Page 86 - Security Today, September/October 2022

Why Schools Need Clear Communications
Campus Communication
For many students, every school year begins with new back- packs, books, and excitement for a fun school year. For educa- tors and school security teams, there is hope for a successful school year, as well, but also there are concerns about keeping students safe.
Security teams employ a vast amount of security technology to mitigate threats and to secure their schools. Those security technol- ogy solutions include video surveillance cameras, access control, visitor management, a video management system (VMS), alarms, and more. Many schools even have metal detectors, facial recognition, panic buttons, and software that can be used to analyze keywords in social media feeds.
All that is great: It’s solid technology that can help your security
team to see activity in and around the school and to control access. It also provides a security team with analytics and data. It’s what many school security teams have relied upon for years.
But there may be something missing—a solution that enables clear communications, specifically designed to secure the facility and detect and respond to security incidents. The best tools available for this are IP intercoms and bi-directional public address equipment, which are often overlooked in a school’s security technology strategy.
In an emergency, video surveillance may show a scene, yet some- one is not likely to run to a video camera when they need assistance. Instead, they are more likely to yell or scream: “I need help!” or “Help me!”
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Will that individual be clearly heard? Will they also hear instructions