AT&T reveals new emergency school safety solution
Victoria Rees
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AT&T has announced a new solution to help enhance school safety and better protect students and faculty in the event of an emergency – powered by FirstNet, Intrado and AT&T ESInet.
According to AT&T, the solution can reduce emergency response times by seamlessly connecting school staff, school information systems, 911 call takers and first responders.
School safety
Fully compliant with Alyssa’s Law to enhance school safety, the new solution is comprised of:
- The FirstNet-certified Intrado Safety Shield mobile app that helps schools prevent, prepare for, respond to and recover from safety threats. The app includes a silent panic alarm, secure two-way faculty chat, digitized emergency response plans, role-specific response checklists, integration with school information systems to account for all children in an emergency and quickly reunite students with their parent/guardian and more
- A lightweight, wearable panic button for staff (i.e., teachers, bus drivers and administrators) that can send life-saving situational data to 911 while simultaneously and silently notifying campus-wide personnel via haptic vibration. FirstNet covers 250,000+ more sq. miles than commercial networks, so its benefits extend beyond school grounds to support emergencies during field trips, athletic and other events that occur off-campus, or simply during daily transportation
- The Intrado Safety Shield portal that provides key stakeholders with a single operational view for all emergency response activities across the district. With near real-time and automated mass notifications – spanning full-screen takeover desktop alerts to digital messages on desk phone screens – this hub unites fragmented systems and processes to help immediately communicate critical information
Increasing efficiency
AT&T says that the new school safety solution is more than just a panic button. Traditional panic buttons notify a preset individual who then contacts 911.
According to the company, it has removed the “middleman” by integrating directly into 911 call centers – also known as public safety answering points (PSAPs) – with their NextGen 911 solution like AT&T ESInet. The solution automatically works in any 911 center without adding new equipment or processes.
“Intrado and AT&T share a common commitment to prioritizing the safety and well-being of our communities and especially of our students, school staff and the surrounding communities and we remain dedicated to investing in technology that aligns with state and federal regulations, in order to safeguard their security,” said Jeff Robertson, CEO, Intrado Life & Safety, Inc.