That violence against front-desk staff is a real risk is well documented. The next question is a practical one: are we prepared ourselves? These four questions offer an honest stocktake in about fifteen minutes, without outside consultants.
1. Does everyone know how to raise the alarm?
In an emergency there is no time to think. So don’t just check whether an alarm route exists, check whether everyone knows it: the stand-in, the temp, the newest colleague. A procedure that only lives in the handbook won’t work when it matters.
With ACTIGY®: The alarm is a physical button at the workplace. One press is enough: no menu, no phone call, no password. That it works when needed is secured technically: the button regularly sends a heartbeat to the server, and the server in turn regularly checks that the button is still reachable. No manual function test is needed.
2. Is there a low-threshold way to report incidents?
According to the German FÖV study, around 70 percent of assaults go unreported. What isn’t reported can’t be improved. Ask yourself: is the reporting route short? Do affected staff fear being seen as oversensitive? This is mainly a question of culture. Technology can support it, but not replace it.
With ACTIGY®: The ACTIGY® server logs all triggered alarms as well as downtimes and possible tampering with buttons, so it stays traceable what happened and when. The log complements a reporting culture; it doesn’t replace it.
3. Is de-escalation trained regularly, not just on the first day?
A training on day one has faded after two years. Regular refreshers keep confidence in action alive.
With ACTIGY®: An alarm system doesn’t replace training, but it gives what was learned a pattern to follow. A single press brings a colleague into the room to support and de-escalate. A different, clearly defined press pattern alerts security immediately. That turns “get help before it escalates” into a concrete motion.
4. Does the technology fit how your authority is organised?
A single counter at a central reception is easy to secure. It gets harder with several consultation rooms, branch offices or rooms without a line of sight to reception. Hard-wired panic buttons often don’t pay off there.
With ACTIGY®: The button runs on Power over Ethernet, with no special cabling. A room is equipped in minutes. For smaller administrations there is a cloud option from around 22 euros net per month, with no server hardware or IT staff of your own. Larger authorities can run the server themselves.
Your result
Every question you answer with “no” or “don’t know” is an area for action, not a reproach. Questions 1 and 4 are the quickest to solve: they cost little time and take effect immediately.
Would you like to see how ACTIGY® could work in your authority? Get in touch or read the technical details.
Source: Bühren, Kuche, Piesker, Steffens, Steffens, Tritsch, Uhlig, Ziekow: “Gewalt gegen Beschäftigte im öffentlichen Dienst” (Violence against public-sector employees), German Research Institute for Public Administration Speyer on behalf of the German Federal Ministry of the Interior, August 2022.