Security Archives - Relay

Phoenix Integrated Security

Jess Fischer — Mon, 30 Jun 2025 23:18:41 +0000

PHOENIX INTEGRATED SECURITY

Phoenix Integrated Security Enhances Team Communication Across Hundreds of Miles

RELAY PRODUCTS USED

USE CASES

A Michigan-based physical security solutions company needed a more reliable and professional method of communication than cell phones for its widely dispersed teams. They implemented Relay’s cost-effective and long-range solution, centralizing management capabilities via the Relay Dashboard and ultimately improving operational oversight and efficiency.

Securing Operations Across a Large Geographic Footprint

Phoenix Integrated Security, headquartered in Wayne, Michigan, delivers comprehensive security services to its clients, with operations spanning across numerous cities and municipalities. Their highly-trained teams are responsible for on-site guarding and ensuring the safety and integrity of large-scale facilities, such as vehicle manufacturers and processors. Maintaining clear, reliable, and professional communication is paramount for the business’ dispersed teams, who provide a vigilant presence and rapid response capabilities 24/7/365.

Cell Phones Lacked Oversight and Professionalism

Before implementing Relay in 2023, the security company relied on cell phones for team communication, including phone-based walkie-talkie app, Zello. Because the app resided on employees’ personal phones, the lines between work and personal time were blurred. The Head of Operations shared, “there was really no way as a company or as an operation for us to manage it professionally.” With reliable communications being a top priority for the business to ensure the safety and security of its employees and clients property, Phoenix Integrated Security knew there had to be a better solution out there, one that could provide the oversight they wanted.

Enter Relay: Cost-Effective and Reliable Across Long Distances

Over the years, the security company has evaluated various radio options and consistently found Relay to be the best fit with its built-in long range, user friendliness, centralized management capabilities via the Relay Dashboard, helpful customer support, and of course, affordability. Switching to a traditional radio system would have required high costs and complex startup infrastructure in order to use them across the hundreds of miles within Phoenix Integrated Security’s operations. The Head of Operations noted, “It’s always come down to Relay has been here for us and we’ve been there for them, and they’ve always done what we need them to do.”

“Other radio providers offer a similar service but they can’t do it the way Relay does it. Especially for the cost and the quality that you get.”
– The Head of Operations at Phoenix Integrated Security

Enhanced Operations, Reliable Insights, and Proven Efficiency

With over 1,000 messages being sent across devices on a busy day, Relay’s Dashboard has become a central asset for Phoenix Integrated Security’s Operations Center, significantly enhancing visibility. “We have all the data now right at our fingertips,” the Head of Operations stated. Features like location tracking have proved invaluable for verifying personnel positions and locating lost devices, while Relay’s geofencing provides real-time alerts when devices leave designated areas. “Location tracking is phenomenal with us operating in so many different cities,” they shared. “It’s not always practical for me to go to the site and ask questions but I can look at the location tracking and see where an employee was when an incident occurred.” The team also leverages Relay’s message transcriptions to verify events for reporting and compliance scenarios.

The team in the Security Operations Center (SOC) actively uses Relay’s Dashboard to manage device settings remotely, such as ensuring devices aren’t on “Do Not Disturb” and volumes are turned up loud enough so no essential communications are missed. They are even utilizing pre-scheduled broadcasts for standardized announcements like charging reminders at shift change and weather alerts to improve efficiency. The Head of Operations shared, “Relay has allowed my Operations Center to become a tool that really helps us oversee and maintain our team.” Communication across their extensive service area became so seamless that, “it doesn’t feel like we’re operating in eight different cities when you sit in our Security Operations Center (SOC) and you hear everyone talking like it’s just another conversation,” they continued. “With the distance we span with them, I think we’re really closing the gap.”

“Using Relay across the vast distance of our operations has streamlined communications from the field to my security operations center. All they have to do is press that button and say whatever they need to say and my Operation Center has got it instantly.”
– The Head of Operations at Phoenix Integrated Security

Physical security company headquartered in Wayne, Michigan
Offers 24/7/365 security for large-scale facilities
Relay customer since 2023

INDUSTRY

SECURITY

OBJECTIVE

Phoenix Integrated Security wanted a more reliable and professional communication method than cell phones for their widely dispersed teams, to improve operational oversight and efficiency.

RESULT

By implementing Relay, Phoenix Integrated Security was able to centralize management capabilities via the Relay Dashboard and securely communicate across hundreds of miles, all while avoiding the high costs and complex infrastructure a traditional radio system would have required.

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The post Phoenix Integrated Security appeared first on Relay.

How Tribal Casinos are Overcoming Communication Challenges

Derek Pando — Mon, 20 May 2024 18:08:27 +0000

Many tribal casinos find themselves at the crossroads of tradition and technology as they continue to carve out a unique space in America’s gaming industry. These casinos operate under different circumstances, distinguishing themselves from traditional commercial casinos. Tribal casinos are governed by the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) of 1988. This law established a legal framework that allows tribal members to create and run casinos on tribal land. This legislation was passed because of the growing popularity of gaming as a means of economic development on various reservations and the disputes that arose between tribes and the states where they were located. Prior to the passing of the IGRA, tribes, such as the Seminoles in Florida in 1979, had begun gambling operations such as bingo halls to help generate revenue.

