What a guard tour system does
A guard tour system records that an officer reached set points on a patrol at set times. Each point is a checkpoint. The officer checks in at each one, and the system keeps the time, the officer's name and usually the location. Missed or late checkpoints can raise an alert.
The record serves three people: the supervisor, who can see patrols are happening without driving to the site; the client, who gets proof of patrol; and the company, which has evidence if a patrol is ever disputed. Our glossary explains proof of patrol in more detail.
The main checkpoint types
| Checkpoint | How the officer checks in | Strengths | Weaknesses |
|---|---|---|---|
| QR codes | Scans a printed code with the phone camera | Cheap to print and replace; works with any smartphone; easy to add new checkpoints | A code can be photographed and scanned elsewhere unless the scan's location is also checked; labels wear outdoors |
| NFC tags | Taps the phone on a small tag | Durable, discreet, quick to tap; harder to copy than a printed code | The phone must support NFC; tags cost more than printing and must be bought and fixed in place |
| GPS or geofence points | The app records the officer entering an area | No hardware on site; suits large outdoor sites and mobile patrol stops | Accuracy drops indoors and between tall buildings; proves the area, not the exact door |
| Wands and buttons (older systems) | Touches a reader against a metal button or tag | Very durable; no phone needed | Data is only seen when the reader is downloaded; no live alerts; dedicated hardware to buy and maintain |
Many systems combine methods: a scan at the checkpoint plus the phone's location at that moment. Checking the scan against where the checkpoint is supposed to be closes the gap of a code scanned from a photo.
What to look for in a guard tour system
- Proof that holds up: each scan should carry the guard, time and location, and records should not be editable by officers.
- Schedules, not just scans: tours with time windows, including overnight rounds, so the system knows when a scan is late or missing.
- Live alerts for missed and late tours, sent to whoever can act on them, not just stored for a weekly report.
- Reporting while patrolling: the officer should be able to log an observation or incident with photos at the checkpoint.
- Client visibility: patrol results in client reports or a portal, so you do not compile them by hand.
- Easy changes: adding, moving or replacing a checkpoint should take minutes, not a hardware order.
- Weak-signal sites: ask what happens where mobile signal is weak, and test it on your hardest site before committing.
Setting up checkpoints
- Walk the route first with the client, and agree what the patrol must prove: doors locked, fire exits clear, perimeter intact.
- Place checkpoints where the check happens, not just where it is convenient: at the far end of the car park, inside the plant room, at the fire exit.
- Number them in route order and match the numbers in the post orders.
- Protect outdoor labels from weather and tampering, and check them on each patrol.
- Review routes every few months. If a checkpoint is never the site of a problem, it may be in the wrong place.
Common mistakes
- Treating scans as the goal. A scan proves presence, not a proper check. Pair checkpoints with what to inspect there.
- Predictable patrols. Fixed times every night are easy to watch. Use time windows and vary the order where the client agrees.
- Alerts nobody answers. A missed-tour alert is only useful if someone is on duty to act on it.
Guard tours in ForceVera
ForceVera's guard tour system uses QR checkpoints: it creates a printable QR code for each checkpoint, with unlimited checkpoints and tours per site. ForceVera does not support NFC tags or beacons today. When an officer scans a code in the guard app, the scan is checked against the site and the checkpoint's location, and it only counts while the officer is clocked in on the geofenced time clock. Tours run in time windows, including rounds past midnight; a tour not completed in its window is marked missed and listed on the admin dashboard, without a push or email alert. Patrol results appear in daily client reports and, on Pro and Enterprise, in the client portal.
Running patrols on paper for now? Download the free patrol log template.