Aside from education, keeping students safe while at school is the most important priority for staff members and parents alike. An integral part of your school’s safety precautions and security measures should include a fire alarm system. Not only do fire alarm systems allow both students and faculty to be spatially aware of their environment in the case of a fire, but it ensures that proper and timely action is taken in the event of a real fire. Fire alarm systems play a vital role in the overall safety of schools.
Fire Alarms Are Vital To Schools
Although there are many key systems that go into operating a school, a properly functioning fire alarm system is one of the most important. Safety is at the top of parents’ minds when they send their children to school, and they entrust the school and officials to keep their children safe while they’re at school. They also expect the school to be equipped to handle any emergency situation in order to protect their children. A fire alarm system gives both parents and school staff the confidence that they will be able to respond to a fire if one occurs.
In the event that a fire does happen, a fire alarm system quickly alerts everyone inside the building and in close proximity of a potential threat. Once the fire alarm system is activated by the threat of a fire, a student or staff member can alert the rest of the school that there is a real fire and it is not a drill or accident. In addition, a fire alarm system must be able to notify the authorities, including the police and firefighters, to take action. In order for your fire alarm system to be fully operational, it should be regularly serviced and follow inspections by a certified fire protection company, like Sonitrol Security. Not only are regular inspections required by law, but they improve and enhance the overarching safety of the entire school.
Integration Equipped For Any Emergency
A fire alarm system is ultimately designed to handle fire emergencies but it can further enhance your school’s overall safety and security when integrated with other systems. Your fire alarm system can be integrated with the managed access control system, security surveillance system, and communication system within your school. By integrating all of the aforementioned systems, your school can be better prepared to handle any emergency situation from a fire to a break-in. If the integrated systems detect a threat, fire, or the press of a panic button, our central monitoring station will be notified which will then alert the proper authorities to quickly get help to the scene.
Advantages of Integrating All Of Your Security Systems
There are many advantages to integrating a school’s fire, security, and other safety systems. In general, an integrated fire and security system can increase how quickly an emergency situation is handled. When your school’s systems are integrated, students and faculty can be quickly alerted of an emergency situation and respond accordingly. Additionally, authorities can receive critical information regarding the situation and respond in a timely and effective manner.
The main benefits of integrating your fire and security communication systems include:
- Cost Savings – The integration of both fire and other security systems can also help school administrators save time and money. This allows maintenance and regular inspections to be more efficient and cost-effective.
- Improved Safety & Security – Every integrated system is further improved by providing new capabilities that they didn’t have before. In the event of a fire alarm, the communication system can be used to verify a fire and automatically unlock exit doors to allow students to exit and first responders to enter the building.
- User-friendly – Operating one system for all of your school’s security efforts is more convenient and easier to manage than having multiple individual systems. School faculty can have better knowledge of how to use one system more efficiently than limited knowledge of multiple to navigate during an emergency.
- Quicker Response Time –With an integrated system, there are fewer false alarms because fires can be confirmed quicker. Authorities can also be better prepared to handle the emergency situation when notified earlier.
Enhance Your School’s Security Through Sonitrol’s Systems
If your school’s fire protection, access control, security, and emergency communication systems aren’t fully integrated into one, easy-to-use interface, contact us today for a fire, safety, and security consultation. Our fire and security experts can help engineer a system that will enhance the safety and security of your students and faculty. We can also perform routine inspections and maintenance to ensure your school’s life safety systems are always up to code and operating properly.
Get started today with a free security assessment from us!