Peekskill City School District Picks A+ Technology for Lockdown Solutions
The fully integrated security system with an emergency lockdown can be triggered by any school staff member in any building.
A+ Technology hired an outside school security firm to help design and build its system.
When the Peekskill City Schools District (Peekskill, N.Y.) was looking for a complete lockdown solution consisting of a fully integrated panic alert and camera security system, it turned to Bay Shore, N.Y.-based integrator A+ Technology & Security Solutions.
With the project coming on the heels of the tragic Parkland shooting, A+ Technology hired an outside school security firm, True Security Design, on its own to ensure optimal safety.
Together, the companies designed and built a fully integrated security system where an emergency lockdown could be triggered by any school staff member in any of the school’s seven-building locations, via multiple methods including a panic button, phone call, page, emergency pull-down and web application.
“The customer was interested in a complete Lockdown Solution, which included automated notification of emergencies and procedures to students, staff, administration and police. The goal was to automate as many tasks as possible to allow for a greater chance of all notifications reaching their intended parties. This included public address system integrations for prerecorded messages, phone system integration for auto-dialing of police, mail server integration for notification via email and text messages, strobe light visual notifications and software-based notification for the security staff,” explains Rick Cadiz, vice president of sales and marketing, A+ Technologies.
To get a true picture of a school’s “security profile,” A+ Technology and True Security Design had to look at it from the eyes of the potential attacker and ask, “If someone wanted to hurt your students or staff, how would they do it?”
A+ Technologies installed Gallagher door readers on 200 doors and integrated automatic lockdown from other systems. Aiphone video intercom systems were installed at all entryways to allow for screening of guests prior to entrance into the schools. Talk-A-Phone blue light strobes were installed in noisy areas where the PA could not be heard like the gyms, auditoriums, cafeterias and hallways.
The integrator also installed 300 Axis Communications IP cameras throughout the interior and exterior of each school building providing full viewing access to all public spaces. Cameras were a mix of fixed domes and p/t/z based on need, according to Cadiz. Milestone VMS pulls in all views from cameras, video intercoms and door alerts into a single system for easier management by security.
View images of the solution in the slideshow here.
This article originally ran in Campus Safety’s sister publication, Security Sales & Integration.
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