WhatsApp for the work
Guards start shifts, tag checkpoints, report incidents and press SOS in the chat they already use every day. Nothing to install, nothing to train for weeks.
🇿🇦 Built in South Africa for security companies
Guard patrols you can prove. On WhatsApp.
PatrolBot turns the phones your guards already carry into patrol devices. Guards scan checkpoint tags with WhatsApp. You get live alerts when a round is missed, evidence you can trust, and reports your clients can read.
- No app to install
- Any phone with WhatsApp
- Live in a day
- POPIA compliant
PatrolBotbusiness account
📱 Works on the guard's own phone or a shared site phone
🏷️ QR and NFC tags printed on site
🚨 SOS straight to supervisors and armed response
🔒 Data handled under POPIA
Why PatrolBot
Everyone stays on WhatsApp. PatrolBot does the checking.
Patrol systems fail when guards need special devices, apps and logins. PatrolBot keeps what works and adds proof.
The browser for the evidence
When proof matters, PatrolBot opens a one-time secure page on the guard's phone to capture their live location or a photo there and then. No forwarded pins, no old photos.
PatrolBot for the rest
Validation, alerts, escalation, audit trail, reports and integrations. Supervisors are told about problems while there's still time to act.
How it works
From sticker to signed-off patrol in four steps
Most sites are set up in an afternoon by your own supervisor.
Put up the tags
Print weatherproof QR labels (or use NFC tags) for each checkpoint. A supervisor scans each one on WhatsApp to set its name and location.
Guards scan as they patrol
The phone camera reads the tag and WhatsApp sends it. PatrolBot checks the time, place and order, and asks for location or a photo when needed.
Problems raise alerts
Missed rounds, unresponsive guards, SOS and incidents go to the right supervisor, control room or armed response, and escalate if nobody acknowledges.
Clients get proof
Daily and weekly reports per site show every round, what was verified and what was flagged. Print them, save them as PDF or get the summary on WhatsApp.
Features
Everything a patrol operation needs, nothing it doesn't
Live control room
Every site on one screen: who is on shift, which rounds are on time, open alerts and what needs attention first.
SOS and escalation
One word starts an emergency. Supervisors and response teams get the site, the guard and a live location, and track it from acknowledged to on scene to resolved.
Evidence you can trust
Each check-in is marked verified, flagged or unverified, with the reason. Random and risk-based checks ask for live location or a photo.
Fake-patrol detection
PatrolBot learns how real patrols look: walking pace, timing, natural variation through the night. Rounds that are too fast, too regular or too identical are flagged for review.
"Are you OK?" checks
If a guard goes quiet, PatrolBot asks them. No answer, and the supervisor is alerted with the last known checkpoint.
Incident reports
Guards report incidents with photos and location in a few taps. Categories, follow-up and history stay with the site.
Shared site phones
No personal phone? Guards log in on the site's phone with their staff number and PIN, and log out at handover. Everything is still recorded per guard.
Self-setup with approval
Send one link. New guards and supervisors fill in their own details and accept the privacy notice; nobody is added until a supervisor or manager approves them.
Lost or stolen phones
Block a phone in one step from WhatsApp or the console. If a guard's camera or GPS breaks, PatrolBot adapts the check-in and records it honestly.
Team scores
Managers see every supervisor, site and guard with a patrol score built from completed rounds, verified check-ins and reliability.
Breaks and handovers
Guards log breaks and hand over to the next shift on WhatsApp, so a quiet half-hour is explained, not suspicious.
Integrations
Alerts go to WhatsApp and, through secure webhooks, into your control-room software. Your data is yours: export it any time.
For supervisors and control rooms
See problems while there's still time to act
The live board shows each site's coverage: on time, due soon, late or with nobody on duty. Alerts sit in an attention queue until someone takes ownership.
- Acknowledge, respond and resolve alerts on WhatsApp or in the console
- Escalation to the next person if nobody acknowledges in time
- Tag history: when each tag was set up, replaced or reported missing
● On time● Due soon● Round missed
For your clients
Reports that answer "were the patrols done?"