Economic Engine for Native Communities

Tribal casinos function as entertainment hubs as well as economic drivers for their native communities. This dual role presents diverse operational challenges around demographics, economics, and regulatory issues.

Geographic and Demographic Challenges

Because many tribal casinos are in remote areas, this impacts their connectivity and accessibility to various audiences and resources. Remote locations can be challenging to reach for some customers, emergency services, and supply chain logistics. They can also be challenging when establishing communications and IT networks.

Economic Impact

Tribal casinos significantly impact their respective communities, serving as a vital revenue source for their tribes. Casinos on native land regularly fund important services such as healthcare, education, and other infrastructure as well as incorporate operations such as restaurants and gas stations under the umbrella of the casino. This places an additional burden on tribal casinos to be successful, requiring robust marketing and customer service initiatives to not only survive but thrive.

Regulatory and Sovereignty Issues

Casinos operating under IGRA often face regulatory and sovereignty issues. While this legislation grants native tribes some autonomy in terms of how it governs its casinos and related businesses, it does lead to complex interactions with federal and state regulators. Topics related to gaming licenses and the adoption of new technologies and services can prove more complicated due to the necessary input from tribal leadership and the position that casinos have as more than commercial enterprises.

Unique Communications Needs

Tribal casinos have a unique position within their communities. One that corporate-owned casinos don’t need to consider. This influences their communications and IT requirements, as well as their decision-making and implementation processes.

Community-Based Decision Making

Tribal casinos’ role in their communities go beyond the nature of privately held corporations that own and operate commercial casinos. When it comes to making decisions about expanding, upgrading technology, or making operational changes, tribal members and leaders have a say in the process. Their input reflects the values and priorities of the community in addition to simply focusing on financial goals. While this may sometimes slow the decision-making process, it ensures tribal leaders have influence in relation to major decisions associated with the casino.

Challenges with Infrastructure

Due to their often-remote locations, many tribal casinos face challenges when securing reliable internet and mobile phone service. Several years ago, an NPR report highlighted that Native Americans living on tribal lands were among those ‘least connected’ to high speed internet. While this issue mainly affected residents, it also impacted casinos. The lack of high-speed internet not only impacts guest services, like online reservations and gaming, but also has a bearing on internal communications and emergency responses. Moreover, without high-speed internet access, tribal casinos struggle to provide modern gaming solutions and remain competitive with other commercial casinos.

Integrated Operations

Many tribal casinos are part of resort complexes that include hotels, restaurants, and cultural centers. This configuration requires a communication strategy that effectively integrates services and facilities across a wide area.

To align these operations effectively, tools like ERP software and data collection systems collect and analyze critical venue and guest information. This enables businesses to gain insights into employee and customer behavior, anticipating and proactively addressing client needs and safety concerns. Such integration is essential for delivering an enjoyable customer experience and maintaining efficient facilities management.

Financial Considerations and Investments

Given their responsibility to support other operations and activities across their communities, tribal casinos often face distinctive financial constraints compared to their commercial counterparts. When investing in accounting, management, and communication systems, it’s important to strike a balance between meeting community needs and maximizing efficiency.

Advancements in Communication Technologies

Tribal casinos are increasingly adopting communication technologies to enhance operations, better engage customers, and boost overall profitability. These innovations are tailored to address the challenges faced by casinos operating on native land, such as geographical isolation and the importance of community involvement.

Next Generation Gaming Systems

Modern gaming systems like IGT’s Tournament Manager and Universal Adapter are revolutionizing casino operations. They allow casinos to seamlessly switch games between play and tournament modes, deliver bonuses directly on slot machines, and utilize cloud-based solutions for game management. For instance, the IGT Cloud empowers casinos to access and oversee more than 300 games—an ideal solution for locations with limited onsite IT support.

Digital Mobile Engagement

Tribal casinos are embracing enhanced digital platforms designed to overcome challenges associated with traditional marketing methods. For example, some tribal casinos are addressing the gap in mainstream email and SMS services by offering digital communication solutions that respect tribal cultures. Additionally, mobile applications play a role in improving customer service and operational efficiency within the casino premises. These solutions can notify staff about high-stakes players in a timely manner, leading to improved customer interactions and service quality.

Emergency and Security Communication

Ensuring the safety and security of casinos in remote locations relies heavily on integrating emergency and security communication systems.

Strategies for Emergency Communication

The cooperation between the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and tribal casinos relies heavily on creating customized emergency communication plans. This involves assessing current practices and identifying areas for enhancement. In addition, this may include offering solutions like the Interoperable Communications Technical Assistance Program (ICTAP) to boost communication capabilities that are interconnected with operations.

Essential Services During Emergencies

Government Emergency Telecommunications Service (GETS) and Wireless Priority Service (WPS) ensure reliable communications during emergencies. These priority services maintain connectivity for calls between casinos and emergency responders to ensure prompt responses, even during times of network congestion.

Advancements in Public Safety Solutions

Equipping casinos with mobile location services and connectivity capabilities enables a broadband network tailored for emergency situations. This blend of hardware, software and mobile location features facilitates data transmission during critical situations, ensuring uninterrupted connectivity across complex casino facilities.

