Verified Electronic Security
At Sonitrol Security, we know that keeping your students and staff safe is your top priority—it’s ours too. Threats to safety, like fires and violence, are a terrifying reality for students, parents, teachers, and administrators in our communities. With gun violence increasing and bullying on the rise across the nation, we want to do everything in our power to keep students safe while at school. As times change, measures of security need to keep up with these changes.
School security has always been important, but today it might look a little different as some schools across the country reopen during the pandemic and others remain closed, choosing to instead teach their students virtually. Sonitrol security systems are designed to protect students on campus and the school building while unoccupied.
Keep reading to learn more about why school security is so crucial and how Sonitrol security systems can help keep everyone safe in the easiest, most comprehensive ways possible. These systems and thorough emergency plans have the ability to provide a safer learning environment and a long-term plan centered around school safety.
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There are many factors that go into the need for security in schools, including the threat of gun violence. School faculty, parents, and students all need to understand the importance of school security and the ways that they can be a part of the conversation and solution for keeping our schools safe.
The best ways to keep a school secure, whether or not students are in attendance, are to have systems in place that allow for prevention and planning ahead. Educating school staff members of the proper measures to take in the event of an emergency is the first step to feeling safer in schools.
It’s also important to note that students can feel safe even if they don’t always see the thorough safety measures in place. Safety training, using the example we just mentioned, is something that is crucial during an emergency and helps keep students, faculty, and staff safe during any type of emergency. Plus, with Sonitrol’s two-step verification technology, the authorities can know what’s happening inside the building before they even arrive on campus.
In light of the pandemic, we should also mention the importance of securing schools when they are not in session. Schools are prime locations for vandalism and theft if the proper security is not put in place. We want your schools to be safe (and healthy!) when they are able to welcome their kids in again. IS YOUR FACILITY SECURE?
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Security systems are helpful in any industry to prevent vandalism and theft or to aid in the apprehension of criminals. The role of security systems in schools is a little different. While prevention and apprehension are still a part of school security, the biggest reason these systems are necessary is safety for students and employees. Sonitrol not only wants everyone on school grounds to be safe in the event of an emergency, but also to help provide a safe and enjoyable learning environment.
Bullying is a major issue in schools. Bullying is common, frequent, and too often not taken seriously enough. One in every five kids report being bullied at school. Bullied students are at increased risk for depression, anxiety, sleep difficulties, lower academic achievement, and dropping out of school.
One of the top roles that security plays in schools is to keep students safe from other students. Bullies are less likely to act out if they feel they are constantly being watched. With security cameras and video monitoring solutions in place, bullies will face repercussions for their actions and be less likely to act out in the future.
Security systems and bully prevention can work together by letting students know there are consequences for bullying, having measures in place to prevent bullying, helping to identify bullies, and providing support for bullied students.
There is no kind of security system that will keep students safe 100% percent of the time, there are only plans and measures that can be put in place to help combat acts of violence and crime and other threats to school safety. It is always better to have these measures in place, however. Prevention is the key to minimizing violence.
Installing security cameras out of students’ reach but where they are visible around the school has been shown to deter criminal activity. At minimum, the use of security cameras will reduce theft, vandalism, false alarms, and more. Video surveillance strategically placed in and around schools has also been shown to deter illicit behavior on school property. In the event that an incident occurs, the cameras are there to capture any evidence and ensure action is taken as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Schools should be in control of every person who enters and exits the building, particularly those who are not students or staff, in order to keep everyone safe. Monitoring visitors inside and outside the building decreases the chance of unexpected or dangerous people entering the school.
Video surveillance, intercom systems, and managed access control systems, allow school administrators to detect visitors, assess the situation, and allow entry is deemed safe. Managed access control systems are easier to use than expensive locks and allow schools to track movement and restrict access by location and time of day.
The top priority for schools, and for us, is to ensure the best quality education for students and maximum safety while on school grounds. Everyone, including students, teachers, faculty, and parents want to feel confident that they are in a safe and comfortable learning environment. By adding video surveillance into your security solution, you will have peace of mind knowing that you are providing your school with the best comprehensive security measures available. Confidence in the school’s safety measures will lead to the best outcomes for education.
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As we’ve mentioned before, having a plan in place is the first and most important step to preventing threats to school safety. Safety measures and training help keep everyone in the building—students, faculty, and staff—safe in the event of an emergency, whether the threat is something like a fire or a dangerous person on the premises.
