2 page Case Study - Posted 6/25/2008

Views: 908

Rate This Evidence:

Wackenhut

Solution Combines Mobile GPS Devices and Online Mapping to Track Security Guards

SecureTrax, a solution from security services provider Wackenhut, combines GPS technology with the Microsoft® Virtual Earth™ service to provide verification that security officers are staying within predefined boundaries and patrolling properties as required. The solution is helping Wackenhut clients to improve security, which in turn is enabling Wackenhut to increase customer retention and win new business.

Business Needs

G4S Wackenhut, a division of London-based Group 4 Securicor (G4S), is a leading provider of security solutions in the United States. Most of the company’s 40,000 employees work in its Security Services business, which provides manned security services for locations that range from shopping malls and banks to manufacturing facilities and nuclear power plants.

More than half of all manned security services are provided by the four largest companies, which often compete for the same large accounts. Wackenhut’s strategy to set itself apart from the competition is to offer complete security solutions, not just personnel. To that end, in 2007, Wackenhut decided to build SecureTrax, a new mobile solution that would build upon the company’s existing manned security services business to deliver new customer value.

One feature that the company envisioned was the ability to let customers monitor security officers’ whereabouts while on duty, as enabled by the Global Positioning System (GPS) technology built into the Windows Mobile® phones that officers would carry. However, capturing GPS coordinates from each device was only part of the challenge. Wackenhut also had to provide a way to visualize the GPS data and give customers a way to specify the property boundaries in which they wanted Wackenhut security officers to remain.

Solution

Wackenhut met its needs by augmenting its SecureTrax solution with Microsoft® Virtual Earth™ mapping software. GPS coordinates received by the Windows Mobile phones are uploaded over the AT&T cellular network to SecureTrax extranet servers, where they are mapped onto a satellite image of the location provided by Virtual Earth. “Virtual Earth provides an ideal way to visualize the GPS

Virtual Earth provides an ideal way to visualize the GPS data collected, enabling clients to easily verify that security officers are patrolling the right areas. Brian McCabe Chief Information Officer, Wackenhut

Wackenhut also used Virtual Earth to give clients the ability to configure virtual “geo-fences” around each property. They do so by clicking points on the Virtual Earth image to specify boundaries within which the security officer should remain, with the area showing up as a transparent, red polygon overlaid on the Virtual Earth satellite image. SecureTrax compares the GPS coordinates received to those of the geo-fence boundary and, if any of the coordinates fall outside the boundary, sends real-time notifications to a distribution list determined by the customer. Similarly, if the officer presses the “panic button” on the device, the location is plotted on the map. In the future, Wackenhut will plot the location of reported incidents on properties as well.

In building SecureTrax, Wackenhut considered Virtual Earth as well as other solutions, examining their functionality, ease of development, application programming interfaces (APIs), and licensing models. “We had already made the strategic decision to use Microsoft software, so it made sense to use Microsoft hosted services, too,” says Will Rego, Wackenhut Software Developer. “Virtual Earth also offered an API that was easier to use, as well as additional features—such as the Bird’s Eye view—that other solutions didn’t have.”

Benefits

Wackenhut was able to quickly and cost-effectively help customers verify that security officers are properly making their rounds. Together with the other features of SecureTrax, that capability is enabling Wackenhut to deliver new customer value and differentiate itself in what has traditionally been a commodity industry. Some key benefits that Wackenhut and its customers have realized through the company’s decision to use Virtual Earth include:

• Increased customer value and satisfaction. SecureTrax enables Wackenhut customers to easily verify that security officers are staying within predefined boundaries and patrolling properties as required. “If a security officer leaves the property or spends too much time in one place, their supervisor will know about it,” says Bill Strother, Director of Security for Weingarten Realty, a Wackenhut customer.
  
  
• Improved customer retention and new sales. The value provided by SecureTrax is giving Wackenhut a key advantage over its competition. “SecureTrax is definitely helping us win new business and drive customer retention,” says McCabe. “Given the advantage it provides during the sales process, there’s no doubt that we’re seeing a strong return on our investment.”
  
  
• Rapid time-to-market. Wackenhut built the initial version of SecureTrax in only a few months, with the process of integrating with Virtual Earth taking just a few days. “It was pretty easy to get the GPS coordinates from the device and map them,” says Rego. “If you look at the code required to integrate with Virtual Earth, there’s really not much there.”
  
  
• Attractive licensing. Virtual Earth was “easy” from a licensing perspective as well. “We’re very happy with the licensing model for Virtual Earth,” says McCabe. “We talked with our Microsoft account executive and had an agreement within a few days, at a very fair price.”