Effective scheduling can make or break your security guard company. Use one of our top 8 security guard scheduling apps and take your business to the next level.
Having trouble juggling multiple sites, shifts, rotations and people?
Security guard scheduling is a minefield, and that’s before we get to the personnel themselves: making sure you schedule the more experienced security guards with less experienced staff, or allowing time for training.
And, if you’re still using pen and paper to record your schedules and shifts, then things will get out of hand, quicker than you can imagine.
You’re in the right place if scheduling has you pulling your hair out: we’ve rounded up the best security guard scheduling software on the market, including free plans, free trials and more…so you can get back to doing what matters most, and let the admin become someone else’s headache!
If you don’t have the time to read through our research, jump down to our quick comparison table.
Our Top Picks
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Best all-in-one security guard scheduling software automated to organize shifts.
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Drag & drop or copy and edit scheduling from any previous week.
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Provides shift details alongside each shift assignment, to keep everyone informed.
What to Look For in a Security Guard Scheduling Software Solution
Whether you’re just starting your own security guard business or you’ve been in business for decades, the benefits of security guard scheduling software is timeless. That is of course, if you’re choosing one that can scale as your company grows, and is performing the most important services that make a security scheduling software, worth while:
- GPS location tracking: Have peace of mind that your staff are where they should be.
- Geofencing: Ensure staff is clocking in from the specific location they should be at and not a minute earlier.
- In-app chat: For communication when things don’t go according to plan.
- Checklists and forms: For compliance and in case incidents need to be reported.
The 8 Best Security Guard Scheduling Software Solutions of 2023
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Connecteam — Best: All-in-one security guard scheduling software solution.
Kicking off our list is Connecteam’s all-in-one employee scheduling app. It gives you everything you need to easily create, manage, and share bulletproof schedules, even while on the go.
Let’s take a look at Connecteam’s scheduling features and how they simplify your day-to-day.
Time-saving tools
Aside from creating single or multiple shifts, you can save time by simply copying or duplicating existing ones, setting shifts as recurring, and using customizable templates you can drag and drop right into your calendar view.
Assign shifts based on each security guard’s registered qualifications and submitted availability to always have the right people for the job. You can also publish open shifts for eligible users to claim or enable users to swap shifts with other available and qualified team members.
Error flagging
The app helps avoid costly scheduling mistakes by highlighting conflicts and inconsistencies. It will, for instance, flag when a security guard is double-booked or their working hours exceed your set overtime limit.
Did You Know?Connecteam integrates with Google Calendar so your employees can transfer their shifts right from the app into their personal calendars on their phones.
Shift instructions
Add information or instructions to each shift, such as location, notes, tasks, and attachments, putting all the information your personnel needs to perform their job at their fingertips. This eliminates unclarity and unnecessary back-and-forth and streamlines your processes.
Notifications
Customizable notifications ensure you and your security officers never miss any scheduling updates, changes, or requests. You can, for instance, set instant notifications for when users accept or reject shifts, complete shift tasks, or don’t check into their shifts on time. This allows you to stay informed and take immediate action when necessary.
GPS time clock
Your crew can easily clock in and out from shifts right from the app. This allows you to track and record your employees’ work hours as well as the time spent on any specific jobs or clients onto digital timesheets.
The GPS tracking capabilities further allow you to ensure your security guards are exactly where they need to be while on the clock.
In-app chat
With Connecteam’s in-app chat, you and your security guards maintain a direct line of communication. Reach all the right people in private, group, or company-wide chats and ensure your messages come across successfully with read receipts.
And so much more…
In addition, Connecteam offers excellent customer service, a user-friendly interface, robust employee management tools, and full customizability, allowing you to adjust the platform to suit your exact needs.
Connecteam also offers a free for life plan – Get Started Now!
Key Features
Scheduling conflict alerts
Shift attachments with notes, images, videos, GIFS, and more
Get digital incident reports and summaries
Pros
Incredibly affordable
Can be deployed in under 2 minutes
Super easy and intuitive to use
Great and highly responsive customer service
Cons
Free plan available for up to 10 users only
Pricing
Free-for-life plan availablePremium plans start at $29/month for 30 users
Have All Your Security Guard Scheduling Needs in One Centralized Place!
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QuickBooks Time — Good for: Reusing a schedule from a previous week.
Available on
- Web
- iOS
- Android
- Windows
- Mac
QuickBooks Time is a super efficient security guard scheduling software with one huge catch: the price. While it will save you hours when you need to create a working and efficient schedule, it does so at a pretty high cost. You can create or modify the perfect work schedule with drag & drop, add, edit or delete schedules from your phone, send schedule changes to your employee’s mobile phone, copy last week’s schedule, schedule by the job instead of shift if relevant.