Tribal casinos are merging their heritage with advanced communication technologies to preserve their identity and enhance operational flexibility. This integration allows them to improve guest services while staying competitive in the gaming industry. By embracing these ideas, tribal casinos are setting a precedent for blending heritage with technological advancement, strengthening their role as cultural hubs and economic centerpieces within their communities.

The post How Tribal Casinos are Overcoming Communication Challenges appeared first on Relay.

A Guide for Emergency Preparedness with Relay

Ibraheem Khalifa — Thu, 16 May 2024 12:51:00 +0000

Having an emergency preparedness plan is crucial for ensuring safety, minimizing damage, and enabling quick and efficient responses to various emergencies. A well-prepared plan ensures that necessary supplies are available, communication strategies are in place, and individuals know what to do in different scenarios, ultimately providing peace of mind and compliance with safety regulations.

In this guide, we’ll share general emergency preparedness tips and discuss how Relay can enhance any existing emergency plan. As many of the capabilities within Relay have not been possible before with legacy radio systems, we will share best practices and stories to illustrate the possibilities to augment your emergency preparedness plan.

Relay’s internal experts, customers, and data, as well as external experts were consulted in the creation of this guide. This aims to offer useful ideas, but we always recommend consulting with your trusted experts and adapting your plan to fit the unique needs of your organization and property.

The Rule of Redundancy in Communication Systems

In an emergency situation, clear and fast communication is the key. Every communication system can fail, but having appropriate amounts of redundancy can give you confidence to continue operations in the face of system failures. Relay devices have four built-in redundancies: connection to three different major US cell carriers and WiFi.

Earlier this year, when a telecommunications company had a nationwide outage, Relay users were not impacted because the devices automatically switched to other cell carriers or WiFi. Depending on your situation, going beyond the built in redundancy may be advisable. Major cell carriers and towers will also have built in redundancies, which can increase the resilience of your communication through Relay, but those are typically managed directly by the carriers.

Should all cell and WiFi systems fail, internet backups are also crucial. 90% of organizations are relying on cloud based applications to run their business. Any downtime will drastically impact the overall guest experience, even in non-emergency situations. A best practice is to have key internet systems connected to emergency or backup power to ensure internet continuity during power outages. Experts also recommend having a backup internet provider when possible.

Additionally, keeping some two-way radios around and maintaining landlines can add more layers of redundancy for maintaining communication in scenarios where internet, cell service, WiFi, and power are unavailable. For the most destructive scenarios, like hurricanes and fires, we recommend some level of satellite based backup solutions for internet and phone.

What You Carry with You

In emergency situations, the most effective communication devices are those that individuals already have on their person. We consistently find that our small, lightweight and discrete devices are much more likely to be carried or worn than larger bulkier radios.

The built in panic button means that everyone carrying a Relay device has the ability to raise the alarm in an emergency. Panic buttons can raise the alarm for a personal emergency situation or warn of a broader threat.

In an emergency, speed matters and having more staff able to raise the alarm improves your ability to address emergency situations before they get worse.

Emergency response also tends to need to involve a much broader group of individuals than those who might typically carry a work communication device. Relay’s app and nationwide range means that someone far from the emergency can be part of the communications.

For example, Fairfield and TownePlace Suites of Norfolk’s GM was at home without her Relay when a night shift employee had a medical emergency. The employee triggered a panic alert with their Relay device, which alerted Sara on her phone and allowed her to help resolve the incident.

Location: A New Dimension of Communication Safety

Knowing where an emergency is occurring is half the battle won. Relay’s indoor and outdoor GPS location tracking technology gives responders a significant advantage, enabling a quicker and safer resolution. This pinpoint accuracy in locating individuals and their movements in real-time means you can spend less time figuring out where someone is or who is the closest to help and more time resolving the issue.

Emergency medical services on average take 7 minutes to respond in a urban setting and 14 minutes on average in a rural setting in the US. The FCC “estimated that as many as 10,000 lives could be saved each year, if the 911 emergency dispatching system were able to reach callers just one minute faster.” In all emergency scenarios, speed matters.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Every organization, from corporate offices and hotels to casinos and education institutions, has specialized needs dictated by their unique environments and the nature of potential threats. Relay’s code-based and custom incident response capabilities allow for tailored emergency plans that synchronize seamlessly with an organization’s operating procedures.

You can read more here, but you have the ability to trigger incidents through color based codes or custom phrases and set up the work flow of who is pulled into those conversations.

For example, in a hospitality setting you can have a “code red” that represents a fire or flood emergency and it will automatically pull in all the right people. That response team assigned could be different from a “code blue”, which could represent an emergency where the police need to be involved and require different personnel to respond.

Automating these processes simplifies and reduces part of the human error potential of your response. Now you never have to wonder who needs to be part of the communication for a specific kind of incident because you pre-designated it and it happens automatically when that kind of incident is triggered.

Are you there?

One of the biggest challenges with legacy radio technology is getting a hold of the person you need to, which can have terrible consequences in an emergency. The reasons for this are varied, it could be a dead spot because you’re back of house without built-in redundancies, or because you’re offsite getting lunch and your radio has a short range. It can also be the classic “I switched channels and forgot to go back to the one I needed to”.

