Whether it’s the first time you’ve used professional security services or you’re a seasoned pro, it always helps to understand what happens ‘behind the scenes’. Our job is to get to you as quickly as we can, but sometimes we have to manage our clients’ expectations, especially under exceptional circumstances. Here’s our guide to managing your expectations.
The service we provide is a ‘shared service at a shared cost’ which is why we’re able to provide our services at such a reasonable price. Exceptional circumstances can impact the service we’re able to provide, but there can be many reasons for this.
Take Storm Arwen for example, we attended more than 150 alarms, with the bulk of them on the Friday night/Saturday morning. Although we doubled-up our staffing requirements, it was a challenging night and we can’t always predict how often our services will be needed, especially during storms.
Like any business, we also have to deal with staff sickness, and throughout the pandemic, Covid-related isolation which has sometimes meant reduced staffing levels.
When we respond, we have to stick to speed limits and can sometimes get stuck in traffic. We also have to deal with delays due to weather conditions and even vehicle breakdowns, so even though we’d like to get to you as fast as we can, it can take sometimes take a little longer than planned due to circumstances beyond our control.
We can also experience delayed notification from monitoring stations which means your alarm could have been activated for some time before we’re even alerted to it.
When we get to a site, our Officers may have to deal with a break-in, flood or fire, which can mean delays to other call-outs. We do all we can to secure a site if it’s been compromised and we know our clients’ appreciate this. We work with local trades and the emergency services if necessary to secure the site, and this can take time.
Our Officers are on call 24/7 365 days a year and work incredibly hard to respond as quickly as they can. Our average response time is just 18 minutes and we attend a quarter of all call-outs in just 10.
Although there can sometimes be things that are outside of our control, we hope this gave you an insight into how and why we may face delays – even though it’s a rare occurrence, our priority is and will remain getting to you as quickly and as safely as we can.
