Understanding the Nuances of Integrated Hospital Security and Safety Systems: Saving Time, Money and Lives
It’s no secret that technology has exponentially increased the ability of hospitals to operate more efficiently, protect patients and staff in new ways, and of course improve services. With all this new tech, things can get confusing. The sheer amount of technology in a hospital after years of installations can cause a drop in efficiency rather than improving it. For many hospitals, it may be time to begin thinking seriously about technology integration.
Technology tools are commonly added one at a time as a hospital can afford them or as problems arise and solutions are found. Violence in an emergency room, for example, may lead to the purchase of new surveillance cameras and access controls – a type of technology that tends to be one of the first upgraded safety and security tools a hospital feels it can afford to install. In fact, after a violent event, many hospitals believe they can’t afford NOT to install these tools.
6 Vulnerabilities Even Your Firewall May Be Missing – and a Free Solution
Firewalls have become a standard tool for stopping malicious network activity. We have become increasingly complacent with our firewalls to the extent that we often fail to see what they might be missing. As technology – and malicious activities – advance, it’s natural for older firewall technology to fall short in their ability to uncover the latest vulnerabilities. For that reason, it’s critical to reevaluate firewall activity periodically and ensure the equipment in place is keeping up with current threats.
Unfortunately, not all firewalls are created equal, and their size and capabilities tend to be misunderstood. Even the most vigilant IT departments can miss things if the firewall is not quite right. This article will flag several gaps in protection you may not know you have and spotlight a method of getting your wall of protection as tight as possible.
Is cloud-based video management a fit for retail physical security? Here’s when it makes sense…
A multi-location retail security solution typically comes down to two components: (1) use hardware and software to prevent loss and (2) make it cost effective. In the past, these two needs have pushed against one another — the more effective the loss prevention, the higher the price of the hardware, software and services needed.
Now, with the adoption of cloud solutions for physical security these two targeted needs are becoming more closely aligned. In other words, the best technology is improving effectiveness and getting less expensive in certain scenarios.
Are cloud-based solutions right for your enterprise? Brian Freeman, National Sales Manager with Prime Communications Inc. (PCI), said it depends. “Using cloud applications for physical retail security is not right for everyone. The common belief is that everybody’s doing everything in the cloud, but there is a point where the technology is prohibitive based on the size of the deployment.”
This article discusses the benefits of cloud-based video management for physical retail security, explains how it works, and provides three scenarios to help you visualize how such a system might be used in your operation.
How to Manage Active Shooter Incidents in K – 12 Schools: Pairing Technology with Strategy
It was about 2 p.m. one afternoon when Shannon Neubauer found himself walking down an empty hallway at the Nebraska junior high school he had attended nearly 25 years earlier. As he reminisced, he heard sounds coming from the boys’ bathroom. He walked through the doorway and saw three students attacking a fourth boy. He was aware only school personnel should intervene, so he quickly exited and notified a teacher across the hall.
It was pure luck that Shannon happened to be passing by the restroom. The irony is that he is a security professional by trade, who was at the school to discuss installing additional cameras and other equipment to an existing unified security platform – with audio elements that can “listen” 24 hours a day for incidents just like the one he witnessed.
“Technology is giving us a way to take fallible humans out of safety situations, and that’s a good thing, especially when it comes to active shooter situations in K – 12 schools,” Neubauer said. “People can’t be everywhere at once. And we can’t always depend on humans to follow through in the heat of the moment.”
It’s not unusual for training to fail during a violent event. “During a panic, the school secretary may forget to press a panic button, or they might be the first one targeted by a shooter,” Neubauer explained, “If a manual panic button protocol fails for whatever reason, then lives are doubly at risk.”
Schools are not the only ones that need to remove the human element when seconds count. As technological tools have advanced over the past few decades, schools, retail establishments, government buildings and many other venues increasingly have been able to use technology to improve security – and save lives.
Today’s best-practices for school security systems are composed of three main elements: access control, event detection and response, and having these all feed into a unified security platform.
The key is to combine technology with well-thought-out strategies and training.
Integrator Vetting Survey: 10 Questions to Ask a New Business-Technology Integrator to Ensure their Success, and Yours
A business-technology integrator’s level of expertise and capabilities are often unknown quantities until you’ve had a chance to work with them closely on a project. All too often, they struggle to deliver what they said they could and then you end up with an even worse problem than you started with – or you spend a great deal of money and realize you’re not getting what you expected from it.
“You’d be surprised at how many enterprises tolerate companies who consistently fall short of delivering on their commitments,” said Brian Freeman, National Sales Manager of Prime Communications Inc. (PCI). “Things fall through the cracks due to a lack of process and there’s no way to know what’s going on until you have to deal with those problems on top of the technology needs you had in the first place.”