Regardless of the reason, Relay’s redundant connectivity improves connectivity and our incident response automatically pulls the right people into emergency channels regardless of what channel they were on. With Relay, you also have the ability to call someone directly 1×1, create as many channels as you want, and the nationwide coverage means you can easily reach someone who has gone off site.

Immediate, Ubiquitous Alerts

Emergencies are rarely scheduled. They arise suddenly and demand an immediate, all-hands-on-deck response. Relay’s broadcast capabilities ensure that, during rapidly escalating situations such as severe weather, alerts are received by all staff without delay. There are many scenarios that you might want to communicate with just your employees broadly, but not use a PA system that anyone within earshot will hear.

One Relay customer that has a 3,000+ acre property with horseback riding trails uses the broadcast ability to notify internal teams of severe weather alerts and how storms are progressing throughout the day.

Connecting with emergency services

Many of our customers are fortunate enough to have close relationships and work directly with their local emergency services, including having the ability to contact them directly on their radio frequencies. The Relay platform does not communicate over radio frequencies used by emergency services since it relies on cell and Wifi. Commonly, access to emergency services channels is limited to dispatch centers or security operations centers. This is often the case regardless of whether or not Relay is being used because those channels get busy quickly during an emergency between all the different agencies responding. Having a large amount of employees communicating on those channels often ends up being counter productive.

A best practice that many of our customers use is to make sure there is easy access to both Relay and traditional radio channels in your security operations center, or wherever comms are monitored. Typically we see security teams having a physical Relay device, the app, or our dashboard pulled up at all times, alongside a phone or traditional radio used to coordinate with emergency services. This enables your team to reach emergency services while monitoring real-time communications and locations with Relay.

Practice Makes Perfect: The Importance of Drills

It’s not enough to just have communication tools and plans – they must be wielded with proficiency and precision. Simulation drills and consistent practice create a culture of preparedness that is as essential as the means of communication themselves. Relay not only enhances these drills by allowing live communication and tracking, but it also empowers organizations to simulate and fine-tune their emergency responses to an unprecedented level of authenticity.

Furthermore, because Relay can automatically record, transcribe, and keep detailed location history records, you can evaluate your drills with a high level of accuracy of what was actually said and done. This also means that when you do have an incident and are doing an after-incident report, there is less ambiguity and more clarity on what happened, which can help for risk and compliance reasons, while enabling the organization to improve future responses.

The Limits of Technology

Technology alone cannot solve every challenge that emergencies present, but it is our hope that this guide has provided you with valuable insights on how to enhance your preparedness plans through planning, technology and creating a culture of preparedness.

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Webinar: A Live Demo of Our Newest Enhancements

Jess Fischer — Mon, 06 May 2024 14:57:28 +0000

In today’s fast-paced work environment, staying connected and efficiently managing your team’s workflow is more crucial than ever. That’s why we launched four new enhancements to the Relay platform, designed to revolutionize how frontline workers communicate and operate.

Our recent webinar showcases these new enhancements in action. Watch the recording to get insider knowledge on operational benefits, learn how other customers are benefiting from these additions, and hear our product experts answer common questions.

You’ll also learn:

How Relay’s breakthrough real-time speech-to-speech translation capabilities can widen your hiring pool, foster seamless communication, and elevate both guest and staff experiences.
How Rounds can streamline your team’s patrol schedules by eliminating manual checks, freeing up valuable time to focus on priority tasks.
Insights into how our advanced, customizable incident response features empower your frontline staff to tackle emergencies effectively, ensuring a tailored fit for your business’ unique needs.

The post Webinar: A Live Demo of Our Newest Enhancements appeared first on Relay.

A Guide to Indoor Location Tracking with Relay

Ibraheem Khalifa — Fri, 26 Apr 2024 15:17:56 +0000

Relay’s indoor location tracking capabilities leverage the best of real-time locating systems (RTLS) and indoor positioning systems (IPS) functionality to bring a high degree of precision and intelligence to your indoor spatial understanding without unnecessary complexity.

This guide will cover how Relay’s indoor location tracking works, installation options and best practices, and the value it can bring beyond employee safety.

The Impact Potential of Indoor Location Tracking

Indoor location tracking can be perceived as a tool only for security or compliance. However, Relay empowers operations beyond mere oversight. It’s designed to:

Provide a real-time view of live activities within your space whether that’s guard patrols, nursing rounds or janitorial work.
Offer actionable insights through analytics such as traffic patterns, usage trends, and potential bottlenecks. Enabling you to use data to analyze and improve your round coverage, frequency and staffing needs.
Enable rapid response with location-based alerting for everything from employee emergencies to equipment misplacement.

