Safety and security are the most significant concerns for parents when sending children to college or university. The news of mass shootings and violent crimes on campuses in the US is making parents think twice before sending their children to universities.
However, on-campus housing security provides more assurance for students’ safety on campus grounds. Ready to learn more?
Keep reading to learn about the leading security technologies making campuses safer for students and helping parents to feel less anxious when sending their kids to school.
New Developments In Access Control Technology
If a child is living in on-campus housing, parents need assurance that they will be secure in their home and that an intruder will not steal their possessions. With traditional door locks and keys, lockpicking is always risky. This is why you should look for an on-campus housing facility with access control technology.
Access control employs keycards, fobs, door access keypads, or mobile credentials, allowing your child to enter their home while securing the building from intruders and eliminating the possibility of lockpicking. With this technology, the campus can ensure its facilities are only accessible to students and authorised staff members.
You should also consider opting for housing with a cloud-based access control system. Cloud-based access control solutions provide more proactive security in the following ways:
- Remote management – security professionals managing your child’s residence can manage security remotely from anywhere. They can lock doors from anywhere to ensure entries are not left unlocked for extended periods. And, if your child is locked out of the premises, they can call campus security, who can allow them into the building instantly. Your child won’t be left outside their building, vulnerable to passers-by.
- Remote offboarding – if a student reports their access fob or keycard stolen, campus police can immediately disable that credential, ensuring that no unauthorised user can enter the building using stolen credentials.
- Touchless entry – cloud-based access control facilitates the use of mobile access credentials instead of keycards and fobs. With this technology, students can enter the premises by waving their hand over the access reader, which will trigger remote communication with their device to unlock the door to their housing facility. Quicker entry reduces vulnerability to other pedestrians and ensures more hygienic building practices.
For these reasons, access control makes campus housing more secure for students, creating a more accessible and hands-on security strategy.
Cloud-Based Video Surveillance
Students are vulnerable on campus, and housing facility security staff is responsible for providing surveillance to ensure student safety. Cloud-based video surveillance ensures that security staff can view surveillance feeds from anywhere using their mobile devices. Increased visibility equals more safety for students and a likelihood of threat prevention.
Security staff, however, will likely miss important security events due to their inability to monitor video surveillance feeds consistently. For this reason, many school campus housing facilities are integrating video analytics technologies with their cloud-based surveillance systems.
A cloud-based surveillance system comes with open API integrations that allow for the application of video analytics. With video analytics, security staff will not miss any key security events. This is because video analytics automates video monitoring, creating alerts for security triggers and notifying staff of risk factors. The tool uses behavioural and object recognition to spot weapons and threatening behaviour.
Once security staff receive a notification of the security event, they can intervene immediately to ensure the students’ safety. Having alerts and immediate responses will ensure that no threats on campus go unaddressed.
Cloud-Based Alarm System And Automated Evacuations
Cloud-based alarm systems improve essential building health and safety features. Campus buildings are required by law to provide smoke, fire, and carbon monoxide detectors to ensure the health of their students. However, alarm requirements extend beyond these basic necessities.
For students to be safe in their homes, they need alarm systems that notify them and security staff of any break-ins or dangers. For instance, campuses now employ broken glass, intrusion, and gunshot detectors for campus housing facilities. With these systems, authorities can be notified when a potential danger is identified.
Opting for cloud-based alarm systems allows security staff to receive a mobile alert when the alarm is triggered. It also allows security teams to take advantage of the open API integrations to automate lockdown and evacuation procedures. By integrating cloud-based access control and alarm systems, security professionals can ensure all doors in the building unlock when a fire is detected on the premises. Additionally, it allows them to ensure lockdown procedures for all internal and external locks to ensure a violent incident is contained within the building, minimising the impact.
Summary
Technology is allowing security professionals to provide more safety for students while they live on campus – helping parents to feel less anxious about their children attending college. If you’re considering ways to make your campus residential property safer and more secure, you should consider the benefits of cloud-based security technologies. A crucial element in building management is ensuring safety and security for all residents.