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Bill Scerra, Learning Officer at Everbridge, is a guest blog author for Allied Universal.
There is no substitute for a well-trained, best-in-class security officer. Service experience, skill-based training, consistent standards and adherence to quality and best practices are crucial to establishing a baseline for best-in-class service delivery. Once this baseline has been established, technology can empower security officers to become even faster, more responsive and better able to protect property and lives.
Today’s security officer can be looped in to a network that relays information about their post area as well as community, weather, police, hazardous spill and fire information. Appropriate technology can improve communications, enhance situational awareness and help security officers make better-informed decisions in the first few minutes of a crisis.
Security officers can also utilize technology to receive information and establish situational intelligence. They can provide text and graphic information that a central emergency management team can evaluate, see plotted on 
a map and correlate with reports from other sources tied to the same network. Imagine a situation in which there are reports of an individual described as a possible terrorist. A security officer on post at a chemical plant sees the notification and spots an individual matching that description. In a single action, an alert can be sent to local law enforcement and a conference call initiated with the CEO, director of plant operations, and emergency dispatch. There is also a location-based, geocoded mapping of the incident. The security officer can begin the process to help neutralize a potential threat with just one “call.”
In an industry where knowledge is power and speed is critical to response, technology can be a great ally. Dr. Robert Chandler, Director of the Nicholson School, University of Central Florida, agrees, stating that “situational intelligence is critical during a crisis, but it also can be critical in preventing a crisis. If you know what play the other team is running, you have the opportunity to run the right counter play.” I couldn’t agree more.
Read more about how technology can influence your security strategy and let us know - Have you experienced the benefits of integrated technology in your security program?
About the Author
Bill Scerra is the Learning Officer for Everbridge, a strategic partner of Allied Universal and provider of the award-winning Everbridge: Unified Critical Communication Suite. He has been training and consulting in the high-tech industry for more than 25 years.
