Visiting a museum or an art gallery should be a positive experience. Visitors sometimes feel that security guards single them out, including accusations of racial or other bias. The Art Sentry system can help sensitively address this controversial aspect of museum operations.
Art Sentry's alarms and audible prompts are objective and unbiased. Visitors aren’t singled out and there is no judgment call needed by the security personnel. They’re simply activated when someone gets too close and crosses an invisible barrier.
One Museum Customer* characterized the improvements this way:
“...the audible alerts are 100% objective. The alarm is either triggered or it isn’t so there is never a judgment call…People no longer feel they are being unfairly targeted by our security staff…It was the wisest expenditure in my three decades here...”
During a five-month exhibition that drew nearly 150,000 visitors, another Museum Customer* found that the visitor experience scores dramatically improved and complaints were reduced. The Director of Protective Services summarizes the experience this way:
“For the first time, we had zero complaints of guests feeling uncomfortable due to security officers watching or hovering near them. I cannot remember having a major exhibit without almost immediate complaints of security officers targeting specific individuals or groups. It is a major benefit of the system, and our visitor experience scores are much improved as a result”.
The Art Sentry system's gentle visual or audible alerts are proven to be less intimidating to customers. These reminders are usually enough for customers to self-correct, eliminating the need to be confronted directly by museum security personnel.
Our museum customers have experienced dramatically improved visitor experience scores as a result. Additionally, with less burden of watching the art, the guards are able to focus more on customer service, which creates a better museum visitor experience.
The ideal security system should allow visitors to have an immersive and unencumbered experience with the art. Even without accusations of targeting, visitors often feel uncomfortable or embarrassed when approached by guards. The Art Sentry system can help you improve the visitor/guard dynamic and eliminate the perceived or unintentional bias of security personnel.
Please contact us for more information and to discuss your specific needs.
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*Due to the sensitive nature of the security function within museums, we are not using actual names on our website.