Different Types of Indoor Tracking

Before venturing into deployment, it’s crucial to understand the two primary methods for indoor tracking with Relay:

WiFi AP-Based Tracking: Leverage your existing wireless infrastructure, Wi-Fi AP-based tracking offers a broad view of location but with lower granularity. Updates are less frequent (every 30 to 60 seconds), which may suffice for general monitoring but can lack precision for certain applications.
BLE Beacon-Based Tracking: On the other hand, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons provide a more refined, granular approach with updates as frequent as every 15 to 30 seconds. Their range of coverage can be tailored to specific needs, making them ideal for detailed analytics or quick response requirements. It’s worth noting that some Wi-Fi Access Points (APs), including those from leading brands like Commscope Ruckus, Aruba, and Cisco, support BLE Beaconing capabilities. This integration means that organizations can leverage their existing Wi-Fi infrastructure to facilitate a BLE beacon-based tracking system, simplifying deployment and potentially reducing costs associated with purchasing separate beacon hardware.

The GPS Geofence vs. Indoor Location-Based Alerts

Geofence alerts work by creating a virtual boundary around a specific geographic area, triggering notifications or actions when a device enters or exits the area. This makes them incredibly useful for security, monitoring, and automation purposes.

Global Positioning System (GPS) geofences are excellent for outdoor areas but fall short in the indoor environment where precision, timing, and responsiveness are key. Indoor Location-Based Alerts, powered by Relay, ensure that you’re notified within seconds—rather than the potential 10-minute delay with GPS—providing invaluable operational agility in critical situations.

Common Misconceptions Around Indoor Location Tracking

Contrary to popular belief, deploying an indoor location tracking system doesn’t need to be a headache. Relay’s solution is streamlined and pragmatic, often commencing without the need for major IT intervention. There are a few prevalent myths that merit debunking:

Deployment Difficulty: In many cases, no drilling is required, and quick-to-adhere methods like 3M ensure efficiency with minimal visual impact. With low costs per beacon and extensive coverage, the overall deployment expense tends to be less than expected.
Network Strain: Relay’ indoor location tracking operates without significant data transport, whether it’s WI-FI scanning, beacon usage, or BLE from existing APs. In almost all cases your network can handle the load without problem.
Employee Safety is the Sole Benefit: While safety is paramount, operational benefits like tracking guard patrols with Rounds and detailed analytics for efficient space usage add layers of value beyond panic response.
Indoor Location Tracking Only Helps Managers: A common misconception is that indoor location tracking does not have that much value beyond panic alerts. In reality, Relay’s indoor location tracking system significantly aids staff by automating and optimizing their workflows. It liberates them from engaging in lower-value tasks like manual check-ins, searching for equipment and locations, or going up numerous flights of stairs to address a need that could be met by a closer employee, thus allowing them to concentrate on more critical activities. This not only enhances efficiency but also improves job satisfaction by reducing unnecessary stress and physical strain.

Indoor Location Tracking, Not Just a Trend

For businesses, the choice of indoor tracking system is one that should be made with foresight, focusing not just on the present needs but on scalability and versatility. With Relay’s indoor location tracking, you’re not just signing up for a tracking system—you’re investing in a comprehensive solution that can grow with your business and adapt to its changing demands.

If you have any questions or need further clarification on how Relay’s indoor location tracking capabilities can revolutionize your business, don’t hesitate to contact us.

The post A Guide to Indoor Location Tracking with Relay appeared first on Relay.

Rounds: Removing Manual Check-Ins for Security and Beyond

Jess Fischer — Thu, 18 Apr 2024 16:38:40 +0000

Tired of constantly checking in with your team to make sure they’ve completed their assigned rounds? Not only is this process tedious, it’s time consuming, an increase on your workload, and leaves plenty of room for human error.

Manual check-ins add an additional task to the already busy schedules of teams and their managers. They make it harder to stay vigilant and take away valuable time away from other important tasks, leading to delays and negatively impacting productivity and employee morale.

When security guards, housekeepers, or nurses forget to complete or record a check-in, it can lead to liability and safety concerns. Not to mention, difficult conversations when managers have to hold staff accountable.

The time and resources spent on manual check-ins should be redirected towards more value-added activities that contribute directly to the team’s goals and objectives. Organizations should consider implementing an automated check-in system that streamlines the process, ensures compliance, and minimizes the negative impact on teams.

Introducing Rounds

With Rounds, managers will be able to passively track scheduled rounds or patrols and automatically receive a notification when an employee has missed their rotation. This eliminates the need for manual entry with paper logs, QR codes, or NFC scans.

As teams carry Relay devices on their rounds, the Relay devices will pick up indoor location readings from our bluetooth indoor location beacons, which automatically marks the round as complete.

Relay users can then access all logs in Relay dashboard and can even receive a notification any time a round is missed.

How does Rounds work?

The first step is configuring Relay’s bluetooth indoor location beacons in each area staff needs to visit. Once these beacons are placed in each area, managers can configure the Rounds workflow in their Relay dashboard by noting the following:

Which Relay devices are responsible for making rounds?
How frequently does each room need to be visited?
If a round is missed, who would need to be notified?

Once everything is set up, staff can simply walk their rounds with their Relay device, and as they walk the established route, Relay devices scan for indoor locations in real time and complete rounds as they near a beacon. If a rotation is missed, users will receive a notification. All completions and misses are stored and accessible in the Relay dashboard.

