Panellists at the Hotelier Middle East: Safety and Security Summit debated over the most effective way to run security patrols in hotels.
Speaking on a panel about measuring and bechmarking performance, Media One Hotel Dubai director of operations Felix Hartmann said the hotel implements a twice-daily patrol of the hotel and office floors.
“There are security reports and patrolling reports, and if incidents happen, we have a reporting system which documents the nature of the incident and we segregate them based on the severity of the incident or the finding of the patrol,” he explained.
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Speaking about the use of technology, director of security – complex, The St. Regis Dubai, W Dubai – Al Habtoor City, The Westin Dubai Al Habtoor City, Starwood Hotels Craig Clark-Darby cautioned against relying solely on electronic systems.
He said: “I think there is a danger of relying too much on technology. You always have to have that human aspect, and if you have a purely technical or electronic patrolling system, then it becomes more about connecting the handheld device to the wall and less about patrol so you need to have that balance. You need to have an electronic system that measures as well as a human system to control strategies.”
Emrill Services operations director Alex Davies, however, pointed to the efficiency smartphones and other handheld devices offer.
“Within our organisation, we have a smartphone solution and that smartphone solution is for patrolling. You can monitor it in a much more dynamic way than just specific points. And again the information is readily available to general managers and security officers so you’re not waiting until you’re back in the office and emailing them. So I think it’s only going to develop further and further.”
The Hotelier Middle East: Safety & Security Summit was held on June 2 at Grosvenor House, Dubai and was sponsored by MVP Tech, Vingcard Elsafe, Arecont Vision, Pelco, and World Security.
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