3 Critical Features to Look for in a Wander Guard System

When selecting a wander guard system for your community, there are actually many important factors to consider. You want to make sure that the wandering system you choose fits best with your community and provides the best possible security for your residents—and different vendors offer vastly different capabilities.

In this blog, we’ll examine three critical features to look for when examining wander guard systems.

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Ability to Turn Tags On and Off

The tags your residents will wear are an integral part of a wander guard system, so it's important to examine the features and capabilities of the tags when evaluating a potential system. A significant feature to look for is the ability to turn tags on and off. This is extremely beneficial to preserve battery life when tags are not in use and make this portion of the system as cost-effective as possible.

At the same time, make sure that the tags have a clear indicator to show when they are on or off, and that they are working properly. Nurses should be able to tell at a glance if the tag a resident is wearing is functioning properly.

Low-Cost Software & Reporting Option

Another factor to consider when evaluating wandering systems is the availability of a stand-alone software utility. Benefits of this type of functionality include:

• Low-cost software solution with no need for a computer

• Ability to track resident IDs, including pictures at the nurse's station or each door

• Remote system configuration options

• Centralized reporting to track alert data and trends

Minimal Interference or Cross Talk

A critical consideration when purchasing a wander guard system is the technology powering the solution. Often, with these types of alarm systems, false alarms can occur frequently due to interference from cell phones, floor buffers, and other electronic items. Ask each vendor you evaluate how they minimize that interference to avoid false alarms.

Along the same lines, cross talk is important to consider. If you have doors close to each other, or multiple floors in your facility, you want a system that will pinpoint the exact location of an alarm. Cross talk can occur in those scenarios if a tag activates more than one door, creating a less than ideal situation. Ask potential vendors about their solutions to avoid this problem.

These are three essential features to look for in a wander guard system, but there are many more to consider.

• Scalability
• Integration Options
• Tag Attributes
• Alarm Accuracy & Reliability
• Hardware & Software
• Technical Support

To learn even more about this topic, including the above factors, download this full guide: Choosing the Right Wander Management System for Your Community.