“Rounds has made my life a lot easier. Now I don’t have to try to track down people to find out whether a patrol was done, what time it was done, and who was it done by. I can simply go on to the Relay dashboard and pull up the historical information. Whereas before everything was kind of estimated times.”
Rich O’Donnell, Director of Security, Raleigh Marriott City Center

Setting up Rounds in the Relay Dashboard

In Dash, navigate to Locations and choose Rounds. Click Create Rounds.

Name the Round (e.g. Security Patrol, Cleaning Rounds), and then select which group need to complete the Rounds and which group needs to be notified when a Round is missed.

Then, set the Primary interval of how often a location needs to be checked and choose which buildings, floors, and rooms need to be visited. The interval timer will start when the last Relay device has left the area.

Once the Rounds have been configured, users can view and edit the configuration within the View Configuration section in Relay’s dashboard.

To view Rounds data, go to the View Summary sections in Relay’s Dashboard to see a room-by-room number of completions and misses over a time period, or the View Logs section to review individual logs containing each completed or missed patrol, including who completed the patrol and the time at which it was completed or missed.

Virtual users set up as Notifiers will receive a notification in the Dashboard or on their phone from the Relay App any time a Round has been missed.

Rounds in Action

We checked in with Rich O’Donnell, Director of Security at The Raleigh Marriott City Center, who has been piloting Rounds at the hotel for six months. Before implementing Rounds, he relied on the honesty and integrity of his security officers to go out and do the required patrols he asked them to do. Now, Relay is keeping track of these rotations for him. Here’s what he had to say about the impact Rounds has had on his team.

“The Rounds feature is great because now as the officers walk the building, their location is tracked. I have the ability to set up mandatory patrols that I want done on a particular time basis. And if when those time intervals are hit, a patrol hasn’t been done, it sends an audible reminder to all of the security Relays, advising them that the patrol hasn’t been done yet. It gives them that gentle nudge that some people need to make sure that they go out and get those patrols taken care of.”

“The other thing it helps out with is when there’s a complaint of some kind, I can go in, pull up the historical records and go and see, ‘Hey, did somebody actually go up there to investigate when we had a report of a noise complaint on the floor’. I can pull it up and see. ‘Yeah, somebody was up there’. Rounds has definitely shortened the amount of time it takes for me to do some of those investigations. I’m able to pull up that information in moments compared to it taking me sometimes an hour to try and get in touch with the security officer that was here that night.”

“I would highly recommend it. I think it’s fantastic. It gives me the peace of mind to know that I can manage my team in a very time effective manner and that I’m getting accurate information that is super helpful and saves me a lot of time.”

Removing Manual Headaches

Now, frontline workers across industries can customize and automate the manual processes that keep them from focusing on the tasks that matter most.

Whatever your reason for making rounds, Relay can help upgrade your operations, improving team effectiveness all around. Employees feel good about keeping their focus on the work, not the process, while managers spend more time focusing on people instead of paperwork.

Check out all of our new enhancements here.

The post Rounds: Removing Manual Check-Ins for Security and Beyond appeared first on Relay.

New from Relay: Eliminate Language Barriers and Manual Security Processes

Jess Fischer — Tue, 26 Mar 2024 16:58:30 +0000

We’re excited to announce some major enhancements to the Relay platform! If you’re looking to level up your security team with automated location-tracked guard patrols and custom incident response protocols, then we’ve got you covered. Get ready to push your devices and teams further with new tracking, emergency response, and translation capabilities.

TeamTranslate™

Many Relay customers have multilingual staff, which can lead to miscommunications and frustrations. Even making it harder to hire and retain workers. Yet, most teams don’t have the resources to provide on-site translators or the time to use existing translation apps.

Relay’s TeamTranslate takes our existing translation capabilities to the next level. Users can now set 25+ different languages for a device to translate all messages in real-time across any Relay channel. This means teams can overcome language barriers with the tools they’re already using.

If an English speaker sends “I need help” to French, Spanish, and Mandarin users, they will hear the English message, immediately followed by the translation into French, Spanish, or Mandarin.

Here’s a preview:

TeamTranslate is available as an add-on fee for any Relay plan. Learn more

Rounds

Gone are the days of paper logs and manual check-ins. With the launch of Rounds, you’ll be able to passively track scheduled rounds or patrols and automatically receive a notification when your employee has missed their rotation. Whether you lead a team of security guards, housekeepers, or nurses, this feature will alert you when a location has been missed within a designated amount of time, set by you.

Not only does Rounds help make sure your property is secure, it also allows you to stay in compliance when it comes to keeping areas such as casino floors staffed. This brand new solution uses indoor location readings from our Relay beacons to automatically mark rounds complete and record them in your Relay dashboard.

As long as your staff members are in possession of their Relay devices, they can make their rounds without any extra steps. It’s that easy!

Advanced Incident Response Capabilities

Emergency situations can be scary and stressful, and we want to enable our customers to handle them as quickly and efficiently as possible, in a way that works best for their specific business needs. Launching these advanced incident response capabilities will better prepare staff and streamline their reactions.

We’re updating our incident response capabilities, allowing you to further customize who needs to be aware of emergency situations and how they can respond. Now you’ll be able to:

Dispatch incident alerts directly from the Relay dashboard or mobile app
Create and name custom codes based on your phrasing preference
Customize who needs to be aware of the incident vs who can respond

How do I get these features?

