By Adam Petrovsky, GovEd Practice Leader, Logicalis US
With thousands of violent crimes taking place on college campuses all across America every year, it’s crucial that university executives ask themselves if they’ve deployed the newest, most technologically sophisticated digital security solutions on the market to help protect their students and discourage criminal activity.
Three of the most important safety solutions that every college campus should have in place include:
- Video surveillance systems that employ commercial tamper-proof, ruggedized cameras that run on an IP network.
- Access control solutions that turn cell phones into password-protected or biometric access keys using near-field communications to activate building proximity sensors. You might also want to consider automated workflows that can control access through any entry points on campus – a door or sequence of doors, windows, buildings, even entrances to the campus itself – through a series of exciter technologies.
- Emergency notification systems that can push text, video and voice messages to cell phones, IP phones and digital displays, reaching thousands of students, faculty, staff, parents and first responders with important and potentially life-saving information in mere seconds.
And, now that security solutions have largely shifted from analog to digital, it’s also time to reassess who within the university system is responsible for the management of these solutions. In the past, analog solutions were largely the domain of security personnel, while IT handled computing solutions and services for the campus and its network of faculty, students and staff. Today, however, as security solutions have undergone their own digital transformations, the lines between the two have blurred, and many colleges are finding themselves in the unusual – and costly – position of running two separate networks that could more cost-effectively be managed as one.
Working with a trusted and experienced IT solution provider that knows the ins and outs of security and can help assess your network infrastructure, data storage, and redundancy needs will ensure any new solution you deploy will work seamlessly with your existing infrastructure. It’s also critical to conduct regular drills and to test emergency preparedness systems monthly and ensure they’re ready to do their job when needed most.
Want to learn more? Explore Logicalis’ GovEd microsite to learn about our expertise in IT solutions for government and education, then read our recent GovEd news as well as a series of related blog posts from Logicalis experts. Learn about our custom-designed physical security solutions, then download a datasheet to see how Logicalis’ GovEd practice can help colleges and universities use technology to provide a borderless digital learning environment. Finally, examine five of the top IT security challenges K12 CIOs face every day.