Search for security guard companies in Dallas-Fort Worth and you will get a long list. Most of them promise licensed officers, fast response and fair prices. The proposals end up looking alike, and the hourly rate becomes the only thing that seems to separate them. That is a risky way to choose the people who will stand at your front door.
SecureOne has provided contract security since 2002. These are the seven questions I would put to any security company before signing a DFW contract, ours included.
1. Can I see your Texas license?
Texas regulates security companies through the Private Security Program of the Department of Public Safety. A guard company needs a company license, each officer must be registered, and armed officers need a commission. Ask for the license number and ask how the company keeps every officer’s registration current. SecureOne works in Texas under Security Contractor Guard Company License #B27337201.
2. Will you walk my property before you quote it?
A quote written without a site visit is a guess. The company should see your entrances, parking areas, loading docks and dark corners, and ask what has gone wrong before. Post orders should be written for your property, not copied from the last client. We walk every site before we quote it.
3. How are your officers trained for my site?
State training is the minimum. Ask what happens after it: who trains the officer on your property, how long it takes and whether training continues once the officer is on post. Our in-house Director of Training builds programs around each industry and facility, and every officer learns the site before the first shift.
4. Who supervises the officers, and how often?
Officers on a night post in Fort Worth or a weekend shift in Plano should not be on their own. Ask how often a supervisor visits and how you will know it happened. A construction site manager in Chicago told us our field supervisor stops by several times a week.
5. What will I see after each shift?
If the only record of a shift is a paper log, you will not know much. Our officers file reports, photos and patrol checks in Vision InSites, our real-time reporting platform. Patrol vehicles are tracked with GPS Insight and record with in-car 360-degree cameras, so you can see where an officer was and when.
6. Who do I call at 2 a.m.?
Ask for a name, not a call center. Ask what happens when that person is on vacation. Every SecureOne client has a single point of contact who can be reached 24/7, whether the account is one building in Irving or several properties across the metro.
7. Can I talk to your current clients?
About 76% of SecureOne’s new clients come to us through referrals from existing clients. Ask any company for references and call them. Ask how problems were handled, not just whether there were any.
A note on price
SecureOne is not the cheapest of the Dallas security companies, and we do not try to be. A lower hourly rate can cost more if posts go unfilled, officers do not know the site or nobody reads the reports. If you want more detail on how SecureOne compares with other security companies in Dallas, that article on secureone.com covers it.
Talk to us about your DFW property
If you manage a property in Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington, Plano, Irving or anywhere else in the DFW metro, call (888) 834-5285 or request a quote, and we will set up a walk of the site.