There are a few ways to gain access to these exciting new features. Most require your team to have an upgraded subscription plan. Reach out to your Customer Success Manager for more information on how to access these new features or to upgrade your account. New to Relay? You can still get in touch using the button below.

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Understanding Employee Safety Device Mandates

Relay — Thu, 11 Aug 2022 18:19:00 +0000

Download a PDF of this presentation

During this webinar we will be covering:

Employee Safety Device / Panic Button Overview
How Does Relay’s Panic Solution Work?
Breakdown of Current Mandates
Implementing a Solution On Your Property
Interactive Q&A

Employee safety is a top priority, but actual requirements can be confusing and expensive. Relay isn’t just a better walkie-talkie for hotels – it’s also the fastest growing Employee Safety Device in hospitality. Relay connects workers and empowers them through the use of a panic button and a completely connected cellular network. Used by some of the biggest brands in the world, Relay is compliant, affordable, and efficient, as well as an easy-to-deploy, flexible panic button. Best yet, it’s also an elevated communications solution, so you’re combining two critical line items into one (with better value).

About our host: Tim Rogers (trogers@relaypro.com) is a Business Development Executive with Relay, using his 18 years in the hospitality industry to help provide technology to the frontline workforce. Tim earned his BSBA in Hospitality Management from the University of Southern Mississippi and has worked for major hotel brands such as Marriott, Hilton and IHG. Tim believes there has been a major disconnect with technology advancement for the “boots on the ground” workforce, in which Relay is stepping in to help bridge that gap.

The post Understanding Employee Safety Device Mandates appeared first on Relay.

Could Upgrading Your Employee Safety Tech Help Solve The Hotel Labor Shortage

Relay — Tue, 15 Feb 2022 15:32:00 +0000

Last fall we released results of a survey we conducted with fascinating results: Almost 50% of workers polled said they would consider quitting their jobs for better, safer workplace communication technology. In fact, if we had to distill the survey results to a single takeaway, here’s what it would be. Survey takeaway: All the employee incentives in the world won’t matter if your staff hates your current walkie-talkies.

Before we take on the way you’ll keep your staff happy and hopefully avoid losing more hotel staff in the future if you upgrade your associate alert devices, let’s take a bit of a deeper dive into the turnover rate that always existed in the hospitality industry.

High turnover in the hospitality industry is nothing new

In March 2020 4hoteliers.com ran an article called Why Does the Hospitality Industry Have Such High Turnover? The author of the article shared some startling statistics including claims that the hospitality industry holds a turnover rate of almost 74% which is significantly higher than the national average of 10%-15%. As the Great Resignation rages on, MSN reported that the U.S. is still missing roughly 5 million pre-pandemic jobs. And while better pay and incentives are considered ways to lure staff back to your properties, it isn’t the only option offered.

Beyond emerging from the pandemic and back to better business, it’s important to understand the high turnover before it can be remedied.

Why don’t hotel staffers stick around?

The hotel industry is often seasonal. While some properties operate year round, others are staffed to accommodate ski season or an extended summer break. It makes sense that staffers might move around from property to property and even on to competitors offering better incentives.

Improved employee safety technology = happier and more loyal staff

As evidenced in the results of our survey, staffers demand better tech to stay at their current jobs. More than that, everyone from the housekeeping to kitchen and restaurant staff want and need to feel safe at work.

In an era of mandated walkie talkies, your property has to provide staffers the best devices and experience possible. If you don’t, they’ll seek employment at hotels that are committed to protecting staffers while keeping them connected.

At Relay, we’re proud that our devices connect distanced workers and empower them through the use of a panic button and a completely connected cellular network. Contact us to find out how to empower your staff and clientele through connectivity with a device that alerts anyone to potential danger.

Updating your safety tech will keep staffers loyal

While upgrading your walkie talkie system isn’t the only way to keep your staff happy, it is a major priority for them – and therefore should be a major priority for you.

Last year, Karen Fichuk, CEO of temp and staffing agency Randstad North America, said in a media report that “the COVID-19 pandemic has had the most significant impact on the labor market since the Great Depression.” In discussing job recovery efforts, Fichuk also said “The pandemic has exposed deep-rooted vulnerabilities to the workforce and has underscored the need for policies that will promote a fair and even recovery.” And the way to counter vulnerabilities felt by frontline workers is to empower them with agile, easy to use walkie talkies and safety technology that makes them feel less vulnerable.

5 ways to improve employee safety technology at hotels

It isn’t enough to simply place an associate alert device in a housekeeper’s hand and wish them well. To ensure that your staff knows you’re committed to their safety and wellbeing, you have to improve the technology that keeps guests and staffers safe.

Don’t go for flashy or expensive tech upgrades before you understand what staffers need most.

