Guard tour app: how NFC and QR patrols work in Guardix

A patrol that nobody can prove is hard to bill and hard to defend. Guard tours in Guardix turn a patrol into a list of checkpoints that an officer scans with a phone, so the company and the client can see which ones were done, which were skipped and which tours were missed.

Key points#

Patrol checkpoints are NFC tags or QR codes, and each belongs to a post site.
Officers start a tour in the mobile app and scan each checkpoint with the phone.
Tours can run at set times or repeat during the shift, with reminders for officers.
Skipped checkpoints are recorded, and clients can see tours in the client portal.

The problem it solves#

A patrol is one of the things a client pays for and rarely sees. When a client asks whether the back gate was checked overnight, a manager needs a better answer than "the officer says so."

Guard tours give that answer a record. They also give the officer clear steps: where to go, what to look at and what to fill in at each stop.

Setting up the checkpoints#

Each checkpoint belongs to a post site, and it is either an NFC tag or a QR code. Managers download the QR codes from the web app. In the manager mobile app, they can write, register and lock NFC tags.

A checkpoint can carry more than a location:

Instructions for what the officer should do there
Required photos
Its own questions for the officer to answer

A checkpoint can also have an optional geofence. When the phone is clearly outside the area, the scan is blocked.

Setting the tour times#

A tour can run on chosen days at set start times with a time limit. It can also repeat every half hour, hour or two hours during the officer's shift. If the route matters, managers can require the checkpoints in a set order.

How the officer runs a tour#

Get the reminder. Officers get reminders when a tour window opens and before it closes.
Start the tour. The officer starts it in the mobile app.
Scan each checkpoint. The phone's camera reads a QR code, and the phone's NFC reader reads an NFC tag. A QR code that does not match the checkpoint is rejected.
Complete the checkpoint. The officer follows the instructions, answers the questions and takes any required photos, and can add notes and files.
End the tour. If checkpoints are still unscanned, the app asks the officer to confirm, and the skipped checkpoints are recorded.

That last step matters. A skipped checkpoint can be a real problem or a good reason, such as a locked area, but either way it is on the record for the manager to follow up.

What the manager sees#

Managers can filter tours by ongoing, completed and missed. That makes it simple to start the day with the tours that did not happen, not with a long list of the ones that did.

What the client sees#

Clients see tours and checkpoint logs in the client portal. They can also be notified when a tour is completed, or when a tour window passes without one. What each client sees is controlled by client roles.

Tours also appear in the client report email. A manager can set that up to go out daily, weekly or monthly, and it covers completed patrol tours along with hours worked, reports submitted and incidents by category.

Frequently asked questions#

What does an officer need to scan a checkpoint?#

The officer needs the Guardix mobile app on a phone. The camera reads QR codes, and the phone's NFC reader reads NFC tags.

Which kinds of checkpoint does Guardix use?#

Guardix does not offer GPS checkpoints. Every checkpoint is an NFC tag or a QR code. A checkpoint can also have an optional geofence, which blocks the scan when the phone is clearly outside the area.

What happens if an officer skips a checkpoint?#

If an officer ends a tour with checkpoints still unscanned, the app asks them to confirm, and the skipped checkpoints are recorded. Managers can filter tours by ongoing, completed and missed.

Can clients see guard tours?#

Clients see tours and checkpoint logs in the client portal, and they can be notified when a tour is completed or when a tour window passes without one.