Now, QuickBooks Time isn’t the easiest software to use so they help you set your account up and train your employees on how to use it best. A big selling point is that QuickBooks Time can integrate with many solutions like QuickBooks, Xero, Gusto, Wagepoint, Salesforce, and more.
But…there’s no free plan, although there is a 30-day free trial. As far as security rostering software goes, we think it could do more for your money.
For Whom?
For teams looking to get a hold of their scheduling across sites, jobs and more.
Learn more about QuickBooks TimeKey Features
- Mobile app available
- Desktop version available
- Wide-range of integrations
Pros
- Mobile-friendly app
- Easy payroll integration
- Overtime monitoring
Cons
- Very expensive
Pricing
Starts at $20/month + $10/user/month Trial: Yes — 30-day Free Plan: No
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TrackTik — Good for: Providing shift details alongside each shift assignment.
Available on
- Web
- iOS
- Android
- Windows
- Mac
One of our favorite security guard scheduling apps, built just for that purpose, TrackTik has mobile and cloud-based software, suiting every type of security guard and their preferences.
We really liked the Guarding Suite, which allows you to manage your operations digitally, as well as the Mobile+ Suite, which is a great way to assign, track and dispatch whoever needs to be where, giving them most of the details they need to know (and it’s great for timekeeping too!). There’s not a lot you need to operate it, other than a device, and it’s available as an Android and iOS app.
But – and it’s a big ‘but’ – you need a license to use the app, and only one guard can log in to the device in use at any one time, so although it’s a purpose-built platform, it might not be the most suitable or best security guard scheduling app for you if you have more than one guard on patrol at once.
For Whom?
For smaller or newly-started security companies, looking for an app built just for them.
Learn more about TrackTikKey Features
- Real-time report creation
- Automated scheduling
- Invoicing integration
Pros
- Built by and for security guards
- Constantly updated
Cons
- Very clunky software
Pricing
Contact vendor for price Trial: Yes — 30-day Free Plan: No
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Hubstaff — Good for: Tracking work hours.
Available on
- Web
- iOS
- Android
- Windows
- Mac
Although Hubstaff isn’t strictly a security scheduling software, it can be adapted to become one.
For one thing, it has a nice set of apps for desktop, web and mobile, as well as some cool functions for online timesheets, time tracking and reporting.
Yet, if you’re looking for the flexibility of reporting and automation, then Hubstaff might not be the best security guard scheduling app for you, as it’s more geared towards productivity than actual deskless workers. That and, it’s a rather pricey alternative to the rest of the apps on our list that do much more for your security scheduling software, for a lower monthly price tag.
For Whom?
Desk-based team managers looking to ensure all team members are on track, via app and URL-tracking, but also want some side integrations and capabilities (such as time tracking) for delegation and administrative purposes.
Learn more about HubstaffKey Features
- Online timesheets
- Employee monitoring
- Online time tracking
- GPS tracking
- Online invoicing
Pros
- Lots of useful features available
- Some limited scheduling capabilities
- Free plan available for 1 user
Cons
- Geared towards productivity
Pricing
Starts at $4.99/user/month, 2 users minimum Trial: Yes — 14-day Free Plan: Yes — For one user only
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Humanity — Good for: Shift scheduling.
Available on
- Web
- iOS
- Android
Humanity is a security rostering software solution, for one thing, and one thing only: shift scheduling. It’s pretty dynamic, including the ability to let your employees clock in from a certain geofenced-location, as well as allowing employees to shift swap if necessary.
Although it’s got everything you need for basic shift scheduling and deployment, it doesn’t do much more than that: there are no extra abilities (such as the ability to add shift notes, or attach documents, set checklists and forms etc), nor does it allow for other capabilities (such as having a document library – for incident report forms, for example – or onboarding), Still, it looks good and is pretty intuitive, so it makes our list of the best security guard scheduling apps, but in practice, it might be a little more tricky to use should something go sideways in the field.
For Whom?
For managers looking for a very basic scheduling solution, for teams that don’t plan on encountering crises during their shifts.
Learn more about HumanityKey Features
- Employee scheduling
- Employee timesheets
Pros
- Desktop and mobile app
- Mobile staff and shift scheduling
Cons
- No other features to help scale your business
Pricing
Contact vendor for price Trial: Yes Free Plan: No
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Homebase — Good for: Drag & drop team scheduling.
