Page 131 - Security Today, July/August 2021

By Scott Himes
Building Your Campus Project
Planning and collaboration build s solid foundation for future growth
where they please, with little warning. That’s why strong campus safe- ty plans always account for the unexpected. At Biola University, which is located in southern California that means anticipating earthquakes. We use InformaCast integrated with Early Warning Labs’ earthquake early warning system to help give us advance warn- ing about when an earthquake may strike. This helps give everyone a few seconds of advance warning that can mean the difference between being safe and being in harm’s way.
For other campuses this threat may be wildfires, tornadoes or hur- ricanes. As isolated as these kinds of events may be, their impact can be devastating if people are unprepared. Know what kind of events could put students and faculty as risk and understand how to best communicate safety information. Creating message templates and alerting procedures ahead of time will put campus leaders ahead of the game should an actual disaster occur.
Build on what is Already in Place
One of the biggest obstacles campuses face when they look to improve their safety procedures is finding the time and money to install and manage a new system. The last thing anyone wants is to add on a sepa- rate siloed tool that only performs a single function. However, mass notification systems like InformaCast can integrate directly with the technological infrastructure already in place on your campus.
Campuses can add value to existing phone systems, panic buttons, speakers, desktop computers, and other devices reducing the need to invest in new hardware or software. This can also help streamline cer- tain procedures by creating a single point of contact for activating and managing emergency alerts. The more a campus can consolidate the less time they may need to spend actively managing what’s in place.
Take stock of what is already in place on campus and see how tools like mass notification systems can help build on an existing systems foundation to provide a more powerful solution for safety and alerting.
Reach More than Mobile Devices
Many campuses rely on mass SMS text messaging and email to help share information during a crisis. This may seem like an airtight plan since people carry their cell phones with them most of the time, but when our campus ran a lockdown drill, we discovered a serious issue.
Many people were not aware that the drill was taking place because they either were not in front of their email when the message was sent, or they did not have access to their cell phone to receive the text message. This happens more often than people think as classroom instruction and other activities may prevent people from immedi- ately receiving the message.
That’s why we implemented audio alerts to help reach more people. Tying our mass notification system to outdoor speakers helped us send attention-grabbing audio alerts that reached the entire campus. We also leveraged desk phones in a number of buildings to display text messages and play audio from the speakers. Campuses should
consider alternative ways to reach people and what they can do ensure messages are received by as many people as possible. If the event of a critical situation like an active shooter, everyone needs to be aware so they can stay safe. The more channels and delivery meth- ods a campus uses, the more likely it is that no one misses a message.
Improve Response Times
Awareness goes beyond just sending out a message though. It involves making sure the right people understand what’s happening so the situation can be resolved. The longer this takes the more students and faculty can be at risk.
A few years ago, aging panic buttons were updated to help improve response times. Previously, panic buttons were unreliable, and it could take up to three minutes between someone pressing the button and someone responding. That was too long for someone to wait if they were in a crisis situation.
Using our mass notification system, we configured panic buttons on desk phones around campus and installed new IP panic buttons at key locations. The result was a drastic time reduction. Now campus safety members are seeing alerts almost instantaneously when panic buttons are triggered, resulting in better event outcomes. Analyze how long it takes to deploy a response on campus and look for areas to reduce those times so people receive assistance as fast as possible.
Test Early, Test Often
Often, campuses find tools to address campus safety concerns, set them up and leave them to collect dust until they need to use them. The problem with that approach is that when that time arrives, they find that tool does not work as intended.
Messages only get sent to half the campus, certain sirens don’t go off, and strobes that were supposed to light up don’t activate. This can result in serious issues for students and faculty, and it highlights why testing is so important. Testing campus safety tools ahead of time helps identifying potential issues and gaps that can be rectified before the tools need to be used for a true emergency.
Regular testing helps ensure effectiveness so that when the time comes more time be spent managing the incident and no one needs to worry if everything worked as it was supposed to.
Completing these projects will help campuses start the new school year on the right foot. Each takes time, education and training to suc- cessfully complete. It is important to consider taking a phased approach when grappling with these tasks so as not to overwhelm personnel or deplete budgets. Campus safety needs are always evolv- ing so the better foundation a campus can build to grow on, the easi- er it will be to do so.
Scott Himes is the director, Network Operations for Biola University in La Mirada, CA.
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