This article discusses how remote guarding services can enhance security operations, reduce costs, and benefit customers. It explores the importance of defining clear expectations, leveraging the synergy of technology and tools, and how continuously refined practices lead to the prevention of crimes and cost savings passed to clients.
It’s midnight. An unknown person sneaks onto your parking lot and breaks into a vehicle. A wall-mounted security camera catches the activity and alerts a remote guard monitoring the situation. Within 60 seconds, the guard reaches local law enforcement, provides details on the intruder, and watches the situation until dispatched officers arrive and detain the suspect.
This is one of the many ways remote guarding helps protect businesses every day. Remote guarding provides the same services you would expect from traditional guarding: perimeter protection, alarm verification, and patrolling. The only difference? Guards can now deliver these services from anywhere in the world.
With trained personnel, advanced technology, and personalized services, remote guarding can proactively stop security incidents and deliver enhanced efficiency and benefits to clients. What exactly can remote guarding do for you, and how can you include it effectively in your business security plans?
Remote guarding drives efficiency and value
Many people view guarding more traditionally: Guards should be constantly physically present, for utmost safety, right? At first, it can feel strange inviting a digital approach. However, as you learn how remote guarding works, the benefits and value become clear.
For example, consider alarm verification. False alarms have always posed a significant challenge in guarding: Research finds that 94-99% of alarm signals are false. For every one intruder, there are many more doors left open, employees forgetting to swipe badges, and animals and plants triggering motion sensors.
Modern security systems use smart cameras with video analytics to enhance coverage and response. However, improper management can lead to over-triggered alarms.
Consider our parking lot episode. What if the “intruder” had been a stray dog, or a tree branch blowing in the wind? These kinds of innocuous occurrences are much more common than actual incidents. Yet, each instance generates an alarm that somebody must review and act upon.
Depending on the business’ size and complexity, a team could end up managing thousands of false alarms every month. Without prepared systems and team members, companies can waste significant internal resources — not to mention subjecting themselves to expensive fines for false alarm calls handled by local law enforcement.
With new technology potentially generating more alarms, how can you quickly discern signals from noise and respond appropriately? Remote guards can help by conducting remote alarm verification. Remote officers can assess alarmed events, determine if an instance warrants a response, and manage that response. Modern AI-powered filtering algorithms assist remote teams by eliminating many environmental false alarm triggers, saving time otherwise spent sifting through videos of dogs and trees. Remote guards can then focus on resolving genuine threats.
Qualified security integrators typically offer their guards relevant professional development, training, and support to address needs like alarm verification. For example, we support our guards internally by:
- Identifying individual opportunities for growth and delivering targeted guard training
- Encouraging close manager-employee collaboration
- Managing continuous performance monitoring to adjust and improve operations
Highly trained and capable remote guards can deliver faster, more accurate, and cost-effective security outcomes.
Remote guarding helps prevent incidents from escalating
Remote guarding can catch intruders fast, but it can also help prevent incidents from escalating into more serious challenges. What does that look like on the ground? Let us consider a real scenario:
In March 2024, a Securitas remote guarding officer received a notification of activity at the back entrance of a client’s standalone store at 4:30 AM. Our client had invested in remote perimeter protection and carefully planned and placed their camera assets. Each camera deployed intelligent behavioral video analytics individualized to their site’s requirements. These algorithms filtered the footage, identified a genuine threat, and passed the alert to the officer.
The trained officer located the intruder on the feed within seconds. Our client also chose to install call-down speakers in their cameras for audio intervention. Through the speakers, the officer commanded the intruder:
“This is security. This location is currently closed. Please leave the property now, or the police will be dispatched!”
The intruder fled the scene, thanks to the right combination of technology, tools, and personnel that helped our client avert a potentially more serious incident.
This remote approach also makes data capture and incident reporting much easier. For instance, trained staff can produce standardized reports that form an auditable incident log. Trackable, standardized security data can support other remote guarding capabilities, such as entry and exit management or remote patrol and visitor escort.
Teams can use this information to strengthen their security programs, learning from each incident and making data-driven improvements. They will be even better prepared to successfully fend off the next incident.
Designing security programs with a focus on remote guarding
While remote guarding offers clear benefits, its success relies on carefully designed integration of technology, specialized tools, and human resources. The best results usually come from planning remote guarding implementation as early as possible in the security program design process.
Involving remote guarding early in the security integration conversation typically includes covering important items like:
- Clearly defining the areas to be monitored
- Establishing proper equipment and analytics requirements
- Installing and integrating solutions effectively (for example, placing security cameras in optimal locations for full perimeter protection)
- Setting monitoring expectations, such as hours of operation and specific entry/exit points
Ask your security integrator about these areas to help shape a plan ready for remote guarding. Alignment during planning supports a smoother implementation phase, with more time spent optimizing the best security profile instead of adjusting on-the-fly to unplanned challenges.
Any security integration design process requires evaluating many decisions, and assessing the needs of remote guarding might seem complicated or time-intensive. Yet, making those security decisions early helps remote guards deliver the highest level of protection from the start.
Plan tomorrow’s security today with Remote Guarding from Securitas
Physical threats are ever-evolving, and your business needs to evolve alongside them. Remote guarding helps position you to take advantage of the natural evolution of modern security strategies, using its technological innovations and trained personnel to more effectively monitor and respond to security incidents in real-time from anywhere in the world.
With help from your security integrator, the tools powering remote guarding can blend seamlessly with your existing needs and current infrastructure. Easily integrable systems and detailed incident data streams mean you can optimize a security program that minimizes costs and maximizes value.
Discuss remote guarding with your security integrator early to help ensure you have the right components and team for optimal protection.
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See more about how remote guarding can fit into your existing security program and start delivering value.
