Your security budget is probably as tightly controlled today as it has ever been so what opportunities are there for making further savings without compromising efficiency and performance? Outsourced monitoring could be the key…
With the UK in a steady state of economic meltdown we have seen many retailers, magazines and sports suffering under the pressure of meeting ever-decreasing finances. In Risk UK we have, a number of times, reported on the need for companies to ensure that despite any money worries they keep security levels as high as possible and not to slacken off any measures protecting their investment.
One of the money-saving measures that is available to organisations is to move certain services “out of house” to help lower overheads. Traditionally such services would have included cleaning, canteen and other lower level staffing needs. By taking away the hassle of interviewing, employing, training etc from the HR department significant savings could be made, plus of course a better level of service is achieved by contracting out to expert providers.
However, prior to the onset of the current crisis many companies had thought that they had already exhausted all avenues for saving expenditure so what else is on offer. According to Terry Clarke of Eurotech Monitoring there is another solution, and it’s something that is becoming increasingly popular among organisations.
“The trend we are currently experiencing is that of companies that previously carried out their monitoring in-house now moving to outsourced services,” says Terry. “Whether this is led initially because of the introduction of licensing or ever increasing legislation been placed on companies and employers requiring them to put into place visible and concrete evidence as to their duty of care for employees especially with regards to those employees operating in lone environments and at risk or if it is now down to the economic position the country is in, it is tricky to say, but the shift is definitely happening.”
After all, the costs for a company to employ somebody in-house to sit and monitor a phone and to monitor on-site guards is more expensive that you might at first think and coupled with the pressures of legislation, it makes the move to remote, outsourced monitoring a desirable option for many. Although there are still some that feel opening up their doors to third party may lead to increased risk. To allay these fears I would strongly recommend that any company contemplating outsourcing carry out a thorough inspection of the selected provider to ascertain the systems and procedures in operation, what level of contingency plans are in place and most importantly the management structure, what experience do they possess in the field of man guarding.
“In the past companies have been wary of outsourcing their 24/7 monitoring facilities because there is a lot of trust involved in such a process,” explains Terry. “We found in the initial stages that there was quite a bit of resistance as companies are quite conscious of putting their security into the hands of others and organisations like to know exactly who is carrying out the duties involved and the background to the provider. Especially pertinent as monitoring services take into consideration every detail of the security day, from the moment the guard books in to the moment he/she books off, with check-calls in between.”
Costs savings
The real benefits of such a service are peace of mind and most of all in today’s financial climate, cost saving. By outsourcing their monitoring organisations can save a lot of money compared to what they would be paying for in-house control room facilities. In fact once the work has been outsourced the in-house control room can be closed with instant savings on management and administration not to mention lighting, heating etc. All legal requirements and the necessary industry accreditation can all be obtained through the remote monitoring company resulting in further savings and another burden taken off the shoulders of management. This aspect is certainly useful to those small or start up companies who although providing very good services to a high standard find it hard in the initial stages in achieving compliance.
“A medium size company will probably spend in excess of £80,000 per year to run their own control room staff, when taking into account the facilities themselves this figure can rise to over £100,000,” reveals Terry Clarke. “They could probably outsource their monitoring for around £20,000 to £30,000 so major savings can be made instantly without compromising the security of their own organisation or that of their clients. Furthermore I would say that a lot of the time the standard of monitoring and the quality of service will be better from an outsourcing provider than an in-house team.”
Not that this applies in all cases, but because in-house staff are monitoring other staff it is not unknown for certain liberties to be taken with the time and attendance roster. An outsourced service provider has no allegiances to individuals so if they are late to work, they are late to work. Of course outsourcing your security monitoring services can also bring other benefits including the ability of the provider in responding and monitoring your key-holding functions and mobile patrols. Help desk and call messaging can also be provided. By interfacing with the provider’s software you can also carry out all of your invoicing and wage management requirements, another substantial saving in cost and administration.
“For many years the security industry has been operating on extremely tight margins and it is a very competitive sector, so where companies can see cost cutting opportunities they have probably already taken them,” concludes Terry. “As the economic picture darkens, organisations are having to look seriously at further savings so I think the benefits that arise from outsourcing certain aspects of their security will become increasingly popular. The introduction of new legislation is another concern for management and this too may help steer the decision towards outsourcing as external businesses that have experience of dealing with accreditation etc will be able to take that burden off their hands.”
