Scout Uses Belfry to Set Standards & Show 200 Officers What “Winning” Looks Like
Scout knew that switching systems at 200 officers wouldn’t be a small lift… But they also knew staying stagnant would cost more. And to meet the goals they set out for themselves, they needed flexibility, direct access to a support team, a modern mobile experience for supervisors, and a platform that aligned with how they actually operate.That’s what led them to Belfry.
A Culture of Intention From Day One
CJ Lapp, CEO of Scout Security Group, came from a military and government background before earning his MBA and entering the private security industry.
Today, Scout provides primarily commercial security: mobile patrol, foot patrol, high-rises, campuses, concierge, residential... and the team has quickly grown to 200+ officers.
But growth brings complexity. And complexity exposes weak systems.
Their Previous Software Wasn’t Built to Scale
Scout had been using another well-known software provider for years.
“It was hard to get a hold of anybody. They didn’t have a lot of the new technology [others did]. We [thought]... how come this software can’t do some of the things you’d think are standard?”
Despite this, Scout knew that switching systems at 200 officers wouldn’t be a small lift… But they also knew staying stagnant would cost more.
And to meet the goals they set out for themselves, they needed flexibility, direct access to a support team, a modern mobile experience for supervisors, and a platform that aligned with how they actually operate.
That’s what led them to Belfry.
From Fragmented Systems to an All-In-One
Better Communication with In-App Alerts & Messaging
Under their previous system, there was no real mechanism to communicate directly with teams inside the platform. Instead, Scout relied on email chains, large text threads, and external apps.
"Communication is king,” CJ explains. “If you have to jump through a bunch of hoops to get relevant information to folks, that’s inefficient.”
And in a distributed workforce deployed across dozens of client sites, inefficiency multiplies fast.
With Belfry’s alerts & announcements, important communications don’t get missed. CJ explains that he “can make an announcement and curtail who it goes to… everybody at a site, specific individuals… and send it through the software.”
Real-Time Field Visibility with a Central Command Center
CJ feels it’s essential for him & his managers to have “command and control” of the officers in the field.
With their previous software provider, it was difficult to see when an officer no-showed or had called-off at the last minute. And the process for finding a replacement was tedious, involving a lot of phone tag or group messaging.
CJ’s goal is to be “as efficient as we can be.” So, knowing who to call when an officer can’t make it to their shift is of the utmost importance.
Belfry’s Shift Marketplace helps Scout identify high-fit replacements by reviewing their certifications, previous site experience, and availability in real-time. Plus, open shifts can be pushed into the marketplace for officers to grab, on a first come-first serve basis; reducing the time spent filling each call-off from 30-60 minutes to just 6 minutes, on average.
Once officers are on-site, Belfry’s live dashboard makes it easy to see their locations so the Scout team knows “where they’re at [and] what they’re doing.”
Instead of reacting to problems hours later, the team has visibility in real time. Plus, CJ mentions that the ability to drill into the specific moment when things went wrong during a shift allows them to build better training programs for their employees.
Managing Officer Performance & Ensuring Accountability
Scout is intentional about alignment and fostering a culture of excellence. CJ said, “Getting the right security officers with the right sites, shifts, and management team can make you or break you.”
With Belfry’s firm-wide Officer Performance Analytics, leadership can see on-time rates, call-off percentages, and trends across the company.
For supervisors and managers, this makes coaching easier. For CJ, as CEO, it creates measurable standards within the organization.
Executive-Level Visibility
At 200 officers, a CEO can’t rely on anecdotes. CJ needed digestible analytics and reporting.
“Security is a safety net for clients,” he explains. “They have high expectations… being able to deliver that data in a digestible format is huge.”
With their previous software provider, regional and financial reporting required pulling data from multiple systems and manual spreadsheet formatting. But, with Belfry’s reporting suite, Scout can pull region, client, and financial reports in minutes from a single source of truth - enabling faster QBR prep and real-time client insights.
Plus, clients love the online portal where they can go see what’s happening at their sites, in real-time. And Scout loves it because they can customize what each client sees there.
Showing the Team What Winning Looks Like
Scout’s culture is intentional. They invest in training, in presentation, and in team-building. And, for CJ, Belfry isn’t just a tool. It reinforces standards, makes performance visible, and defines execution.
As he puts it: “Belfry is how we show our team what winning looks like.”
Scout didn’t switch because everything was broken. They switched because they’re building for the next level of growth and needed a platform that supports their high standards of service delivery.
“Belfry is constantly evolving and they’re iterating to stay on the cutting edge.”
