Establishing the Tour(s)
If the client is upgrading a Detex guard tour systems or changing over from a competitor's system (such as Morse Watchman), the officer tours are probably already established.  However, if the client does not have an existing guard tour system, it must be determined how many tours are needed and which checkpoints are to be included in each tour.  The client must also decide how often and when he wishes to download the tour data and prepare the guard tour activity reports.

These parameters are based solely on the client's needs and wishes.  the client obviously has reasons for employing security officers, and already knows what tasks they are to perform and how often they should be done.  The establishment of the tours is imply a process of organizing and formalizing those tasks.

A guard tour generally consists of a set of locations (“checkpoints”) that an officer is to visit at specified time intervals.  The security officer usually visits each checkpoint once  during each tour, although the tour may be configured so that multiple visits to specific checkpoints are required.

Some Detex guard tour software programs also permit designation of checkpoints a s “optional,” that is, they are to be visited by the officer if time permits, but are not identified as “missing” if the officer is unable to visit them.  As of 2009, this would be the Detex upgrade, the Detex TopGuard plus software.  We have provided information that contrasts the basic TopGuard Patrol system, and the TopGuard Patrol Plus. TopGuard is the next generation of  WinDau, TopGuard Plus is the next generation of Win Argus.

This is a short comparison of the two Detex TopGuard software packages: 
The basic system is TopGuard Patrol, TopGuard Patrol Plus is a major upgrade.
TopGuard Plus adds the ability to produce many custom reports. TopGuardPlus easily sorts reports by: Event, Guard, Station, Tour, and much more – it s as flexible as you are creative.

TopGuard Patrol                                  TopGuard Patrol PLUS
Basic Reporting                                        More Complex Reporting
One Comprehensive Report                     8 Report Formats
Up to 16 user definable tours                    Up to 250 tours
1,750 control points                                 7,500 control points
No Maps                                                 JPG and BMP, tour mapping
Multiple Password Protection                   Multiple Password Protection
English, Spanish Format                           English, Spanish Format