A critical factor that has made COVID-19 deadly is the speed at which it spreads. Despite desperate efforts to contain it, the virus continues to infect people worldwide.
A critical factor that has made COVID-19 deadly is the speed at which it spreads. Despite desperate efforts to contain it, the virus continues to infect people worldwide. At this stage, what more can security and related technology do to help?
“There are some simple improvements like changing to contact-less exit buttons and digital tokens such as QR codes for visitors management instead of using reusable cards,” said Patrick Lim, Director of Group Strategy at Ademco Security. “These are to prevent potential spread if anyone is indeed infected.”
Glenn Farrant, CEO of CriticalArc, pointed out that most organizations cannot selectively and efficiently communicate with their first aiders or medical response staff. When large organizations consider the need to respond to those afflicted with the Coronavirus, it’s clear this is an essential capability.
Managing information and resources
Custom-configuration of incident management solutions provide organizations with this capability in a matter of minutes. If the current situation deteriorates and it becomes essential to access a broader range of stakeholders, users can use such solutions to quickly visualize all their resources, communicate with them and respond with the full safety and security team.
“To enable organizations to send real-time updates and advice to their staff and students, CriticalArc has assisted several customers with configuring templated, mass communication messages, specific to the Coronavirus,” Farrant said. “For optimal results, universities need to verify their staff and student data is current and correct, and then use our solution, SafeZone, to deliver the relevant messages as needed alongside social media channels. CriticalArc also aids customers with using Single-Sign-On or our API to facilitate onboarding/offboarding, so communications are only sent to current staff and students.”
Farrant added that if the current situation with Coronavirus worsens, users may wish to consider establishing crisis management teams (Gold, Silver, and Bronze) as user groups within CriticalArc’s solution for real-time visualization and targeted communications which are group-specific.
“Over the coming months, the Coronavirus will raise significant challenges for higher education institutions and others as it spreads across the world in varying degrees,” Farrant concluded. “It’s not a question of if, but when organizations will need the functionality that SafeZone provides.”
Taking temperature monitoring further
Body temperature detection solutions can be further integrated with cameras that can take a snapshot of a person with the abnormal temperature. This can help to manage the personal information of the person. Other potential integrations include solutions to log events and review videos.
The use of more solutions is also something authorities can take further note of. For instance, Rich Barton, Technical Director at Optotherm, pointed out that compared to thermal cameras, many competing fever screening systems require a reference calibration source to be placed within view of the camera during operation to correct for camera inaccuracy.
“The use of an external reference source adds complexity, increases setup time, decreases portability, and places restrictions on the areas in which the system can operate,” Barton added. “Also, the use of a reference source can lead to significant instability and measurement errors if misalignment occurs between the camera and source or if environmental factors cause the source temperature to drift during operation.”
Product Adopted:Other