The challenge
Managing a mobile security workforce is operationally complex. Guards work across multiple client sites, often on rotating shifts. Incidents need to be logged with details, witness information, and severity ratings. Timesheets need to be submitted, authorised by clients, and reconciled against contracts before invoices can be raised.
Our client was handling all of this through a combination of paper forms, spreadsheets, and phone calls. Timesheets went missing. Incident reports were incomplete. Invoice disputes were frequent because there was no single source of truth about what work had been done. And with no real-time visibility, supervisors had no way of knowing what was happening across their sites until after the fact.
What we built
Nettex Guard is an end-to-end security workforce management platform with five core modules:
Crew and customer management. A hierarchical structure organises customers by region, area, and site, with contacts at each level. Guards are managed as crew members with role-based access, assigned to sites and shifts through a centralised dashboard.
Shift event logging. Guards record events during their shifts in real time — categorised by type and severity (critical, high, medium, low). Each event captures what happened, what action was taken, witness details, and police references where applicable. This creates a complete, auditable record of every shift.
Timesheet lifecycle. Timesheets track hours worked, breaks taken, and hourly rates. They move through a clear workflow — submitted by guards, authorised by client representatives (with digital signature capture), or returned for correction. No more chasing paper forms.
Contract and invoice management. Contracts define service terms, rates, and payment conditions for each client. When timesheets are authorised, invoices are generated automatically from the approved hours and contract rates, with VAT calculation and payment tracking built in.
Communication and audit. Built-in chat channels keep teams connected. Every action — from user logins to entity changes — is recorded in a comprehensive audit log with timestamps, user IDs, and IP addresses.
Architecture
The platform is built as a multi-tenant SaaS application on AWS serverless infrastructure. The Next.js admin dashboard communicates with backend services through AppSync GraphQL APIs backed by DynamoDB. Authentication uses Cognito with passwordless email OTP. File attachments (incident photos, signed timesheets) are stored in S3 with presigned URL access.
The result
Paper has been eliminated from the operation entirely. Guards log shift events as they happen, giving supervisors real-time visibility across all sites. Client-authorised timesheets flow directly into invoice generation, cutting the billing cycle from weeks to days and virtually eliminating disputes. The audit trail means every incident, every hour worked, and every invoice is traceable back to its source.