An all-encompassing school security system will meet all of your building’s safety needs and maintain security for everyone inside. From video surveillance and managed access control to audio detection and fire prevention, a security system should cover all of the bases when it comes to safety.
A strong security system can include things like panic buttons, so teachers or students can alert officials of a threat; video monitoring and audio detection, for real-time surveillance; and a fire alarm system, to alert authorities and prevent as much loss and damage as possible. We also recommend comprehensive safety and emergency training for all faculty and staff.
Keeping children safe is everyone’s responsibility. In order for your security system to be effective, parents, teachers, administrators, and anyone involved need to be informed on the best security practices and security system use. Making your school’s community aware of the security plan that you have in place can prevent an attack before it even occurs. In addition, providing this information will ease the minds of both the students and parents. Overall, your plan for maximum security efforts will increase the confidence of your entire community.
We can’t encourage safety training enough. Safety training and teachings should be incorporated into students’ and faculty’s learning to ensure that emergency proceedings are run as smoothly as possible. Increasing situational awareness across the entirety of the school will allow students to know what, when, and where something is occurring in their environment. The sooner a threat is detected, the faster it can get addressed and resolved.
Even effective security systems need to be reevaluated and assessed for efficiency from time to time. Patterns in crime rates fluctuate and the safety needs of your school may shift with these changes. With the growth of the school and the communities in which we live, it is important to adapt to the natural changes we encounter over time. New technologies must be integrated into your current systems to adjust to advances within the market, as well.
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The use of security cameras in school systems across the United States has become a necessity over the last several decades. Security cameras are useful for many reasons on the campuses of schools. They help prevent crime and misbehaving, but also give school officials and authorities an inside look at the building in the event of an emergency.
When combined with other security technology, an internet-based digital video system is the ultimate safety measure for schools. The audio detection system is used to listen for any suspicious activity and the video surveillance system is used to capture all activity, recording anything and everything so that you can see and hear what goes on in and outside of your school.
Another benefit of using security cameras in schools, aside from maintaining safety across your school grounds, is discouraging misbehavior or misconduct by students. Security cameras that are strategically placed around your campus, visible to students and staff, have been found to reduce threats of violence and crime and encourage good behavior.
With Sonitrol, you have eyes and ears on your building at all times. Should a threatening event occur, our team of security experts is watching and listening to verify the threat and dispatch law enforcement. When the Sonitrol audio system is activated due to a threatening event, our video surveillance technology immediately starts recording. While this is happening, our dispatchers are working with police officers, letting them know where the threat is located in your school building, aiding in capturing and stopping the threat.
Sonitrol cameras can also be set for motion activation and have controls for sound. This means that if someone goes to an area in which they are not supposed to be, the camera will be activated and you will be notified via message, call, or text. This is extremely helpful when the school is closed overnight, during extended breaks, or facing closures from the pandemic when fewer people are on campus and actively monitoring the facility.
The clearest and most important reason to choose video surveillance for your school is to provide a safe environment for teachers, students, and staff. Cameras that are regularly monitored are able to monitor students, watch for situations that may become aggressive or escalate, and attempt to keep bullying to a minimum. Video and audio detection allows school officials to have an additional set of eyes and ears to see and hear what goes on around the school at any given time.
Video surveillance systems come in handy especially when there is an emergency situation inside of a school. Authorities are able to make more accurate and timely judgment calls when they have the ability to visually assess the situation. This leads to faster and safer evacuations and notifications and more efficient securing of school grounds if there is a dangerous situation occurring.
Prevention can go a long way when it comes to school safety, though. Installing security cameras out of children’s reach but where they are clearly visible has shown that it can deter some types of malicious activity. At the very least, installing cameras will deter theft, vandalism, false alarms, etc. Video surveillance has also shown to deter illicit behavior by minors on school property. Security cameras can be placed in and around the school to monitor any and all types of situations.
As we previously mentioned, the use of security cameras is also highly valuable to control visitor monitoring in and out of schools. Through the use of security cameras, you are able to visually see and detect who is entering or exiting your school at any given time. The control of visitor monitoring allows your students and staff to continue freely moving around the campus without any distractions.
The administrative staff is able to monitor who is attempting to enter the building at any given entrance of the school and ensure they properly sign in for visitation or are denied entrance if deemed unsafe. Having this additional measure of security will give you peace of mind that your students and staff will remain safe even in emergency situations and alert the authorities as quickly as possible to arrive on the scene to mitigate the situation.
