Christopher Columbus High School Enlists AtlasIED, Singlewire for Campus-Wide Alerts
AtlasIED’s IPX Series incorporates campus safety measures with the help of Singlewire Informacast integration.
Christopher Columbus High School in Miami, Fla., uses AtlasIED and Singlewire to ensure campus-wide alerts reach listeners both indoors and outdoors.
With a campus stretching across 24 acres and four major buildings, the private all-boys Catholic school ensures communications are broadcasted to all on campus by relying on AtlasIED and its IPX Series of IP Endpoints with InformaCast® Mass Notification Software from Singlewire®.
From the opening bell to the moment the last person leaves school grounds, the IPX Series drives communications between everyone on campus, according to a press release from the company. In addition to the daily bell schedules, meditations, announcements, intercom, and prayers, which can be live or pre-recorded and played directly from an administrator’s phone, AtlasIED’s IPX Series incorporates campus safety measures with the help of Singlewire Informacast integration.
InformaCast by Singlewire is a mass notification software that allows schools and facilities of all sizes to reach people on their mobile and on-campus devices. In an emergency, InformaCast, with IPX, delivers attention-grabbing audio and written messages to the devices of faculty, students and parents, and alerts law enforcement.
“With such a large campus and students as young as 14 years old, you have to be ready to communicate to them immediately,” said Alex Seage, Senior Director of Technology and Innovation at CCHS. “Having this system in place has really helped us communicate and get the word out to keep the campus safe.”
Singlewire’s InformaCast software integrates into the 120 different AtlasIED IPX speakers and visual displays installed throughout CCHS classrooms. In addition to classroom endpoints, CCHS employs 20 IP horns to deliver wide and intelligible audio coverage throughout campus common areas, parking garages, and lots. Between the in-classroom speakers and displays and outdoor horns, the IPX Series directs clear, comprehensive notifications throughout the CCHS campus.
AtlasIED’s IPX Series features a range of IP endpoints to address the school’s communications needs. The network-ready endpoints feature power over ethernet (PoE+) capabilities to aid in the installation process with fewer cables. PoE+ capabilities offer added scalability benefits, enabling CCHS to expand its system as the school continues to improve campus communications, says the company.
All IPX Series endpoints feature an onboard Class D amplifier and a PFMS port to power additional system speakers and deliver intelligible announcements. CCHS also has the ability to input local audio sources, such as music or voice lift, into the endpoints, output audio to external devices, or dispatch pre-recorded, critical alert messages. In addition, the IPX Series enables administration and faculty to communicate with one another through two-way paging and intercom capabilities.
In addition to high-performance audio delivery, the IPX Series ensures ADA compliance with scrolling text, flashing, and color-changing LED screens to supplement auditory announcements. Apart from mission-critical announcements, CCHS uses the IPX Series for routine functions such as displaying the time and sharing day-to-day messages about school activities.
AtlasIED’s IPX Series featuring Singlewire’s Informacast helps give parents peace of mind by knowing they will receive timely and clear notifications about any school emergency, the company says. Singlewire integration also ensures students and faculty receive a clear notice on the required emergency actions with auditory lockdown warnings and evacuation routes on classroom displays or other situational updates.
“Technology is expected. Technology is no longer something that is optional and helpful. It is expected in everyday life,” said Seage. “Having the right tools creates a better learning environment for the students, a better teaching environment for the teachers, a better safety environment for the administration.”
The installation was led by Florida-based United Data Technology (UDT).
“UDT has been a partner of Columbus for many years,” said Joe Montesinos, Senior Account Manager, UDT. “The administrators at Columbus are aware that K-12 is UDT’s core business, so they know that when we come with a solution to solve a problem, they trust us because of our track record in investigating and developing end-to-end solutions.”
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