Critical Audiovisual Technology for Stronger Campus Security

As campus security teams update their preparedness plans and crisis response, many are turning to audiovisual solutions to reinforce their presence from district-wide to the parking lot perimeter. Immediate solutions are video networks of cameras and paging systems, but how can other AV solutions support a campus emergency preparedness or security plan? Read below to find out.

Digital Signage
Controlled Access Points
Classroom Audio [Project Profile: JSerra Catholic Highschool]
Network/Security Operations Centers
Low Voltage Cabling and Wiring

Digital Signage: Crisis Messaging Delivery System

At its core, a campus-wide digital signage solution is a delivery system for disseminating communications across a network of displays. In terms of campus security, digital signage can provide crisis messaging to strategic locations to congregation areas such as a lobby, breakroom, or other spaces with a significant volume of foot traffic.

Security and crisis management teams can easily send prepared messages via a content management system in an emergency. Digital signage can supply additional messaging during other stages of a crisis plan such as wayfinding prompts, educational prevention videos, and keep-calm statements.

Thanks to multiple sizes and mounting options, digital displays are some of the most versatile technologies in the audiovisual industry. They have numerous use-cases outside of security and crisis messaging, allowing a greater return on investment by enhancing the way users interact and engage while maintaining operational efficiency. Their adaptability makes a digital signage network easily customizable to fit a site’s architecture and layout without requiring costly changes to its infrastructure.

When evaluating your emergency preparedness plan, consider the spaces in which a digital signage network can augment your messaging capabilities. Are there any rooms that are communication islands? Adding a digital display or signage network can increase the odds of your critical messaging reaching its audience.

Building Access Control: Entryway Security

Access Control systems are often multi-solution systems working in concert to prevent intrusion through monitoring, logging, and gatekeeping. They can be divided into two categories: open, hardware and software are interchangeable with other providers’ products, and proprietary, a system whose hardware only works with that provider’s software. When choosing an access control solution, it's important to understand which category you’re working with. Should you choose to upgrade or switch access control software in a proprietary system, the hardware will need to be changed as well.

Hardware in an access control solution typically consists of:

• Camera Network
• Control panel
• Reader
• Credential Pass

A second differentiator of access systems is the location of data storage and software. Legacy systems store this information on-site in a dedicated server room as opposed to a cloud-based system where information is stored in the cloud. Pre-existing infrastructure can often determine whether an organization can use cloud-based or legacy systems.

Classroom Audio: Point-to-Point Emergency Communication for Schools

School districts and other education-focused organizations have long used AV technologies to improve student performance but these same tools can also be integrated into the campus communication network, allowing teachers to discretely alert school administrators or campus security personnel of an incident.

In one such solution involving a microphone on a lanyard, a teacher could press a button on the microphone to transmit an alert to an in-room receiver. The receiver then sends that alert through the network to management software in the campus security center or admin office.

Project Profile: JSerra Catholic High School

JSerra Catholic High School, located in San Juan Capistrano, CA partnered with Avidex to standardize and modernize their entire campus, from technology-driven interactive classrooms to campus-wide security and infrastructure solutions. The new security system is supported by flexible and scalable software that allows cloud-based system access in addition to footage recording and image capture. JSerra's commitment to safety gives the students, staff, and parents peace of mind.

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Network and Security Operation Centers: The Decision Room

A Network Operations Center/Security Operations Center, otherwise known by the abbreviations NOC/SOC (read as Nock/Sock) is the brain of any campus security network. The spaces are extremely specialized in their functions and they are treated as projects of their own. The AV technology in an operations center is designed for fast and accurate data presentation, secure delivery, remote monitoring, and all-day operation.

Some solutions involved in an Operations Center:

• Video Walls
• Individual Workstations
• Mission Critical Consoles
• Campus-wide Paging

A campus operates with the responsibilities of a small city, with a large amount of potentially critical events and possible sources of information. A Network or Security Command Center can act as a holistic space for a security team to receive the information for quick decision-making. 

Additional Consideration: Low-Voltage Cable and Wiring

If a command center is the brain of the security body, the cable and wiring can be viewed as the nervous system. The low voltage cabling and wiring that connects these networks often require special certifications that not all AV integration firms hold, often requiring work to be outsourced to a third party. Multiple on-site installers open possibilities for project hang-ups and security risks more staff moving about the premises. An integrator with a deep list of certifications can reduce the need for third-party installers on your project and eliminate barriers to communication between project teams.

As organizations continue to evaluate their on-site security plans, AV integration firms can bring value to the conversation by identifying how audiovisual solutions can support those goals. Avidex offers a full suite of low-voltage, security, and infrastructure solutions to businesses, educational institutions, and healthcare campuses.

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