Available on
- Web
- iOS
- Android
Homebase’s security scheduling software features include drag & drop team scheduling, schedule from anywhere and from any device, copy over last week’s shift schedule or use automatic scheduling, shift trades, send schedules to an employee’s phone, track time off and availability, forecast labor costs, and so much more.
Homebase can integrate with any solutions such as Clover, Square, Toast, Upserve, and more.
Price:
Pricing starts at $19.95/month/per location for unlimited employees. A single location for unlimited employees is free to use.
- Free trial: Technically, yes. You can get a free All-Access Pass to their Plus plan (the top plan) for 14 days.
- Free-forever plan: yes, for 1 location.
For Whom?
Managers looking to track deskless employees across locations, communicate with them and (at the highest level plans) provide them with documentation.
Learn more about HomebaseKey Features
- Scheduling
- Time clock
- Hiring and onboarding
Pros
- Clean interface
- Mobile app for iOS and Android
Cons
- No customs settings or time conflicts
- No geofencing for clock in
Pricing
Starts at $20/location/month Trial: Yes — 14-day Free Plan: Yes — For a single location & up to 20 employees
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Deputy — Good for: Finding last-minute replacements.
Available on
- Web
- iOS
- Android
With Deputy’s security guard scheduling software, you can quickly schedule security staff, gain accurate timesheets and find last-minute replacements at the tap of a button. To get the most out of your team, you can schedule your employees to match the budget and team availability, send work details to their mobile phones and quickly find qualified staff when needed.
Create new shifts instantly, drag & drop existing schedules, build a custom schedule template or auto-scheduling, schedule meal and rest breaks, allow for shift swaps, and more. Now, the other thing to know about Deputy is that it isn’t the easiest software to use. The Deputy team will ask for your pen and paper timesheets and scheduling ahead of time so they can customize the software for you and you can start to onboard your team.
For Whom?
For managers of teams who have been using pen and paper, but who have the luxury of time to help the Deputy team in crossing over to the digital world of scheduling.
You might also want to read our in-depth review of the best employee online scheduling apps
Learn more about DeputyKey Features
- Scheduling
- Time tracking
- Time clock
Pros
- Unlimited shifts p/month
- Auto-scheduling
Cons
- No mobile clock-in with geofencing
- No free plan
Pricing
Starts at $3.5/user/month, for Scheduling or Time & Attendance Trial: Yes — 31-day Free Plan: No
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Snap Schedule 365 — Good for: Keeping track of qualifications.
Available on
- Web
- iOS
- Android
Snap Schedule is a security guard scheduling software that allows you to schedule from anywhere, easily locate employees, keep track of your team’s qualifications, reports for accurate payroll and contract invoicing, and more.
It’s scheduling features include drag-and-drop or auto-generate shift schedules, tasks and breaks scheduled in, time clock and attendance, time off requests, automated shift callouts, labor cost control, schedule by skills/positions, and more.
For Whom?
For teams who have been using manual scheduling so far, and who have the time and money to invest in a software solution for just scheduling.
You can also read our best work schedule makers review
Learn more about Snap Schedule 365Key Features
- Scheduling across locations
- Best fit employee placement
- Time tracking
Pros
- Very in-depth solution
- A lot of subfeatures for scheduling
Cons
- Incredibly expensive
Pricing
Starts at $450/year for 1 scheduler + $36/year for every 5 users Trial: Yes — 30-day Free Plan: No
Compare the Best Security Guard Scheduling Software Solutions
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Start for free
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| Reviews |
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| Pricing |
Starts at just $29/month for the first 30 users
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Starts at $20/month + $10/user/month
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Contact vendor for price
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Starts at $4.99/user/month, 2 users minimum
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Contact vendor for price
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Starts at $20/location/month
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Starts at $3.5/user/month, for Scheduling or Time & Attendance
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Starts at $450/year for 1 scheduler + $36/year for every 5 users
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yes
14-day
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yes
30-day
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yes
30-day
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yes
14-day
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yes
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14-day
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31-day
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yes
30-day
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| Free Plan |
yes
Free Up to 10 users
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yes
For one user only
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yes
For a single location & up to 20 employees
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no
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no
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What Is Security Guard Scheduling Software?
Also known as a security rostering software, security guard scheduling software is an automated tool that maximizes time and employee availability into an organized schedule. By hourly shifts or any other self specified time frame, you can assign shifts and have employees claim them through the mobile device or over the desktop. It alerts you of overtime or employees that are absent, to solidify a schedule that works for everyone and according to legal guidelines. After all of this management is done, this, in turn, becomes a timesheet you can have as a future reference or even as a template to make similar plans in the future.
