7 Technologies That Promote School Safety

In the event of an emergency, desktop alerts allow for warnings to pop up on the screen of every campus computer on your network. Many schools find this to be a great option to supplement traditional mass messaging software that send alerts via email or text. If a student or faculty member is working in an area that does not have great cell service or wireless, they are still able to see a notification on their desktop computer. While many K-12 districts are moving towards mobile devices like laptops and tablets, this type of desktop messaging tool is still very beneficial.

Electronic access control is much safer and more effective than traditional key access. While many schools have this sort of access control at the main entrance, few have key card access available at side entrances or anywhere in the building. If a teacher loses an electronic key card, that card is simply deactivated so anyone who may find the card cannot enter the building. A new ID card is then printed and issued to the faculty member. If a traditional key is lost, the lock needs to be changed and new keys need to be issued for everyone, which can be incredibly costly for the district.

There are a number of products on the market that allow teachers to wear a panic button. If trouble arises, they push the button and an alert is sent to the the authorities and to school administrators to make everyone aware of a threat in the building. Many of these panic buttons also double as voice amplification systems and can be worn around the neck as microphones. Others are simply a clip on device

Pictured here is the Inovonics Mobile Duress panic button.

This type of software is used to prevent cyber bullying or school violence by detecting it before it happens. Pictured here is Social Net Watcher, which sits on the back of students’ social media accounts once they opt in to the service. It then scans posts against a proprietary database and alerts school officials to messages that pertain to school violence, suicide or cyber bullying. The goal is to allow the school to intervene before anything serious occurs. Tools like this have been used to successfully prevent teen suicide and school violence.

If you only invest in one communication tool then mass messaging software should be it. Tools like e2campus, pictured here, allow schools to send messages to parents, faculty, staff and students when there is a threat. These messages can be in the form of email, voice or text. Even if you are lucky enough to never have to use this technology during an emergency, it is still a helpful communication tool for sending important reminders or notices to the school community.

A video surveillance system may help to deter people from criminal acts. While it may not be reasonable to expect to have a staff member monitor the cameras full time, they are great after action devices.

A visitor management system quickly scans the ID of any school visitor to check for red flags in their background. Pictured here is the Raptor vSoft Visitor Check-in System.