The situation
Protecting thousands of students, staff and visitors in buildings on large college or university campuses is a daunting task. Maintaining their safety as they cross hundreds of acres of outdoor open space is even greater challenge.
The challenge
Protect the outdoor spaces of a large college or university campus, making sure students, staff and visitors are secure outside dorms, on exercise paths or in remote parking facilities.
The solution
The
Aiphone IX Series IP-based emergency stations with embedded video intercom systems provide an easily recognizable island of safety on any campus. With a touch of a button, a distressed person can immediately speak with campus police. The station’s video and audio capabilities provide the important information dispatchers need to determine a response.
Administrators work diligently to make their campuses safer. And they have been largely successful. Federal statistics show during the past decade overall campus crime has decreased nationwide.
Still, cases of assault, robbery, theft and other crimes routinely occur on many campuses. The tools used to protect the indoor environment—locks, access control and burglar alarm systems—provide little to no value outdoors.
Outdoor security requires different solutions
This is where Aiphone IX Series IP-based emergency stations and blue light towers literally shine as a conduit between distressed people and campus police. Bright lights atop each Aiphone tower station make it easy to locate at night or during inclement weather. One button on the station’s embedded video intercom immediately links a person to police dispatchers. Once the station is activated, the tower lights flash to draw additional attention to the site.
Aiphone emergency stations are ideal for all campus areas, such as parking lots and garages, open spaces and running trails. They also provide comfort and safety in and around dorms, libraries, stairwells, recreation centers and near elevators. Stations should be placed so that at least two towers are within view, allowing a distressed person the option of choosing the closest unit.
Information—both visual and audio—takes on added importance outdoors. First responders need all the input they can get from emergency sites hundreds of yards away from the nearest dispatch center. Real- time audio and video help dispatchers quickly assess situations to provide appropriate response. As calls arrive, dispatchers immediately know the IX Series station’s precise location—helping to reduce response time. For campus police officers on regular patrol around campus, an Aiphone app is available to turn smartphones and tablets into roaming control centers.
Each video station’s wide angle camera captures clear, identifying views of people and their surroundings. A white illumination LED provides quality night video. Campus police can also use the cameras to monitor potential trouble spots before an emergency occurs.
But cameras are only as good as the monitors displaying the live video. Aiphone IX Series master stations are equipped with 3.5-inch direct-view TFT color LCD displays. The TFT technology provides the brightest and best resolution of all flat-panel techniques, helping to improve image resolution and addressability. And Aiphone has not forgotten the audio, making sure two-way conversations are clearly understood on both ends.
Audio also helps humanize the security function. During an emergency, a human voice can be far more reassuring than security cameras, fencing and bollards. Two-way communication over the intercom can be helpful in calming the victim while trying to collect more detailed information about the ongoing situation. The built in station-mounted speakers also allow broadcasting of live or recorded voice communication during an emergency.
Other advantages of Aiphone IX Series emergency stations include:
- They are always available—day and night
- A second call button facilitates non-emergency communications, such as visitors seeking directions to an administrative office or classroom building
- Both the towers and wall-mount stations are made of steel, making them weather and vandal resistant
- Stations provide peace of mind to pedestrians and act as a deterrent to criminals
One constant between securing indoor and outdoor security is the need for multiple security layers. Again, the IX Series shines as a single master station can control hundreds of emergency stations and non- emergency classroom and office stations, as well as act as a hub for security platforms such as those from Lenel, EMERgency 24, KapLogic and more. The system also easily integrates with surveillance cameras to provide a broader view of emergency locations.
Each campus has its own needs, so the IX Series is designed for maximum flexibility. The emergency towers offer two- or three-module designs available in a variety of heights to suit any location. Wall-mounted emergency boxes are ideal for placement on or inside buildings. Braille signage and adjustable call button heights allow them to comply with ADA standards. Towers are available in five standard colors in addition to a variety of custom paints to match school colors.
Aiphone’s IP-based IX Series stations connect to a campus network and draw Power-over-Ethernet using CAT-5e/6 cable, keeping dispatch/phone lines open. The IX Series eliminates the need and expense of traditional phone lines. Previously installed Aiphone two-wire audio only intercoms can easily be upgraded to the IP-based system with an Aiphone network adaptor.
With the Aiphone IX Series, campuses can start small and increase the number of emergency and non-emergency stations as needs change.
The stations are upgradable to future proof an investment for years to come. If a school already has towers installed around campus, Aiphone’s tower adaptor plate allow these existing towers to be re-used while modernizing communication infrastructure to the latest IP-based communication solution.
Aiphone prides itself on its customer support and service
Customer support representatives and the company’s QuikSpec website tool ensure the campus integrator or onsite installation team will accurately design the right system for any site.
Campus security has never been more important. Federal law mandates administrators report crimes against the people who live, work and visit a campus each day. Those reports are important factors when parents help their children select a college or university.
With Aiphone, security isn’t a niche—it is a necessity. That is why the IX Series emergency stations are designed and built with the same attention to detail and exacting standards dealers, integrators and campus users have come to expect from the world leader in intercom technology.