About Us

Oversight’s History of Guard Tour Systems

Guard tour confirmation systems have been around for years. As mentioned, we began with the old Detex systems at Lockheed. They required special keys and heavy recorders using paper disks. They were expensive to purchase and repair. The paper disks were difficult to read and almost impossible to research.

At Marriott we began using barcode software and special Nextel cell phones. While the software was crude and the reports very limited, it did meet the client’s requirements. Unfortunately, the more affordable barcode readers were fragile and properly reading each barcode tag was time consuming.

Our research showed that many companies were starting to use various devices, such as wands and pipes, to record “iButtons” that marked the checkpoints. These systems only read the date, time, and ID of the specific iButton. The recordings were held on the wand until they could be downloaded using a separate computer. While much better than the Detex system, the wands and pipes were limited as to the information they could collect, and the downloading was time consuming and cumbersome. Oversight used various types of these systems for years.

Starting around 2010, smartphones began to replace wands/pipes and other less effective proprietary scanning devices. Smartphones could collect a much broader range of information. Furthermore, smartphones could send the collected data at any time without the need for other devices or computers. Lastly, smartphones are generally less expensive.

GuardChecker was one of the first confirmation systems in the country to use smartphones to collect guard tour data.

Initially we used smartphones to read various types of checkpoint markers or tags. The least expensive tags are barcodes and QR codes. While less expensive, these codes can be easily copied. There are examples where guards took pictures of each checkpoint code and then sat at their desk and merely scanned those pictures.

Technology and Oversight continued to evolve. Today the most effective and secure checkpoint marker is a Near Field Communication (NFC) tag. They are slightly more expensive but still cheaper than iButtons. It is also easier and quicker to read an NFC tag than either a QR code or iButton.

Until recently, only Android smartphones could read NFC tags. Finally bowing to competitive pressure, Apple introduced the ability to read NFC tags with their iPhone 7 and later models. Note – Android smartphones are still less expensive.

While there are thousands of wand systems still in use, they are being replaced by smart devices. These devices provide a more comprehensive approach to physical security.

JB and his staff have continued to improve not only the data collection hardware, but just as importantly, the reports and alerts. Our goal is to keep security managers up to date on guard force performance.