Kestrel Guards, founded in 1988, provides a high quality and reliable security service including manned guarding, mobile patrols, keyholding and alarm response services from six strategically placed offices in Hampshire, Dorset, Devon and Cornwall, the company serves a wide range of private and public sector customers across the South West and South Coast of England.
- Saving time and money by streamlining staff rostering
- Providing added value services to new and existing customers
- Introducing consistent operating procedures
- Helping win local and regional security contracts
THE SOLUTION
Kestrel Guards adopted SmartTask to help better plan and manage security officers by replacing several manual and electronic processes. The employee scheduling and mobile workforce management software is enabling the company to gain full visibility and control over its operation through a single system. Initially, SmartTask is being used across the static and mobile teams working across 1,150 customer sites, with plans to roll-out the solution to its keyholding and alarm response operations moving forward.
“We looked at many systems, but SmartTask proved to be the most robust and functional technology that best met our needs,” explains Russell Doyle, Head of National Operations at Kestrel Guards. “We wanted an employee scheduling and mobile workforce management software solution that was web-based and scalable, so we could provide simple access to key personnel and introduce the system using a phased approach.”
SmartTask’s Intelligent Rostering is being used at each of Kestrel Guards’ offices to create weekly work schedules for a total of 350 security officers. By replacing a previous paper-based planning system and implementing consistent processes across the business, the company has reduced the time and cost required to prepare rosters. It is also enabling Kestrel Guard to view all staffing requirements centrally from its head office in Southampton, providing added control and operational insight.
SmartTask is allowing a team of contracts managers to view at-a-glance mobile patrol activity, enabling them to receive live alerts if a scan point has been missed or manually accepted as well as historically review the performance of individual security officers. The system is also used for employee performance with further alerts received when a security officer is late to arrive at work, make a check call or book off duty. This combined with the ability to view any comments from the 24-hour control centre related to a specific event, has dramatically reduced the time needed to investigate any performance issues.
SmartTask has allowed Kestrel Guards to offer added value services, which is helping to secure business with new and existing customers. As well as providing complete visibility of patrols – using scannable checkpoint tags along predefined routes – officers are able to undertake monitored inspections, audits and equipment checks. SmartTask-enabled smartphones record both attendance and tasks, capturing relevant information and photo evidence where necessary. To date, 13 Static Guarding customers have signed-up to value-added services and this enhanced offering is helping win additional local and regional contracts.
An interactive dashboard provides a live view of the security operation in Kestrel Guards’ 24/7 control centre, allowing the company to monitor the delivery of contracted work and the status of all static and mobile officers. The at-a-glance visibility of attendance, check calls and security alerts, allows the company to use SmartTask to respond quickly to any issues to maintain service levels and better protect staff.
Using SmartTask’s DOB, security officers will be able to quickly make entries electronically, including capturing any supporting images, with incidents escalated with an automated alert to the control room and if appropriate the contract manager. As well as delivering a simple communication tool, it will also remove the cost of providing, distributing and archiving paper-based logs.
“By consolidating our employee scheduling and mobile workforce management requirements into a single software solution, we have been able to streamline and simplify our internal processes to achieve multiple benefits. It has given us the visibility and control needed to enhance service delivery, maximise productivity and protect our team of security officers,” says Russell Doyle.
THE BENEFITS
- Streamlined Internal Processes – advanced workforce scheduling and live visibility have helped Kestrel Guards to improve workforce management processes while reducing administration.
- Added-Value Services – SmartTask is enabling Kestrel Guards to deliver more, to new and existing customers now benefitting from added-value services. This added differentiation is giving the company competitive advantage within the marketplace.
- Lone Worker Protection – Kestrel Guards highest priority is Health & Safety, so SmartTask is now playing an essential role in ensuring the safety of vulnerable security officers operating remotely.
- Performance & Contract Monitoring – SmartTask is enabling Kestrel Guards to monitor contract delivery and employee performance both historically and real-time, speeding up issue resolution and providing peace of mind that required service levels are being met.