Page 22 - Campus Security & Life Safety, July/August 2021

"While surveillance cameras provide a level of deterrence, these solutions cannot tell you who is in the facility or where they are at any given time."
By Debbie Pendleton
Creating a Secure Space
The missing piece of the puzzle is a Visitor Management System
Video Management
Girts Ragelis/Shutterstock.com
Children are a society’s most precious asset, from them comes a future head-of-state, captain of industry, or the inventor of the next revolutionary technology. These great ambitions start in the classroom with dedicated teachers who not only teach the basics but instill a sense of responsibility and per- sonal value in each child. For teachers to carry out their mission, a safe and secure space is of paramount importance. Many K-12 schools have installed surveillance systems, consisting of cameras with analytics and other sensors. While surveillance cameras provide a level of deterrence, these solutions cannot tell you who is in the facility or where they are at any given time. The missing piece of the puzzle is a Visitor Management System.
Administrators have a critical need to know the identity of each person on campus, which is best done with a VMS that makes it easy to quickly flag visitors who either should not be on campus or need to be handled differently than other campus guests.
Today, a visitor management system is no longer an extra security feature; it is an integral part of a tailored K-12 security plan that keeps students, teachers, administrators, staff, and visitors safe. Plus, man- aging school entrances and lobbies is more challenging than ever, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now along with ensuring a secure campus, administrators are asking front-desk personnel to screen school personnel and visitors for COVID-19 symptoms, a task that takes time and could lead to further spread.
22 campuslifesecurity.com | JULY/AUGUST 2021