Every round, every checkpoint, with what was verified and what was flagged. Clear enough for a body corporate meeting, detailed enough for an investigation.
- Daily and weekly summaries on WhatsApp
- Printable client reports per site and date range (save as PDF)
- Incidents with photos, times and locations
Who it's for
Made for guarding in South Africa
Security companies
Run many sites and guards from one console, prove service levels to clients and spot problems before the client does.
Estates and complexes
Know that the night patrols your levies pay for actually happen, with reports for trustees and the body corporate.
Businesses with in-house guards
Warehouses, farms, schools and offices: simple patrol proof without buying special devices.
Security & POPIA
Built for security companies, so built to be secure
Patrol data shows where guards are and when sites are unprotected. We treat it that way.
Privacy by design
Guards share their location only when they start a shift, check in, report an incident or press SOS. They are never tracked in between. We collect only what patrols need.
Everyone agrees first
Every guard and team member sees a plain-language privacy notice and agrees before PatrolBot works for them. SOS always works. Each decision is recorded.
Tamper-resistant evidence
Signed tags, one-time verification links, forwarded messages and picked map locations rejected, and an audit trail of every change.
Strict access
Each company sees only its own data. Supervisors see their own sites. Console tokens are per person and can be revoked; lost phones can be blocked instantly.
Your data, your rules
You are the responsible party; we process data only on your instructions, as your operator under POPIA section 21, with a written operator agreement.
Kept only as long as needed
Patrol records are kept for about 12 months and incidents for 24 months, unless you need them longer for an open case. Export or deletion on request.
Pricing
Simple per-site pricing
Pay per site per month. No devices to buy, no per-guard fees. Prices are being finalised with our launch partners.
Pilot
Try first
on one of your sites
- Full PatrolBot on one site
- We help set up your tags
- Weekly check-in with us
Standard
Per site
per month · pricing on request
- Unlimited guards and checkpoints
- Live control room and alerts
- Evidence checks and fake-patrol detection
- Daily and weekly reports
Enterprise
Custom
for large operations
- Volume pricing across many sites
- Control-room integrations
- Dedicated onboarding and support
Checkpoint tags are low-cost labels you can print yourself on a small label printer. Final pricing is confirmed in your proposal.
FAQ
Questions we hear a lot
Do guards need to install an app?
No. Guards use WhatsApp, which they already have. For extra-strong evidence PatrolBot sometimes opens a secure web page in their phone's browser, which also needs nothing installed.
What if a guard doesn't have a smartphone or data?
Put a shared phone on site. Guards log in with their staff number and PIN and log out at handover. Everything is still recorded per guard. PatrolBot uses very little data.
Can't a guard just photograph the tags and scan them from the guardhouse?
That's exactly what PatrolBot looks for. Location checks, live photo checks, signed tags and pattern analysis (patrols that are too fast, too regular or identical every round) flag it for the supervisor.
What happens if there's no signal at a checkpoint?
WhatsApp sends the scan as soon as the phone has signal again, with the time it was scanned. PatrolBot records the delay, so you can see blind spots on your sites.
Is it POPIA compliant?
Yes. Everyone sees a privacy notice and agrees first, location is collected only at check-ins, data is kept only as long as needed, and we work as your operator under a written agreement. See our privacy policy.
How long does it take to get started?
A site can be live the same day: print the tags, scan them to set them up, send your guards a sign-up link. We help with your first sites.
Can it work with our control room?
Yes. Besides WhatsApp, alerts can be sent through signed webhooks into your existing control-room software. Ask us about your system.
See PatrolBot on your own phone
In a 20-minute call we set up a test checkpoint, you scan it on WhatsApp, and you watch the alert and the report appear.
- A pilot on one of your sites
- Help with tags and setting up your first guards
- Answers about pricing for your number of sites
Prefer email? hello@patrolbot.co.za