Page 34 - Campus Security & Life Safety, January/February 2019

equipped with a fire reporting system with manual fire alarm boxes installed within five feet of each exit doorway, and on each floor. The NFPA 72 (National Fire Alarm and Sig- naling Code) currently does not mandate the installation of Emergency Communication Systems (ECS), however, regarding the use of an ECS, NFPA 72 states:
“An emergency communications system is intended to communicate information about emergencies including, but not limited to, fire, human-caused events (accidental and intentional), other dangerous situations, accidents, and natural disasters.”
The Viking Electronics DNA-510 meets the need for on-demand mass notification announcements and tones. This easy to use device offers up to two minutes of digitally recorded voice instructions and alert tones, all over your existing paging system. When acti- vated, the DNA-510 will interrupt any current paging or background music and inject an emergency voice message and/or alert tone over your paging system.
The DNA-510 offers ten different alert tones that are programmable for emergency mass notification of: evacuation, lock down, severe weather, fire, bomb threat, hazardous material release, tornado, flash flood, terror- ist alert, all-clear, and the list goes on.
Beyond the Basics
Fire alarms will not cover every emergency alone. Pairing current fire alarms with emer- gency phones and a reliable Mass Notifica- tion Announcer is a great start to cover all your bases. The placement of these devices is
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also a very important aspect of planning. Having detailed action plans in place will determine how teachers and students should respond in lockdown situations. Often times these plans focus on certain locations within the building, but what about people stranded in hallways, cafeterias, gymnasiums, locker rooms, pool areas, auditoriums, lobbies, or student lounges? These areas are not equipped with telephones and are far more likely to experience poor cell phone signal strength due to dense building materials. Students and staff stranded in these areas are left without any connection to emergency communication. It is these areas where installation of emergency phones can be most beneficial. Simply having a visible emergency phone in place can be deterrence. Viking emergency phones are constructed from high quality materials with numerous size and chassis options to fit any of these sce- narios. Outdoor applications can even be upgraded to have Enhanced Weather Protec- tion (EWP) to protect against unavoidable destructive forces such as snow, rain, dust, and insects. This great option can also be a perfect idea for indoor applications where the air
quality is poor or the environment is damp. These solutions can be cost effective over both short and long terms. Emergency phone prices vary depending on which brand and style you want and where you purchase the phones from. In most cases, schools can buy a fully featured surface-mount Viking emer- gency phone for around the price of a typical multi-line phone commonly used in schools. On top of the hardware cost is also the added
expense of installation. However, since Viking emergency phones don’t require an electrician to run AC power, equipping vul- nerable areas in a building with Viking emer- gency phones can be very cost effective.
Push button IP emergency phones, such as the Viking E-1600-IP, can easily be installed at an affordable cost and only require a single Ethernet connection for both power (PoE) and data. This product line is proven to be vandal resistant and operate with little to no maintenance for years and years. With the built-in functionality of being programmed to any phone number, these life savers can connect victims to the help they need in seconds while simultane- ously providing exact location data based on the mac address and/or an optional recorded location announcement. Activation and dis- creetness of alerts can be accomplished with add-on panic buttons such as Viking’s PB-1.
As schools currently stand, security weak- nesses are running rampant and relying on privately owned mobile phones is not the answer. Mobile phones are proven to be the least reliable communications method dur- ing a life-threatening emergency. The mobile phone crutch only adds to the confusion and often blurs the facts, creating even more problems for emergency responders. The technology and emergency communications gear is out there and it’s up to administrators to go out and find the ideal equipment to save lives in their unique scenario.
John Hepokoski is a Social Media Consultant at Viking Electronics.
emergency communications
Advertiser........................................................Circle # .............. Page ............URL
Alarm Lock Systems.............................................. 714 .........................7......................www.alarmlock.com
ASSA ABLOY/Adams Rite .................................. 706 .........................17 ...................www.adamsrite.com
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Nightlock ................................................................. 709 .........................3......................www.nightlock.com
Safety Technology Int'l..........................................713.........................25...................www.sti-usa.com
Salient Systems ..................................................... 718 .........................5......................www.salientsys.com
Viking Electronics .................................................. 710 .........................15 ...................www.vikingelectronics.com
Zenitel ...................................................................... 715 .........................33 ...................www.zenitel.com
ZKTeco USA........................................................... 711 .........................13 ...................www.zktecousa.com
34 campuslifesecurity.com | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019