Key chase and site-look reminders for security firms
Quick summary
- You are already on an alarm. The key list and the missed site looks still have to be chased.
- The list is a named site, a visit reminder, or a key chase. Not a second opinion on a route.
- Every call starts with the site and the name on the file. If they do not recognise them, the call stops.
- It does not say where the van is. Missing keys are a yes or no. What those keys still open is a callback.
- If they ask what time the patrol passes, the assistant writes the question down and says the desk will look at the radio.
- SMS does the first reminder. The voice call is for the set that has still not come back two days after the contractor left.
TL;DR
You are already on an alarm. Eight site looks are still unconfirmed and Wednesday's basement keys never came back. Nobody is going to spend the afternoon ringing. An assistant works the list you give it: site or name on the file, one purpose. It asks whether the keys have been returned. It does not say what those keys still open, whether a van is on that street, or who is on tonight. If they ask, it writes the question down and says the desk will look at the radio. It can book a collection if that time is free. It will not ring a spouse's mobile about someone else's site.
Key takeaways
- Build each list from your own files: site or name, the number on the file, and one purpose.
- Do not put a personal mobile on a key chase unless that number is the number on the file.
- Write the purpose as a reminder or a chase, not as a question about a route.
- If the client asks what time the van passes, the assistant ends the call and flags the desk to call back.
- Check the diary before you speak a time. Do not read Thursday off last week's pad.
- Keep rosters and pass times off the script. The desk looks at the radio.
The lists on the desk while you wait on a panel
The radio has not come back. Eight site looks are still unconfirmed. Wednesday’s basement keys never arrived. You are not going to spend the afternoon ringing.
That is the outbound problem on this desk. Not a campaign. Not a hunt for new work. A list of people you already know, a site you have already written down, and nobody free to ring because the alarm is still talking.
The work is small and it is exact. Did you return the set. Can you come Thursday. Who will wait at the gate with ID. It is not “is the basement covered tonight”. It is not “what time does the van pass”. Those two sentences turn a chase into a map.
One purpose, one number, one site
Build the list from the file. Site, name, the number on the file, one purpose. A chase that also asks whether they want a second block is two jobs. Only the first belongs on this call.
If the person who answers does not recognise the site, stop. Do not brief a spouse. Do not brief a colleague. Do not try the next number on a scrap of paper. The assistant rings the number you gave it, says the site, and ends the call if the voice is wrong.
SMS does the first reminder. The voice call is for the set that has still not come back two days after the contractor left, or the look that was not confirmed the morning before.
What the assistant may ask
Have the keys been returned. Can you leave them Thursday. Do you still have the look at 10:00. Who will wait with ID.
That is the list. If they say yes, note it. If they say no, note it and, if you allow a collection, check the diary before offering a time. If they ask a route question, write it down, refuse it, and end the chase.
Do not let the script drift into “someone will be nearby”. Nearby is a pass time.
What it will not say on the way out
It will not name a roster. It will not say which gate the van uses. It will not invent an arrival so they will bring the keys faster. It will not confirm that a fob still opens anything.
If the chase reaches a missing relief, that is no longer a chase. Flag a phone. A reminder list is not a dispatch board.
What you set first
Export the files. One purpose each. Numbers from the file only. The sentence that forbids a route. The diary check before any time. Read the first twenty outbound transcripts. That is where “they usually come after two” creeps in, because it sounded like it would hurry the keys.
Rates live on the pricing section of the home page. They are not repeated here.
Keys, looks, and access lists are three lists
Do not mix them on one pad. A key chase that also reminds them of Thursday’s look will skip the keys to save the look, or skip the look because the keys sounded more urgent. Two lists. Two purposes. Two calls if both are still open.
An access-list reminder is a name on or a name off. It is not a reading of the whole list. The assistant names the change you typed. It does not confirm who else is on it.
A look reminder names the site, the window, and who waits with ID. It does not add “the night man will let you in”. That is a roster.
When they call back on the same number
Sometimes the chase becomes an inbound. They ring the number that just called them and ask the route again. The assistant is still the assistant. The split is still alarm or visit. The refusal is still the refusal. A returned chase is not permission to answer what the outbound script forbade.