Here are a few great ways to start:

Address critical upgrades first. Don’t go for flashy or expensive tech upgrades before you understand what staffers need most. Ask your CTO to compile a list of staffers favorite tech products and the ones that they hate. If needed, create a staff focus group for them to share wish lists of tech products.
Always follow protocol. Even if you pride yourself on being a family business, you’ll have to stringently keep to the law and all new updates and mandates. There’s nothing cute about asking staffers to share a walkie talkie if your state mandates one walkie per staffer. This isn’t the place to save money either.
Prioritize spending. We can’t stress enough how important it is to keep updating your planning budget. And as more properties add in fully digital hotel capabilities, you need to keep up without looking insecure. If it helps, don’t draw up your entire year’s budget until you’re sure of how post-pandemic travel will affect your bottom line and then budget and spend accordingly.
Don’t cheap out on panic buttons. You don’t have to spend a fortune to get the best associate alert devices possible. What you do have to do though is invest in products that will empower your staff without overwhelming them. To keep staffers loyal and to attract new employees, you need to remind them how important each and every one of them is. And that means taking the time to understand and address their concerns. And because you can’t accompany every staffer to every area of the hotel and property daily, their walkie talkie reassures them that they’re safer and accounted for.
Train your staff vigorously. In addition to budgeting for actual hardware, you’ll need to budget for training sessions. What good is the latest touch free check in system if staffers have no idea of how to help guests who become stuck in the process? Your goal of keeping employees on staff by switching to the newest safety technology will fail if there’s no response system in place.

The post Could Upgrading Your Employee Safety Tech Help Solve The Hotel Labor Shortage appeared first on Relay.

How is Technology Innovation Addressing Real World Hospitality Challenges?

Relay — Tue, 08 Feb 2022 17:12:00 +0000

Love them or hate them, panic buttons are here to stay. And as it turns out, these state of the art associate alert devices are undoubtedly the most innovative everyday use technology to hit the hospitality industry in decades. But as hotels brace for what many experts predict will be an extremely busy year, it’s important to address some challenges and tech solutions.

Your guests expect top-notch technology to drive their stay

It’s not just because of the nationwide mandates requiring that hotels provide panic buttons for worker safety. Guests at hotels expect the technology that’s visible on staff to be updated, upgraded and state of the art. And that’s just part of the ways your guests will expect more from the way you operate your property.

In today’s hotel tech race, you can’t just add cool walkie talkies or a single new element to your offerings and assume you’ll be lauded as an innovative property. With digital hotels the expectation and not the exception to the rule, smart hoteliers will embrace tech innovations to remain relevant. And as daunting as it may seem, your property will have to keep upgrading as new products become available.

Expectations vs. reality

To properly address the challenges of running a digital hotel, casino, or golf club, you have to first assess your guests’ preconceived notions. That might involve fine-tuning your marketing to determine who your brand appeals to right now. Will you be courting the expected onslaught of overseas travelers (with a higher than ever expectation of visitors from the Far East) or will business travelers be your focus now? Or maybe you’ll move from the classic room model to long-stay suites for digital nomads looking for a home (office) away from home in your hotel.

As you work through that targeting, you’ll also have to determine which upgrades are critical vs. those that are affordable, easy to roll out and use vs. what might be considered more of a vanity or unnecessary upgrade.

Your CTO will likely create a multi-pronged approach to create an updated tech plan. They’ll also be challenged with finding ways to support your bottom line while surpassing guests’ expectations for a connected state of the art experience. Or at least that should be the plan.

Having the latest widget or software is all well and good in theory; in practice every new bit of tech innovation has to improve the guest experience to validate your investment.

Use technology to help create a more meaningful guest experience

Having the latest widget or software is all well and good in theory; in practice every new bit of tech innovation has to improve the guest experience to validate your investment. And no pressure here, it should also be good enough for them to share on social media or with friends, families and colleagues. And if it isn’t, you should be working on a drastic makeover.

While many properties were shuttered during the worst of the pandemic, the Kimpton Surfcomber in South Beach underwent a massive makeover. Most interesting is the fact that instead of improving the business center, they eliminated it entirely. They anticipated that in an effort to social distance, more guests would work from their rooms or even poolside.

As reported in Skift, the Surfcomber also boosted wi-fi in the backyard area and cabanas. Tech, furniture and fixtures were updated with the understanding that guests would be using these former lounge spaces as their personal offices.

Improve cyber security

It will be impossible to ignore the fact that the return of travel — and remote work at hotels — will likely result in an increase in physical and cyber crimes. With most hotels having leaner staffs, it will be critical to create state of the art systems that monitor every element of guest and staff experiences.

In March 2021 the FBI released their 2020 Internet Crime Report which was incredibly sobering. The report included 791,790 instances of suspected internet crime, an increase of more than 300,000 complaints from the previous report.

As you take your hotel more fully into the digital realm, it’s urgent to prioritize your cyber strategy to boost guest confidence. As you create and implement cyber deterrence plans, you should also create ways to share that information with guests, even as you reassure them that their personal information is protected.

Improve personal security

We started this post by talking about panic buttons, and it seems appropriate to end off by discussing panic buttons as well.

High tech/high touch has always been a desired outcome, even more so in the hospitality industry. And as your property moves to fully tech driven details including keyless door locks and self-serve check-in and check-out, your housekeeping staff may find themselves feeling more isolated than ever.

Outfitting your frontline workers and housekeeping staff with panic buttons should be as painless a process as possible. It also empowers staff and reassures guests that you both value and protect your staff and guests.

The post How is Technology Innovation Addressing Real World Hospitality Challenges? appeared first on Relay.