Detex TopGuard outline page 1 of 6
 

Setting up a Detex Guard Tour System
General:
As a general statement, the purpose of a guard tour system is to ensure that security officers are present at specific locations at specific time intervals; to prove that the officers were or were not present at those location at those time intervals, and to provide documentation of those facts.  The Detex guard tour system may allow the documentation to indicate the names of the officers performing the tours, and permit the officers to record events or conditions that they observe while performing the tours.  Such events or incidents generally pertain to security, safety, maintenance, or other operational issues.

Guard Tour System Components:
A Detex guard tour system consists of data points - checkpoints (RFID tags), one of which is physically installed at each location that a security officer is to visit. The officer carries a device to read the checkpoint at each location; this device is referred to as the data acquisition unit - the Detex DAU.  In the Detex systems, this device may be the Escorte - which reads magnetic data strips, or the ProxiPen which reads RFID tags. As the officer visits each checkpoint and reads the RFID tag, the ProxiPen records the time, date, and the checkpoints unique identification number.

The Detex guard tour system also includes a device for downloading the data acquired durig the tour from the DAU.  This device is referred to as the data transfer unit, the Detex DAU.

Most Detex guard tour systems also include software that produces reports of the officers' activities, requiring that the client provide a computer on which the software may be installed.  This can either be a standalone PC, a portable PC, or a workstation in a network.  The Detex Patrol Manager system is an exception in that it permits the DAU to transfer the tour report directly to a printer, without the need for a computer.  Unfortunately, this is a very outdated system.  It has been replaced with the Detex TopGuard and TopGuard Plus software’s, which are Windows programs.

The guard tour software translates the downloaded data into a report that documents each tour that was performed, and indicates the time and date that each checkpoint was visited.  The report also highlights any checkpoints that were not visited (missing), and any that were visited more often than required.  They are listed as “double” or “multiple” as are any from another tour that should not have been visited.  As mentioned earlier, the report may optionally include the names of the officers who performed the tours and any incidents that the watchman observed during the tour.  The report usually concludes with a numerical summary of the tour activity included in that report.