Black Tower Security Services is a full-service security and protection firm in British Columbia that needs to manage staff scheduling for 50 to 200 staff throughout Canada, the United States, and overseas. Personnel must have\u2014and schedulers must know about\u2014a wide variety of specialized training and experience with canines for explosives, weapons and narcotics detection, in executive bodyguard work, and in firearms.<\/p>\n
The security business is 24\/7, and its shift work scheduling\u201412-hour shifts of four days on and three days off, or 8-hour shifts of five days on\u2014is determined by customer, not provider.<\/p>\n
The predecessor to Director of Operations for Alberta and British Columbia Jason Torgasows had tried to manage staff scheduling for all the countries, sites, skill-sets, and changing shifts using just pen and paper.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t see how work schedules can be done like that,\u201d says Torgasows, \u201cbut he went through a lot of paper.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs soon as our GM saw that method of employee scheduling, he knew it was ridiculous and bought shift scheduling software. But our first program\u2014by [company name removed]\u2014needed a key-chip to be put into the computer. It seemed not designed for shift management. Its features were annoying to figure out and it was aggravating just trying to use it. And [company name removed] wouldn\u2019t return our calls.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen we bought Snap Schedule,\u201d Torgasows reports. \u201cIt was a breeze. It downloaded and installed easily. Setup was fast. And it\u2019s easy to use. You can download it, try it out on your own needs, then buy it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Torgasows likes Snap Schedule\u2019s ease of extending shifts into the future, using the program\u2019s visually obvious cut-and-paste features. \u201cIt\u2019s just drag-and-drop scheduling,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cSnap Schedule\u2019s easy entry and deletion of staff is a big plus because staff turnover and fluctuating workload is expected in the security and protection industry,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s easy to insert a person\u2019s photo into their employee record, and there\u2019s lots of room for individual training and certifications\u2014another big plus when you shift-schedule security professionals.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt tracks whenever people shift scheduling around on us. We use different colors to track absentees. I look for black squares and if there are too many, I get inquisitive. It helps me organize time-off scheduling, too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Black Tower executives and the payroll department have clearer, faster and more fully verifiable knowledge of their work force scheduling than ever before. Torgasows fills this need by printing out a wide variety of Snap Schedule work reports\u2014past, present and future\u2014and emailing them.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know instantly where our team members are just by looking at the screen\u2014not flipping through a hundred pages of paper. I can see overtime situations easily. It\u2019s almost impossible to overlook a commitment. Also, if there\u2019s ever any question about coverage, you can show your shift and rotation scheduling for any date and location.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd,\u201d he adds, \u201cwhen I call Snap Schedule for support, I get it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"