The need for school security alarm systems is well documented. What’s less discussed is exactly how school systems can go about selecting the right security alarm to meet their needs, their budget constraints, and the other functionality they desire. Here are the top considerations to make as you search for the ideal alarm to protect and empower your schools, faculty, staff, and student body.
1. The Size of Your School District
How many campuses do you need to cover with alarms? The advantages of having a system-wide alarm are:
- You can train all of the employees together. You don’t have to have separate training sessions for each school.
- Workers are cross-trained on all the systems. If the campuses share staff like nurses, band directors, administrative staff, etc., they will know how to work any alarm in any facility they happen to be in when an emergency occurs.
- Maintenance is easier. All of the alarms are identical, and if purchased at the same time, it’s easier to track and stay on top of maintenance schedules for the entire district.
- It’s generally less expensive to acquire all your school security alarm systems together than to purchase and service each one separately.
2. Your Equipment Needs
School districts, unfortunately, are working on limited funds. They need systems that can multitask. A school security alarm system doesn’t have to be a single-function solution. The right system will enable emergency alerts, but will also provide regular communications features, such as cross-campus paging and discreet communications among faculty and staff. There’s no need to purchase, train on, and maintain two or three separate communications systems.
3. A System That is Simple to Use
In a stressful situation, it is essential that an alarm system is simple to use. The smartest folks in the world, provided with the best training available, can still go blank when they feel panicked. While those fancy, feature-packed systems look dazzling when the salesperson shows you those glossy pictures, a more basic, functional, intuitive system will be far superior in a true emergency. Whether your faculty is trying to deal with a staff member who has collapsed, an unruly group of students, or an intruder on campus, they need a system with a simple button to press to summon help — fast.
4. The Features the System Provides
A simple-to-use system doesn’t have to mean a stripped-down, basics-only system. You can get a school security alarm system that has state-of-the-art features and functionality, but is still simple and intuitive to use. Features like the ability to acknowledge receipt of a message, notify a group, inform responders of what emergency is unfolding and where — all of these are available on a system that’s a cinch to operate.
5. Total Cost of Ownership
When choosing an alarm system for your school or school district, consider what you’re getting for what price. If you are forced to make trade-offs like sacrificing features you truly need, then the lowest price isn’t the best indicator of value. Consider things like the initial cost of the system, the installation costs, how quickly the system can be installed, the features you’re getting, the ease of training on and using the system, and what ongoing maintenance of the system will cost. Don’t just compare initial cost to initial cost. Compare total lifetime costs of each system. Some are cheaper up front, but come with lots more maintenance, troubleshooting, and repairs over time, driving the total costs of ownership much higher than a system that’s more expensive on the front end.
Why wait? You can get the system you need with the features you desire, all at a price you’ll be proud to tell the teacher about! Request a quote today.
