Ways to improve your Emergency Phone investment

Emergency Communications plays an important role in today's busy and not always so safe campus environment. Acquiring Call Boxes/Emergency Phones is a great way to improve campus security and safety, but it also creates a powerful cross-functional platform that can maximize the potential of your investment for years to come.

Rule Number One – Let it be Heard

Despite the general belief, Emergency Phones are not just a way to connect to a security officer when an emergency situation arises: many Emergency Phone towers can be easily upgraded with high-power broadcasting speakers, ensuring that the campus personnel can issue a long-range mass notification broadcast in the event of emergency.

Rule Number Two – Let it be Seen

Emergency Phone Towers can also include LED signage, which can display critical information in case of an emergency. Utilizing both visual and audible sensory modalities can greatly enhance the chances of message delivery, especially to hearing impaired individuals.

Rule Number Three – Add a Set of Eyes

A simple upgrade can turn an Emergency Phone tower into an all-seeing verification and assessment device. By adding an embedded CCTV camera into an Emergency Phone unit, you can quickly verify the originator of the call and assess the urgency of the situation. Even a better use of video surveillance technology is adding a Pan-Tilt-Zoom camera atop the tower: giving security personnel situational awareness of the scene over greater areas.

Rule Number Four – Layers, Layers, Layers

Initial investment into Emergency Phones can prove to carry a lot more functionality with layered approach to Mass Notification, playing an important role in notifying faculty members, staff, students and visitors on your campus. Augmenting the existing equipment with broadcasting units, LED signage, or surveillance cameras can significantly improve the chances of reaching the intended audience, while keeping a close eye on the situation at hand.

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This document is not intended to, and does not, constitute legal advice of any kind, and should not be relied upon as such. Readers are encouraged to contact their own counsel regarding such issues.

Copyright Talk-A-Phone Co., 2009. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without prior permission.