How To Enhance School Surveillance

By Peace of Mind Technologies | March 6, 2018

As parents, teachers, and students continue to heal from recent campus tragedies and the national discussion on school security continues, the idea of enhancing school surveillance has moved to the forefront. If there’s one thing all parties seem to agree on, it’s that the days of antiquated methods are over when it comes to school security. No longer will old-fashioned paper and clipboard rosters suffice to account for students in an emergency. As we learn about deficiencies in the system that was in place at the site of the shooting in Parkland, Florida, there’s a lot of talk about finding better ways to keep our kids safe. Here are some important things to note.

1. School Surveillance Cameras Must be Set Correctly

In Florida, it turned out the school’s camera system was severely delayed. Those who were viewing what they thought was live surveillance footage were actually looking at video that was behind by a full 20 minutes. With that in mind, school administrators should always make sure the campus video system is adjusted to the world clock time for the applicable time zone. The world clock time for your city can easily be found online – and in fact, your iPhone is already set to it. Your school surveillance system should be, too.

2. Preventive Maintenance Matters

Most responsible car owners know this principle, and it certainly applies to security systems as well. Fortunately, staying on top of preventive maintenance and ensuring the software that powers the system is accurate and up to date has become much easier. There are subscription-based security services that include software monitoring and free or discounted upgrades to the latest version of security software; if your campus doesn’t currently have a subscription to one, it is highly recommended.

3. Mobile Control Tools Can Help

Counting heads, manually locking down schools, making guesses…as we know all too well in the aftermath of recent events, these practices are no longer effective. It’s time for schools to consider a more technologically advanced solution that will help them account for the whereabouts of students, communicate with each other quickly, and automatically lock doors when a crisis strikes. One such solution is Ruvna, a mobile application that does all of those things and more. Ruvna allows all employees of a subscribing school to access the app from their smartphones and gain better control over critical situations. It can also be integrated with the campus panic alarm or other school surveillance technology, so that the moment an alarm is triggered, an automatic lockdown happens.

To discuss any of the options described here, contact POM Technologies. We will be happy to speak with you about ways to enhance your school surveillance.

About POM Technologies

Peace Of Mind Technologies is a New York City security company that has delivered site-specific, cost-effective security solutions to facilities throughout the greater New York Metro area since 2002. We aren’t your average security company. Contact us at (212) 688-2767 or info@pom-tec.com to request a free security analysis, or reach out via the contact form below.