's hours and real-time location?
Try the Timeero GPS time and location tracker free for 14 days.
Samson is a mathematician turned content marketer specializing in SaaS and Tech content. He focuses on the practical aspects of software systems while keeping abreast of the industry’s cutting-edge principles to create informative and engaging content. When he’s not writing, Samson spends time playing or watching soccer.
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