New Guard on Duty

Jun 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Ashley Roe

To deter, to detect, to observe and to report. These traditional roles of security officers have expanded and now include new responsibilities - to respond, to operate and to communicate - as officers find themselves working in tandem with sophisticated security systems.

The officer who once patrolled areas on foot is now more likely monitoring activities virtually from a computer with the help of cameras installed on-site to monitor activities virtually from a computer with the help of cameras installed on-site and video surveillance software that automatically sends alerts when suspicious activity occurs. The officer who once spent hours creating hard-copy reports to detail crimes and incidents to management is now sending real-time e-mail reports instantly from a specialized personal digital assistant (PDA). The officer who once served as a silent observer and deterrent in the background is now more likely to act as a public relations representative of sorts, the first point of contact; the first impression a person has of an organization.

The changing technological landscape requires new skills for success even as the new technologies maximize officer efficiency.

New technology, new skill

“The role of the security officer has changed dramatically throughout the years,” says J. Michael Coleman, vice president of commercial real estate for AlliedBarton Security Services, headquartered in King of Prussia, Pa. “Reliance on new technology is increasing, and the ability for new technologies to aid security officers in their mission is increasing. With the advent of card access systems, digital alarm systems and centralized security platforms, now, we are not recruiting for someone who just detects, deters, observes and reports. We are looking for officers who are more tech-savvy.”

Joseph Ricci, executive director of the National Association of Security Companies (NASCO) and a member and past-chairman of the ASIS Private Security Services Council, agrees. “I think in a lot of cases security officers are now directly accountable for the use of technology,” Ricci says. “The responsibility of maintaining and operating these systems, which are now tied to IT, has fallen into their hands.”

Today's security officer is more likely to need proficient computer skills in order to operate advanced software programs. Candidates who possess these skills are thankfully in good supply. “Kids are now on computers at a much earlier age, using instant messaging programs and mobile phones, for example. As a result of this evolution, we are seeing those skills at the guard level,” Ricci says.

Computer skills have also become a natural by-product of officer training programs, which have largely gone virtual. “We are conducting far more Web training and Web live sessions and using the computer as a tool more often in the training of our field personnel,” says Robert Burns, senior vice president for U.S. Sales and Operations at G4S Wackenhut, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., a provider of contract security, consulting and investigative services. “Our trainers at Wackenhut Training Institute are having to reassess learning styles that relate more to online programs, computers and PDAs because we are starting to move away from the classroom training format.”

Rich Cordivari, national training director for AlliedBarton Security Services, notes that online officer training tools were in part born out of a need to reach training participants in geographically dispersed areas with varying degrees of connectivity. Ten or 20 years ago, he says, training providers were limited to one main way of reaching people, the classroom environment. “Now, training is available online in some way, shape or form,” he says. “When I develop anything, I have to develop it around the environment where it is going to be most difficult to access.”

Even as training programs develop and nourish an officer's computer skillsets, product developers have risen to the challenge of making security systems easier to use. When the two trends meet in the middle, a security officer will have the required skills to operate a highly advanced system through an interface designed to be basic and user-friendly.

On-Net Surveillance Systems Inc. (OnSSI), Suffern, N.Y., a developer of IP video surveillance control and management systems, recently introduced Ocularis, an intelligent IP video surveillance management platform that can automatically identify incidents through video analytics, notify security personnel of events on- and off-site and manage response actions to incidents. A key feature of the platform is its intuitive human interface, developed through human engineering research, that strives to anticipate a security operator's commands.

“Ocularis has been designed with intuitive programming to facilitate an operator's anticipated moves based on a very complex matrix of available and anticipated operations,” explains Gadi Piran, OnSSI president and chief technology officer. “By carefully mapping these sequences, the system is always ready to respond to an operator's next move - in fact, with such anticipation that it often appears to be moving with the operator as opposed to responding to the operator's commands.”

The system offers on-event push video alerts that automatically “push” video out to the monitoring officer based on pre-set policies. “By programming Ocularis to show the security officer what he or she needs to see that is of most importance at that given point in time, users can achieve several significant efficiencies simultaneously,” Piran says. By reducing the number of security personnel required to monitor video, for example, “manpower can be reassigned to other activities, such as patrol,” he says.

“Ease of operation and user intuitiveness are most definitely requirements for today's networked systems,” Piran says, adding that user interfaces must evolve to encompass the functionality required to operate complex system infrastructures. “As functionality becomes more transparent, the actual applications themselves become utilitarian. It's a simple equation for a very complicated combination of technologies.”

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© 2008 Penton Media Inc.

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