If they are angry that a machine rang them, take that as a note. Do not apologise with a pass time. Do not offer to “just tell you when the van is nearby” to calm them.
Stop if a new voice picks up. A warehouse reception desk is not the keyholder. A wife at home is not the manager. The file has one number. Use it.
How to know it worked
Count the open key files two days after a contractor week. Count them again after the chase has run. The measure is sets returned and looks confirmed, not calls made. A hundred polite calls that still leave the cabinet a hook short have not done the work.
Do not count “minutes saved” as a published statistic. The worked example above is arithmetic on stated assumptions. Put your own figure in. A desk that lives on warehouses and a desk that lives on blocks are not the same cabinet.
Whoever takes the keys back often keeps the site. That is why an unchased set is not only a missing hook. It is a manager who now thinks the last firm they rang is the one that still answers.
AI receptionist, in-house staff, or a call centre
| CITT | In-house | Call centre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Key chase after a contractor left | Yes, from your list | When someone has time | If you write a script |
| Site-look and collection reminders | Yes | Yes | Sometimes |
| Starts with the site or the name | Yes | Yes | If you insist |
| Names a route to hurry the keys | Never — the desk looks at the radio | The supervisor does, after the file | A risk if the script drifts |
| Answers whether Giorgos is on tonight | No — flags the desk | The supervisor does | Must not; sometimes does |
| Offers a collection the diary does not have | No — checks the diary, or takes a callback | If they check | Often from last week's pad |
| Rings a spouse about someone else's site | No — only the number on the file | Only if you said so | A risk if the list was not read |
What unchased keys cost one week
Worked from these assumptions — change any of them and the answer changes:
- Two people, 16 open files after a week of contractor works, each waiting on a key or a fob.
- This example treats 7 of those 16 as still missing two days later.
- A file that sits incomplete, or is pulled when the set arrives at four, wastes about €80 of reserved time — put your own figure in, not ours.
- A two-day outbound chase recovers half of those missing sets. Challenge this first; firms vary.
- 7 files still open on paper, two days out.
- Half recovered — 3 files that move on the keys they needed.
- 3 × €80 = €240 of reserved time protected, in one week.
- Several such weeks a year — this example counts six.
About €1,440 a year of desk time, from calls that only ask whether the keys have been returned.
What it costs
CITT is pay as you go: no packages, no minimum, no contract. The current rates — the monthly fee per number and the per-minute rate — are on the pricing section of the home page, which is the only place they are published.
Frequently asked questions
Can it tell them which keys are missing?
It can name the set you put on the list — basement key, gate fob, the contractor's issue sheet. It should not rebuild the site on the call, and it should not decide that a particular hook still opens anything. If they ask whether the basement is covered tonight, that is a callback. The desk looks at the radio.
What if they ask what time the van passes, on the chase call?
The assistant does not answer. It says the desk will look at the radio, takes the question in the client's words, and ends the chase. A chase that becomes a route conversation has no reviewer, no file note of a decision, and no supervisor attached. The transcript still helps — the desk returns a real question rather than “they rang”.
Can it offer a new time to leave the keys?
Yes, if you allow that purpose and if it checks the diary before it offers a time. It still does not tell them what the keys still open beyond the list you entered. A reminder that starts describing a patrol has stopped being a reminder.
Does it still ask for the site when we ring?
Yes. The call opens with the firm name, the site or the name on the file, and it stops if the person on the line does not recognise them. That is how you avoid briefing a spouse about a site, or a colleague about a missing relief.
Can it chase a site look from an existing manager?
As a visit reminder, yes: we have a morning this week, can you come, here is who must wait with ID. Not as a sentence that a van will pass, and not as a roster. “We still have Thursday at 10:00 for the look at the Marousi gate” is reception. “The night man will be there anyway” is a route.
Who decides who is on the list?
The desk. The assistant does not invent people to ring. You export or tick the files that need a reminder or a chase, with one purpose each. A list that mixes “where are the keys” with “see if they want a new block” is two jobs, and only the first one belongs here.