How Does Security Guard Scheduling Software Work?
The actual setup of any security rostering software should look alike. It will allow you to personalize the settings as much as the software allows, and then it’s onto the actual scheduling itself.
Before you do anything else, you’ll first set up your schedule template. Depending on the software itself, it will either provide you with a ready-made template, will give you the option to make your own from scratch, or both. Once this is decided, you can choose how you’d like to organize it (i.e., per employee, per location, per event).
This will send employees a notification where they are able to view what the day, week, or even month looks like for them (this is all based on how much in advance you set everything up). As time goes on and things need to be changed or slightly altered, you can see who can be an alternate or what another time slot would work for that specific employee. This is all done seamlessly and with minimal back and forth.
The Benefits Of Using Security Guard Scheduling Software
Optimized Security Coverage
Security guard scheduling software can help businesses ensure that their premises have the right coverage at all times. By considering the size of a facility, activity patterns, and the availability of each security personnel, managers can quickly create an optimized schedule that meets their needs – without having to manually juggle multiple rosters and spreadsheets.
Improved Visibility and Accountability
Security guard scheduling software also provides enhanced visibility into who is working when. Managers are able to easily monitor staff attendance and whereabouts with real-time access to effective duty logs and assignment histories. This helps to ensure that staff members are held accountable for their shifts and that any suspicious behavior is promptly detected.
Lower Scheduling Overhead
Using security guard scheduling software significantly lowers the overhead associated with manual scheduling processes. By automating complex calculations related to leave and overtime costs, managers can reduce labor expenses while ensuring sufficient coverage for all shifts. Furthermore, this approach can help organizations meet compliance regulations more effectively by ensuring that labor rules are accurately followed over time.
Real-Time Monitoring
Security guard scheduling software helps to facilitate real-time monitoring of on-duty staff. By providing supervisors with access to the latest roster information and duty logs, they can instantly assess situations as they arise and take the necessary actions in a timely manner.
Improved Communication
Good communication is essential for any security team. Security guard scheduling solutions provide teams with powerful tools for communicating effectively during their shift changes – from broadcasting notifications to supervisors about late arrivals, to setting up group chat sessions amongst security personnel when needed.
Compatibility With Existing Systems
Finally, many security guard scheduling software solutions are designed with compatibility in mind. They have built-in integrations that allow them to be quickly connected with existing systems such as payroll and attendance tracking services. This ensures that data is easily shared between different platforms, eliminating the need for double entry or manual updates.
How Much Does Security Guard Scheduling Software Cost?
The cost of security guard scheduling software will vary depending on the features and capabilities you require. Generally speaking, it can range from as little as a few hundred dollars to several thousand – and even more for more complex systems. It’s important to remember that the overall savings usually offset these costs in labor costs associated with manual scheduling processes.
When selecting security guard scheduling software, it is important to keep in mind that different vendors may charge different prices based on a variety of factors, such as the number of users, country or region, and integration options. You’ll want to make sure that you look at all available options before making a purchasing decision so that you can get the best value for your money.
Connecteam charges a set fee of $29 per month for the first 30 users and even includes a 100% free plan for small businesses with up to 10 employees. Connecteam is the right choice for a flexible yet powerful security guard scheduling software that can grow with your business while providing the best possible value for your money.
FAQs
Which shift style best suits security guard businesses?
When it comes to shift styles that are best suited for security guard businesses, there is no one-size-fits-all answer. However, some of the most popular and effective shift style models used by many security guard companies include 8-hour shifts, 12-hour shifts, split shifts, and rotating shifts. Each model has its own advantages, depending on the needs of the security team and their clients.
Eight-hour shifts offer security guards a consistent daily schedule with predictable hours. They also reduce fatigue by providing consistent rest periods, which can help improve concentration during long periods of surveillance or active duty.
Twelve-hour shifts provide greater flexibility than 8-hour shifts because they allow companies to reduce headcount without sacrificing coverage levels. These extended shifts can also motivate employees by offering more time off throughout the year in return for longer hours worked at a time.
Does Google have a free security guard scheduling software tool?
No. Google has a system called Google Workspace Marketplace, but it doesn’t have anything specific to security guard industries.
The Bottom Line On Security Guard Scheduling Software Solution
Scheduling for security companies can be complicated when there are so many factors to consider, so finding any way to make it simpler and a lot more efficient should be goal number one.
Connecteam is the best security guard scheduling software with its all-in-one approach to employee management and affordable pricing. The ability to have everything in one place and fully customizable is what makes Connecteams so applicable to all security guard businesses. Try it out, and you’ll see.