What is your primary business?
We are a pharmaceutical company. Our primary focus of research is HIV, oncology, hypertension, and heart medicine.
Is this a research facility?
No, everyone here is an office worker. There is no research and development work done here. This Bristol-Myers Squibb facility
is the home of the United States Pharmaceutical Group. We are the only sales and marketing office in the country. All sales
and marketing efforts are for prescription medications, not over-the-counter drugs.
What are the logistics of the facility?
There are about 2,000 total employees who work here. There are three buildings at the facility. Each building has five floors.
What is your background?
I previously worked in the hotel industry for five years as a manager. I have been with Bristol-Myers for 12 years. I have
always been a security manager here. I am in charge of Building Services. This includes security and housekeeping. There
are a total of 70 employees between the two departments. We have 20 security officers. These officers are working on maintaining
site security, or physical security. We also call it guard force management.
What type of tasks do you take on during a normal day?
Well, about 90% of my tasks are administrative. They include investigating incidents and following up on preliminary reports
with the officers. We also do site surveys. This is where we evaluate the current security system in our buildings. We write
down suggestions on how to improve our system and what needs to be repaired.
Your facility is quite large. What type of security issues do you face?
We do have some petty theft, but that is about it. We do a good job with security here. Our tour is pretty well laid out,
which helps. One incident we did have was a bomb scare. We did not find anything, but we had dogs sniffing the grounds.
The whole building was evacuated. The threat came about mid-afternoon, so no one was let back into the building until the
next day. That was a different incident; one that had not happened for about 12 years.
When did you first become familiar with TimeKeeping Systems?
We have been using TimeKeeping Systems’ products for about 10 years. So, we switched since we had such success with your
products in the past. We also wanted to keep up with technology. We first used one of your bar code readers. This was used
for our guard tours. The next system of yours that we used was an EZBarcode Reader that we had mounted on the door. Then,
we went to THE PIPE.
How is your Guard1 system used?
We use the buttons regularly. We have at least 150 in place throughout the three buildings and outside. We have an open
campus. The guards activate the buttons everywhere they are located. There are three PIPEs total at the facility. We have
two interior officers, at most, touring. They each carry a PIPE. The other guards are all posted at various places. The
last PIPE is used outside.
How is The PIPE working for you?
The PIPE is working very well for us. I like the durability and the construction of The PIPE. I just like the fact that
it fits better in the hand. With that, it leaves less room for damage. It is great! The officers prefer this model because
of the style. It is easy to fit in their pocket.
What type of abuse does The PIPE get?
I have to say that The PIPE does not get much abuse at all. We probably had more abuse with the EZBarcode on the door. It
would always get dropped and the glass eye would hit the ground first. It usually chipped. So, we were spending quite a
bit of downtime to have it repaired. This also led us to switch to The PIPE. We wanted to keep the readers in the field
more than in the repair shop. It was not the product itself; it was simply the fact that it got dropped a lot. The PIPE,
however, is all one piece and made with a durable vinyl grip. The batteries were also a problem. They developed a cycle
to be charged. So, if the batteries spent too much time in the charger, or you did not charge them enough, they would die
on you. We like that the batteries do not need to be charged with The PIPE. We also switched to The PIPE because of the
ease of installing a tour. The old system forced us to print out a bar code, laminate it, and post it on the wall. Guard1
lets you program a button. It is a lot easier.
Do you patrol the entire grounds?
Yes, we patrol all three buildings and all five floors in each. I would say that it takes about an hour per building to
do a tour.
Is there a specific schedule in which the tours are done?
They are not on any sort of schedule. I do not believe in that. One thing you do not do is develop a schedule. We have a
system in place for the guards to follow, but we try not to share that. This way, no one knows when to expect the guard.
When the guards are going every hour on the hour, people notice that. This is when you can have trouble.
More User Profiles