Our Vendor Network

Since 2006, we have been building our technology platform to make security management as efficient as possible while cultivating a company based on service excellence. We have sought out vendors that repeatedly perform at high-quality service levels and reward them with more opportunities for work whenever possible. For many of our vendors, Protos is their largest client, and our work is mutually beneficial. Plus, they know that we have multiple vendor options in each region, so they give Protos the most competitive pricing to pass along to our clients.

Our vendors are small to regional service providers, typically founded by former police or military. As entrepreneurs, they thrive by their business succeeding and they have vast experience with leadership across the spectrum of security. Like Protos, they have a vested interest in making sure clients are not only happy but are being heard and understood. Unlike Protos, though, many small security guarding companies do not have the administrative overhead to effectively track time/attendance and incident reporting. This is where Protos’ comprehensive cloud-based platform elevates their service capabilities with features such as electronic work orders, timekeeping and incident reporting. We can monitor every post in real-time and accurately compile performance data using our platform. This provides the best possible combination of a local entrepreneurial spirit, backed by Protos’ ability to focus on creating the best technology solution.

As many of our clients have discovered, we can match the best security vendor to the client’s unique needs. We also don’t need to establish a new local presence or hire more officers to expand service, so we have the ability to staff posts faster than even our largest competitors. In the unlikely but possible event that a vendor’s performance falls short, clients have the benefit of leveraging the breadth of the Protos network and request that a vendor be replaced – if we haven’t already identified the issue and replaced the vendor before this need comes to pass. Backed by our industry-leading technology and innovation, clients receive a standardized program with full transparency, real-time updates, improved visibility and to–the–minute billing. These factors, along with our client-centric service first culture, places us heads above our competition in meeting – and often exceeding – client needs.

Our software provides incentives for quality work, both at the officer and vendor levels. One example is the way we track time, including clocking in/out and arriving as scheduled. Officers are incentivized to arrive on time because our technology ensures that they only clock in when they are within a close radius of the client site and their pay is based on this. Unlike many of our competitors, we bill for the actual minutes worked instead of the projections. Our vendors are incentivized to ensure their officers are providing the best possible service because they know that we have a large network and could replace the officer or vendor if needed.

We believe punctuality is proportional to quality, and a vendor with strong management skills will often have a high success rate in ensuring officers arrive at their post on time, among other key metrics regularly tracked. As the status of every Protos post is tracked in real-time, Protos’ Service team is able to leverage the metrics and KPI’s generated within the Protos software package (including tardy alerts, early clock outs and the number of incident reports) and regularly follow up with vendors in order to bring performance and scheduling issues to light. Minor vendor course corrections are encouraged, however the option of swapping out a vendor before an issue becomes a problem, is always available.

Client feedback is often solicited by Protos’ quality assurance (QA) specialists. The results of these QA inquiries are immediately passed to the Protos Service team, the Vendor Relations Management (VRM) team and the vendors themselves. Regarding the VRM team, each vendor in the Protos network is assigned a Vendor Relationship Manager, whose goal is to ensure their assigned vendors are ready to accept new assignments and are growing and structuring their operations in order to accept larger assignments. The VRM team regularly reviews KPI performance trends and client feedback directly with each vendor. If needed, action plans to resolve and improve are addressed and always followed up on. As a result, our vendors have a clear understanding of their performance levels and service quality trends.

This constant stream of feedback is part of the ongoing evaluation of our security vendors and is why high-quality guarding companies work hard to remain a valuable vendor with Protos.

Protos has strict standards for which vendor applicants are accepted into the vendor network. New vendors must be licensed guarding companies (if operating in a state which regulates guarding companies). As the company of record, we are required to have their license information on file. Our system will alert us to upcoming license expirations which, in turn, leads us to work closely with our vendors to ensure their license is renewed. Drug screening is taken very seriously at Protos. Applying vendors must perform pre-employment drug screenings and background checks, have a program for ongoing random drug testing and agree to not subcontract security personnel from another company who may not be as diligent as we require.

To ensure that vendors maintain insurance policies that meet our mandatory minimum requirements, Protos tracks the expiration dates of certificates of insurance for all vendors. Expiration reminders are automatically generated prior to the expiration. If the vendor does not forward a replacement COI, our system alerts us and we reach out to the vendor in order to obtain the needed update. Pre-onboarding online searches, such as Google, social media and licensing status changes yield valuable information on a vendor company or its owners.  Performing such searches regularly allows Protos to identify red flags about the company as well as its principal leaders. Once in our network, vendors must perform at or above expectations and continually meet our strict compliance requirements, in order to remain active and in good standing.

Because Protos takes on the enforcement of license and insurance along with performing regular quality assurance tests, we can ensure the quality of security coverage for our clients is top notch, thereby limiting client risk in hiring new providers.

Protos Security has strict standards for who we use as vendors. At a minimum, our vendors must: 

1. Be a licensed guarding company (if operating in a state which regulates guarding companies). 

2. Perform pre-employment drug screenings and pre-employment background checks. 

3. Have a program for ongoing random drug testing. 

4. Not subcontract security personnel from another company. 

To learn about our vendor network and the requirements for joining, visit our vendor network information page.