Mobile security: A glimpse into the future

Predicting future customer requirements is key for any business.

Get it right and you’re seen as the industry leader within your sector, the innovator that others aspire to emulate.

Fail and you are left with at best a costly mistake; at worst your business is ruined beyond redemption.

A recent case study in failure is Nokia, whose slowness in embracing smartphone technology saw their share of the global smartphone market plummet from an enviable 50% in 2007 to just 3% by 2013. I think we all know what happened to the innovators in this space who got their strategy right.

The ruin of many companies is to think they are meeting every possible need of their customer. The product is great, they receive few complaints, pricing is reasonable – what more could customers ask for, right? Well, actually, quite a lot.

In an age of dizzying technological advances and sky-high consumer expectations, the ‘me too’ sentiment is simply not enough for many customers. “We want real-time conclusive proof that you have delivered exactly what the product says on the tin and we want it for less…” is a common sentiment.

For many years the mobile security industry has staved off this trend. Paper reports, basic electronic tagging points and (if you’re lucky) vehicle tracking data has been enough proof of service delivery.

Stretched cost base

More advanced technology was seen as an expensive and unnecessary addition to an already stretched cost base, something customers seemed to accept was the only available option in a market which stifled the greatest catalyst for change: necessity.

Over recent years this has changed dramatically, driven by the consumer’s changing demands and the mobile industry’s understanding that greater visibility and control can actually help to drive financial efficiencies as opposed to just adding cost.

In a highly competitive, fragmented and commoditised environment, differentiation can make the difference between success and failure and is essential to winning new business.

If everyone is a “me too” provider offering indistinguishable solutions then everything gravitates to one element only: price. But an environment where price becomes the only factor is dangerous for any business to operate within.

Some mobile security providers have now adopted handheld devices and on-site data tags placed in strategic locations to ensure full patrols have taken place. This has ticked the ‘proof of service’ box for the consumer, although it is fair to say that these devices are not commonplace just yet.

At Mitie we’ve implemented this technology and are committed to real-time reporting for all self-delivered activities to promote our ethos of a fully transparent service delivery model. Why wouldn’t a customer want to know that the nightly patrol they are paying for has been carried out, or the alarm activation at their premises was responded to within a certain time?

We’ve taken this a step further and built bespoke reports for all mobile security activities (patrols, alarm response, locks, vacant property inspections) and provided the ability to take photographic evidence. We may feel our work is done now other than refining and improving the technology and what else could our customers want in relation to innovation and added value?

I’ve no doubt that over the next 2-3 years this type of technology will become commonplace, albeit delivered to varying degrees of success. And then we all become “me too” providers again competing for business purely on price.

Big-ticket innovations

Which makes me think: what are the future requirements of my customers and what are the next big-ticket innovations for mobile security that can meet these needs and give us an opportunity to differentiate?

Coming from a logistics background I have seen many logistics innovations adopted by the mobile security industry.

Take the parcel delivery industry. It wasn’t long ago that many of us were signing for our deliveries on paper, waiting in all day for a delivery only to ring the company at 5pm to be told that the driver had attempted to deliver and we were out.

Now virtually all large carriers use handheld devices, signatures are available to the client in real time and disputes around false cardings are quickly resolved by the company sending a picture of the customer’s door.

The few companies who moved their technology to the next phase of pre-notification texting and fixed-time windows are now dominating the premium delivery market.

Clearly some elements, such as pre-notification texts, don’t fit the customer’s needs from a mobile security provider. But think holistically of the technology behind this.

A system that not only offers all required (and considered cutting edge) proof-of-delivery features but also schedules each vehicle’s beat to the optimum route, taking into account customer requirements and time windows (eg, “we want patrols/locks between x and y etc”), as well as delivering improved fuel efficiency and maximising productivity within an officer’s shift.

One-stop shop

And did I forget to mention that the system can also double as a sat nav and provide in-cab vehicle management to improve driver behaviour, all delivered effectively via a one-stop shop platform (tablet, smartphone, or even the new hybrid phablet!)?

To summarise: no more sat-nav hardware costs, further improvements in fuel efficiency savings and reduction in accidents, service and maintenance costs. Sound appealing anyone?

The customer benefits from a resilient process that ensures their service delivery is even more controlled and regulated than before whilst the efficiency and financial gains delivered to the operation would be significant. These could even be shared with the customer to deliver an even more cost-effective service and compelling proposition.

I hastened to add that this is not some futuristic pipe dream. In fact this technology already exists within the logistics industry and is being used in a similar fashion as I have described.

And before experienced mobile security operators reading this flag up the uncertain nature of activations impacting on scheduled work, I would like to highlight that we are not the only industry where this happens, and yes it still works. We will never be able to guarantee 100% success granted but surely that should be the aim of any progressive business.

This type of technology is certainly something my business will be reviewing over the next 12 months and I can genuinely see this becoming a common feature for the mobile security industry over the next five years. All it takes is for a brave business to grasp the nettle, take the pain that any major cultural change presents, and successfully deliver the concept.

Sounds simple in theory but the significant risk and challenge make this a daunting task. Still, as the saying goes “nothing ventured, nothing gained”.

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