As a pioneer and market leader in 24/7 remote monitoring with real-time intervention, Protection One GmbH, a Securitas Company, has developed various solutions for continuous surveillance and protection of properties. With a 24/7 staffed, company-owned emergency and service control center, Protection One offers all services from a single source. Thanks to our nationwide sales and technician network, we ensure competent and prompt service directly at the customer’s location. Currently, around 260 employees at ten locations provide holistic consulting and customer-oriented service focused on security every day.
Whether it’s burglary, theft, vandalism, fire, or assault – our security service is an effective alternative to traditional alarm systems, emphasizing fast response times: If an alarm is triggered in an area monitored by Protection One, it is immediately forwarded to the emergency and service control center. To guarantee this quick reaction time, internal communication must also function at high speed. Seamless internal processes are essential – and these, in turn, rely on error-free and up-to-date process documentation. This enables the staff in the control center to respond within seconds: They address the intruder loudly and request the individual password agreed upon with the client. This unexpected and personal confrontation usually unsettles the intruder so much that they immediately flee – without any stolen goods. If not, and the intruder fails to authenticate using the password despite repeated prompts, the predefined intervention chain – such as alerting the police – is activated. This highly successful concept is based on an efficient management system and has proven effective: 24/7 remote monitoring with real-time intervention has an independently audited damage prevention rate of 97.3%. This means that in over 97 out of 100 cases, the intruder abandons their attempt without causing significant damage.
Protection One GmbH is a growing company. With around 50 new employees each year, the time needed for onboarding is substantial. For Thorsten Schmidt and the quality management (QM) department, simplifying and shortening the onboarding process was crucial. Additionally, the goal was to reduce time spent on employee inquiries by introducing a high-quality, employee-created documentation system. Duplicate documentation, as was common in the previous folder structure, was to be avoided. Because document editing was local and access-restricted, only a few managers – primarily Thorsten Schmidt – were responsible for changes. As a result, documents were often outdated. We wanted to enable all employees to directly update processes and work instructions, distributing responsibility across more shoulders. Finally, we aimed to reduce the effort involved in certifications and simplify audits – areas that had previously demanded significant preparation time from our management.
We were immediately convinced by the idea of a wiki-based management software. The concept of gathering all company knowledge, best practices, and everyday-relevant information in one place was the foundation for solving our issues. The decentralized structure of the system allows us to distribute tasks and responsibilities for documentation, relieving managers of these duties. The team from Modell Aachen demonstrated to the QM team led by Thorsten Schmidt what an interactive and “living” management system could look like and supported us in its implementation.
We’ve been using Q.wiki for six years now, and its success continues: We average more than 4,000 page views per month – and rising.
The widespread acceptance and use of Q.wiki has resulted in an estimated net savings of over €1.04 million annually. This success can be broken down as follows:
We estimate that the quality of our documentation enables employees to answer every fifth question quickly using Q.wiki. Our “cheat sheet” reduces inquiry time per employee by 20%, saving the company over €500,000 annually.
Thanks to Q.wiki, onboarding time has been cut by 20 days per new employee – 15 days saved for the new hire and 5 for their mentor. With around 50 new employees per year, this results in over €500,000 in annual savings.
During the last two years, the COVID pandemic posed unique challenges, requiring a shift to remote work. Q.wiki proved to be a vital central information source. Not only did the transition become easier, but many new work instructions were created to adapt to the new situation – such as setting up VPN access, which is especially valuable for new hires. This centralized access to essential information has significantly relieved all departments. Existing documentation was also reviewed, improved, and expanded.
Today, our documentation is far more detailed. We now have instructions for vacation requests and travel expense reports – not required by ISO 9001 certification, but highly useful in day-to-day operations.
Q.wiki provides us with a single point of truth – centralized, accessible documentation. Previously, many things were undocumented or outdated. Q.wiki allowed us to consolidate all our knowledge in one place, reducing errors from misinformation and saving an estimated €65,000 per year. Another €90,000 is saved through decentralized maintenance of a central system, ensuring everyone works with the same data and eliminating redundant documentation, reducing employee workload by half.
From the start, responsibilities in Q.wiki were clearly defined, allowing knowledge holders to take ownership. This relieved Thorsten Schmidt and other executives. We estimate savings of an additional €60,000 per year. A bonus: Technicians are now responsible for some processes, offering practical knowledge and creating valuable tips and best practices.
Certifications are necessary, but thanks to Q.wiki, no longer stressful. Q.wiki is now our central platform and knowledge base. With consistently high engagement, we maintain clean and current documentation. The gap between documentation and reality is gone, and we pass audits with ease.
For our four annual external audits, 25 page owners are responsible. We estimate a 70% reduction in time and cost – saving around €23,000 annually. Each QM team member saves an additional 30 days of documentation work per year. Thanks to the system’s structure and process clarity, audit time has been cut from 2 to 1.5 days. Altogether, we save over €60,000 per year.
Customer security is our top priority. That’s why Thorsten Schmidt and the QM team value service and process quality – with transparency for clients and prospects. We have been working for years with the certification body "Trust Through Security" (VdS), which independently certifies us. This builds trust and sets us apart from competitors. The VdS seal of approval enjoys an excellent reputation.
A recent major project was certification according to VdS 10000, modeled after ISO 27001 for information security. This is significant, especially with the rise of remote work. In a two-day, COVID-compliant audit, our Q.wiki information security documentation was reviewed for VdS 10000 compliance.
An ongoing process we will continue to expand is digitalizing more processes using the Generator module. Q.wiki is now indispensable for us – and thanks to continuous improvement, our employees will continue to benefit from our digital “cheat sheet.”
“Q.wiki was the ideal introduction to knowledge and process management on a broad basis for us.”
“It is not certificates that carry out the processes successfully — it is the employees. And 86% of the workforce is in our management system every month.”
“In the past, regulatory processes and the like were a necessary evil. Now there is real added value for the workforce.”
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