4 Ways Integrators Can Help Schools Increase Security Awareness

By Steve Birkmeier, Arteco Global

Educational facilities must strike a balance between a combination of policies and technology solutions to achieve a welcoming, yet secure environment. As demonstrated by recent events, threats to the safety of students are significant, and schools can no longer afford a passive approach when addressing these threats.

The trend towards newer facilities and larger, expanding campuses also leads to the necessity of more advanced solutions that ensure protection for students, faculty, and staff members. Most campuses have surveillance systems in place, but the question arises: will it be enough when an incident occurs?

As a trusted partner, systems integrators work diligently to meet the needs of education customers while maintaining the balance between of a secure yet open environment. In this article, we take a closer look at how today’s integration firms can help schools ensure a robust security posture while maximizing available resources.

Be Open

Technology solutions are a critical component of any school security posture and integrators should recommend platforms that easily integrate with other IP platforms to maximize existing investments and enhance product lifecycle. Budget constraints, legacy systems and training requirements are a few obstacles that may deter an upgrade. Therefore, specifying systems that make integration as easy and seamless as possible is critical to building long-term relationships with customers. Interoperable platforms that consolidate third-party notifications and events from various devices and systems, such as surveillance cameras, access control, intrusion alarms, building automation, and traffic control systems, allows campuses to empower efficient tactical responses to incidents according to mission-critical information.

Plan Ahead

When designing a system, first identify the unique needs of the school. What are the goals? Are integration and situational awareness the goals? If so, close integration between various systems is critical to the success of the implementation. By closely working with your customer during the planning process, integrators can identify the tools needed to connect the event management software with other devices and build more intelligence gathering. Advanced levels of awareness and the resulting informed decision-making cannot occur without having specific knowledge of a school’s vision.

Build Intelligence

To combat the increased risk to security that education facilities now face, new levels of intelligence are necessary to help increase situational awareness. Event-driven video management and video analytics enable users to pinpoint video evidence quickly in the case of an incident. The time savings realized from not having to manually sift through video footage is critical to maximizing resources. Additionally, data analysis is enhanced as the most relevant video footage is at the user’s fingertips, helping operators identify potential threats while building a more proactive approach to risk mitigation.

Deliver Operational Efficiency

Platforms built on enhancing user awareness through video intelligence deliver an intuitive user experience that easily allows operators to distinguish between information that is critical and what is not. Operators have the ability to recognize key trends that encourage informed and effective incident management and emergency response. Data analysis using this kind of software is less time-consuming and cost-prohibitive. With the ability to search and retrieve data in seconds, all relevant information is immediately at your customer’s disposal to support real-time threat management and aid investigations.

The evolving security requirements of higher education and K-12 facilities require integrators to choose solutions and services that allow users to achieve new levels of insight, facilitate quick response and assist in more informed decision-making. Integrators need to be a trusted partner and consultant to help stakeholders gain the most value out of their security and business investments to ensure high levels of safety and continued educational excellence.