Setting Up a Security Company, Campus Security or Facilities Team

For contract security companies with many client sites, campus / healthcare / corporate security departments, and facilities teams that respond to alarms, incidents and service requests. In Resgrid a client site is a station group, a patrol vehicle or post is a unit, an incident or request is a call, and patrol logs and incident reports are records.

1 — Department settings

Setting	Value
24-hour time	On.
Use branding in emails	On (clients see your logo).
Staffing reset	At shift boundaries → Off duty.
Suppress notifications for	Off duty.
Mapping settings	Personnel location TTL 15 min.
Modules	Shifts, Checklists, Work orders (Readiness Pro), Inventory, Records, Routes on; Trainings on.
Security policy	SSO with the corporate IdP where available; Require SSO; session timeout 720; view users / units group only so client sites are isolated.

2 — Types

Type	Values
Unit types	Patrol vehicle, Foot post, Bike patrol, Mobile supervisor, K9.
Call types	Alarm response, Suspicious activity, Trespass, Escort request, Medical, Fire alarm, Access control, Maintenance request, Incident report, Welfare check.
Priorities	Routine, Urgent, Emergency.
Certifications	Guard licence (with expiry), First aid/CPR, Use of force, Firearms (if armed), Fire warden, Forklift.
Contact note types	Site instructions, Key-holder, Alarm code (restricted).

3 — Groups, roles, statuses

• Organisational group per client; station group per site with the address and a geofence (alarm-response area); site supervisors as group admins.
• Roles: Security officer, Supervisor, Dispatcher / operations centre, Site lead, Armed officer, Fire warden.
• Custom statuses (security template): personnel — On patrol · At post · Responding · On scene · On break · Off duty; staffing — On duty · Off duty · Available for overtime; units (Patrol) — Available · Responding · On site · Out of service.

4 — Units and tracking

One unit per patrol vehicle (role Officer) and per fixed post; hardware GPS tracking on vehicles (source priority above the phone app) so the operations centre always sees them.

5 — Calls and dispatch

• Dispatchers use the Dispatch app; alarm-centre emails create calls via email import; client requests by text-to-call.
• Contacts per site: client contact, key-holders, alarm company — with alert notes (dogs, access hazards) and gate codes in the occupancy record.
• Run cards: Alarm response (Urgent + Alarm): Patrol vehicle ×1 closest-unit, auto-dispatch; Medical on site adds First-aid role ×1.
• Indoor maps for campuses and large buildings: access points and assembly points searchable in dispatch.
• Templates: Alarm response, Escort, Medical; call-note templates for standard dispositions (False alarm — reset, Owner notified).

6 — Shifts and routes

• Assigned shifts per site with rotating patterns; trades within the same site group; workshifts for each shift checklists.
• Routes: patrol routes per site with checkpoint stops and geofence radius; officers run them in the Unit app; the end-of-shift Security Patrol Log record captures checkpoints and exceptions.

7 — Records

From the Operational report templates pack: Security Patrol Log (Quick entry, prefix PAT, sequence per site group) and Security Incident Report (Review required, involved persons restricted). Add Job/Service Completion for facilities work. Group-scope Records so clients' reports stay separate; use report exports to email a client a nightly patrol summary through a workflow. Legal holds and records requests cover subpoenas.

8 — Readiness

• Checklists: Patrol vehicle start-of-shift (Unit, each shift, reported location required), Post orders acknowledgement (Group per site), Fire extinguisher monthly (Serialized equipment), Lighting and camera check (Group, weekly) with Create a work order on failure.
• Work orders (Readiness Pro): Facility type for door, camera, lighting faults; business calendar Mon–Fri 08:00–17:00 with response targets per priority; vendor charges for outsourced repairs; spending approval above a threshold.
• Inventory: uniforms, radios and body cameras issued to officers; keys and access cards as serialized assets; vehicle equipment on units.

9 — Communication

• Chat: custom channel per client site (group rule) and a supervisors channel; GIFs off; moderation delegated to site supervisors.
• Notifications: Patrol unit out of service → operations; Checklist missed → site supervisor.
• Workflows: Call closed → email the client contact a summary from a Records export; Form submitted (incident statement) → create a work order via API.
• Communication tests quarterly.

10 — Workforce & Business Ops

• Certifications (free): guard card / security licence, first aid/CPR, use of force, armed endorsement and firearm requalification, forklift for facilities staff; role requirements Security officer = guard card, Armed officer = endorsement + requalification; Enforce with 0-day grace on the licence.
• Contracts & compliance (Business Ops): one Standing arrangement contract per client site and a Project contract per event, each with the client's rate schedule, terms and document requirements (guard roster at deployment start); compliance documents: company licence, COI, bond.
• Rate schedules (Business Ops): Client rates with personnel entries GUARD and SUPERVISOR (hourly, OT after 8 h), vehicle patrol hourly, premiums Night and Holiday, 15-minute rounding and a 4-hour call-out minimum.
• Bids → wizard → deployments (Business Ops): event work as bids (guard lines by hours/day × days, set-up fee); accept → wizard seats officers on posts (units) and creates the call; officers file daily time reports in the Responder app; generate the invoice after the event.
• Invoicing & online payments (Business Ops): rate card for ad-hoc work (Alarm response flat per call, Officer hour), billing profiles per client with net-30 terms; connect the company Stripe account so clients pay from the invoice link; Invoice Paid workflow → account manager.
• Workforce & field costing (Business Ops): employee compensation profiles with overtime multipliers, cost runs per client site per month to see the margin; California companies with 100+ employees run the CRD pay data report.

See the Workforce & Business Ops overview for what is free and what needs the add-on.

First-week checklist

• Client and site groups with geofences; officers assigned; SSO tested
• Patrol vehicles as units with trackers
• Alarm-response run card tested with Run Test
• Patrol Log and Incident Report definitions published; group scoping on
• Start-of-shift checklist scheduled per vehicle
• Guard licence type enforced on the officer role
• Contract, rate schedule and one bid → deployment → invoice tested end to end