Building Security and the Internet -- II

Visibility Improves Security... My October 11 Dispatch, Building Security and the Internet, generated some interesting replies. Stephen Hassett, CEO of iTendant, writes that his system "allows tenants to report a suspicious person in the building and alert the security guards via wireless device, as well as at the security desk. All guards are notified immediately so if they are doing their rounds, they can respond." In fact, Hassett reports that one of his customers has put a computer at the lobby security desk and made this person the primary contact for managing service requests, thus making productive "a person who is typically not very busy."

Lee Schoentrup writes about essention's new partnership with WPS Emergency Planning, which develops emergency response programs. Check out Allmyplans.com, which enables you to build emergency plans online for buildings, tenants and corporate portfolios. For example, a building owner can generate an emergency plan by answering 250 questions online for a fee of $1,750 plus $0.02 per square foot. Tenant plans start at $1,000, and corporate portfolio plans start at $5,000.

Rob Aldrich, a property manager with CMD Realty in Atlanta, writes, "Having guards more visible is the biggest improvement I have seen across the board. Guards standing out in front of the Wildwood buildings -- keeping the curbs clear and greeting tenants -- is a very visible improvement. I think having visitors and guests sign in might be the next step for most of us but it has not gotten to that point yet. I think most property managers in our area have a couple of tenants (due to the nature of their business) that perceive a direct threat but most others have returned to normal business routines." ... Keep sending me your building security ideas. Thanks!

--Peter Pike