Tell us about your organization.
The Vrije Universiteit Brussel is a dynamic and modern university with two parkland campuses in the Brussels Capital Region: the main campus in Etterbeek is home to seven faculties. Jette is the site of the medical campus and the University Hospital (UZ Brussel).
High quality education and research are the missions of our university. Our research teams are internationally recognized in many disciplines of fundamental and applied research.
We offer a quality education to more than 10,000 students. Add to that the almost 4,500 students of our partner, the Erasmus Hogeschool Brussels; the 400 students at the English-speaking Vesalius College; the 5,000 students at the Centre for Adult Education that shares our campus, and the more than 150 research teams working on both our campuses, and you get one of the biggest centers of knowledge in the capital of Europe.
How many people are employed at the various facilities?
On 31 December 2010 the Vrije Universiteit Brussel employed a staff of 2.882. The academic staff accounts for 1.891 employees, of whom 28% are professors, 17% teaching assistants and 55% special scientific staff (researchers without teaching duties). The administrative and technical staff consists of 991 employees.
The UZ Brussel, which is the Teaching Hospital of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, employs over 3,400 people.
With a total of over 6,200 employees, the Vrije Universiteit Brussel is the largest Dutch-language employer in the Brussels Capital Region.
Tell us something about yourself.
I am the Security Manager. I have been here for two and a half years.
My job is to ensure campus security on an operational level. This includes day-to-day communication with guards in the field, being a first line of contact for all security related matters, and providing detailed information to the Facility Director in regard to optimizing the effectiveness of our security program. The primary focus, whether it be through personnel or security techniques, is to organize campus security in such a way that it remains true to the values of a free university spirit but nonetheless is present in such a way as to deter any illegal actions.
How many officers do you have?
We currently employ 25 guards. This allows us to maintain a 24/7 presence on both campus sites. The UZ Brussels has a separate contingent of security guards specifically dedicated to the hospital needs.
How is the department organized?
The security department is divided into 3 distinct sections, namely guards, security techniques and locksmith services.
How many rounds are performed?
We employ six rounds. We patrol both indoors and outdoors.
We do not employ a fixed route system but rather have a series of defined actions that each officer must perform during a shift. To ensure that there is no routine in these actions and that the officers are performing their jobs correctly, we constantly monitor their activities with the Guard1 Plus.
How long have you been using Guard1 Plus?
We have been using the application for seven years.
We are satisfied that the application has shown no errors or crashes during this period. Furthermore, we have migrated the application through several Windows operating systems and all functionalities and data have remained intact.
How is the system set up?
The buttons are located on campus, and inside buildings. We try to keep a balance between indoor and outdoor rounds to ensure we have perfect coverage of the entire premises.
Currently we use eight PIPEs and they are in almost constant use.
It is important for us to minimize routine within our guard rounds. We constantly monitor the rounds performed versus specific security needs. The reports help us to identify where emphasis is needed (based on internal and external information) and allow us to quickly adapt our security when necessary without running the risk of weakening other areas on the campus premises.
What problems has THE PIPE solved for you?
The PIPE gives a clear view of the tasks performed by our officers. In case of incidents the information gathered through these devices allows us to quickly analyze what transpired. This offers both a control element but also an element of reassurance to our guards that their every whereabouts is recorded. This data has proven useful already in the past by giving us a clear view of exactly what transpired in case of an incident.
What is your favorite thing about GUARD1 PLUS?
The user-friendliness of the system. The setup only takes a short time after which data becomes immediately available. Also, adding new checkpoints or new officers happens in matter of minutes. This allows for a very flexible use of the system.
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