At Sonitrol, we understand the burden it is to integrate your current and old security systems when you upgrade your software. You want to easily be able to use both and reap the safety benefits of all security systems you possess. This is why we have made our security systems easy to install with your existing software for an easy transition and to allow you to start using your security cameras as quickly as possible.
Another benefit of a video monitoring system combined with our security camera system is its capability to easily integrate with our managed access control and fire protection features. These safety features will keep your school protected from more than just break-ins and intruders.
With any of our options, we are able to design, install, and maintain complete video surveillance systems for your schools based on all of your security needs. No matter where you’re located, inside or outside of the school, you will be able to monitor and surveil your school grounds through the use of our system’s technology.
More than anything, Sonitrol wants your schools to be safe so that everyone—students, faculty, and staff—can feel confident and safe in the learning environment. By adding video surveillance into your security strategy, you will have better peace of mind knowing that you are providing your school with the best comprehensive security measures you have available.
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Aside from education, keeping students safe while at school is the top priority for staff members and parents alike. An integral part of your school’s safety precautions and security measures must 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.
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. They trust that officials are 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.
A fire alarm system is designed to alert everyone of fire emergencies, but it can also further enhance your school’s overall safety and security when integrated with other systems. By integrating all of your security 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, the central monitoring station will be notified which will then alert the proper authorities to quickly get help to the scene.
There are many advantages to integrating a school’s fire, security, and other safety systems. The main benefits of integrating your fire and security communication systems include cost savings, improved safety and security, ease of use, and quicker response time. 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.
To learn more about fire alarm systems and integrating with your other security systems check out this blog.
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You’ve seen us mention managed access control systems in this article already, but the benefits only get better from there. Although our managed access control system can positively impact businesses and organizations across a wide variety of industries, we are particularly proud of the ways in which it benefits schools. For starters, one of the main advantages of access control is simply controlling and monitoring anyone who enters or exits your building.
Managed access control can save schools the hassle of depending on a lock-key system to secure the entries and exits of your building. Locks and keys are only so safe, but a managed access control system works through both key-card access and a buzzer system that school officials can control. The system also documents time entries, attendance, and a timeclock of hours for visitors and staff members which can easily be referenced for future use.
Additionally, this system allows for restricted access to certain areas that can be customized by time of day and location. This easily allows you to prevent students and others from accessing areas that only school officials should be able to get into. Our access control system will give you reports of any entry into the building, restricted areas, or reports of employees attendance/time – making it efficient to keep your building and everyone inside of it safe.
The goal of the managed access control system is to have all of your school’s security measures accessible and easy to use. That said, access control can also manage your school’s HVAC, elevators, and lighting systems.
Sonitrol’s managed access system can be easily integrated with all of the other systems we offer. All of our plans, from fire alarms to audio/visual detection, work cohesively together and when combined make a comprehensive plan for safety on your campus. Implementing a system such as managed access control will boost everyone’s sense of safety when they are on school grounds.
For more information on managed access control visit this page or check out this blog to learn more about how this system can benefit your school.
Sonitrol Values School Security
School safety and security are just as important to us as it is to you. We want to be a partner when it comes to securing your school and keeping all students, faculty, and staff safe. At Sonitrol, we offer a comprehensive line of security systems specifically with schools in mind. Our security solutions are backed by and made with our unique audio and video verification technology, which allows us to hear and see what is happening inside of your school at any given time.
If an incident does occur and your students’ and faculty’s safety are at risk, our systems alert the local authorities, allowing them to arrive quickly and with more information to assess the situation before they even arrive on the school grounds. Police response time is faster with Sonitrol than a conventional security system alarm. Our intelligent technology verifies a threat, alerts the authorities, and leads to a high rate of apprehension.
Our products can be easily integrated into your school’s existing systems by our expert team of trained professionals. Then it will be closely monitored by our Sonitrol Monitoring Center local to you. We want to set you up for success now and for the future, to prevent future break-ins, burglaries, and crime on your campuses.
Keep your students, staff, and community safe this year and every year in the future with our systems. If you’re ready to take your school’s safety to the next level, you can get started with a free safety assessment today. Safety can’t wait. Find out more about how Sonitrol can protect your school by contacting us here.
Our Security Consultants are ready to answer your questions.
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