It is unfortunate that our schools are on such high alert that they have to monitor and enhance their security to keep students, teachers, and administrators safe.   School security has become a top concern for all given the prevalence of violence and threats of violence in schools of all grades.  As more tragedies occur, the demand for the most comprehensive and robust school security technology is rising.  Thankfully, technology provides the best solution to manage this challenge effectively through a visitor management system for schools. Why Technology is the Best Visit ..read more

It was a call that no parent wants to get – even a parent who is a seasoned retired policeman who also happens to lead a national safety company.  But the call came through.   There was an intruder alert at my son’s school – just two weeks into the new school year.  However, much to my relief, it ended up being a “safe” person after-all.   Yet, the alert jarred me.  And, to be completely honest, it upset me.   I was mad that my child, as well as all the other students and teachers, had to be frightened and go through lockdown procedures (not knowing ..read more

Are you looking for the best visitor management system for schools?  These days, there are no shortages of school security vendors and navigating the marketing can be time consuming and frustrating.  So it is important to understand what you are looking for in a visitor management system because not all of them are the same. The first question you must answer is if the visitor management system is a simple tool to replace the notepad and pen at the front desk or the foundation of your school security plan?   If it is the former, there are numerous simple visitor software pr ..read more

There are no shortages of security products and services being peddled to schools.  And more security experts popping up every day. We spend an enormous amount of time and energy vetting the best security solutions on the market.  We do this to help our thousands of school clients. They need trusted partners to help them navigate a less than transparent market. But that is an article for a different today. Last week, we witnessed numerous incidents across the U.S., and one in my backyard where my kids go to school, of individuals breaching security.  And quite honestly, the solu ..read more

Students have always faced stress in school.    Making friends, trying to fit in, coming to terms with who they are, taking tests, all of this is creating significant stress to students.   And now we add the fear violence at school. Yes, as a former violent crime detective and father of five children in K-12 and college, I balance having realistic conversations with my kids and at the same time providing comfort.  Situational awareness and preparedness can reduce stress. However, much of the public discussion about school violence running non-stop on TV or online ..read more

Have you asked yourself what visitor management system should we adopt?  There are numerous companies who have developed visitor software systems and some are very simplistic and some are very complex.  So making an informed decision takes a bit more than perusing their websites. Let’s start with asking a simple question:  Will the visitor management system be the foundation of your security program?  Or will it be a tool to relieve pressure off of the front desk and let visitors checking themselves?  Like at a doctor’s office? That is two distinctly different use case ..read more

How to define what a good visitor management system for schools should do is much like defining what a good volunteer background check should be.  For fifteen years, I have owned Safe Hiring Solutions and we conduct hundreds of thousands of background checks annually. And for 15 years I have heard from volunteer organizations that we are conducting a “national background check.”  Please define that, I always say. Invariably, the answer will be all over the board from a cheap, instant database search (that is not a background check- there is no such thing as an instant, single source ..read more

There is a growing tide of public discussion on the use and misuse of facial recognition software.  Much of the negative perception is driven by countries like China using the technology to surveil and monitor their citizens at all times. There is a big distinction between using facial recognition on citizens to know where they are and what they are doing without their permission and with permission to validate and expedite access.    Recently, facial recognition software has taken a beating for mis-identifying people as criminals who in fact were not.  And this survei ..read more

A visitor management system is the first step for an organization when implementing a security program.  If you do not know who is entering through your doors then all other security systems are ineffective. Many schools and organizations are looking for a visitor management kiosk.  What better way to manage the flow of lots of visitors? However, it is not so simple as to do a quick internet search and find a company that has a kiosk option.  There are a few security foundations that must be understood: Not everyone views security through the same lens.  Often front offic ..read more

There is no shortage of security vendors coming out of the woods these days, peddling products that range from bullet-proof back packs to multi-million dollar school building hardware upgrades to be designated the safest school in America.  Of course the designation was made by the security company installing the system. We hear daily from schools all across the U.S. that they have vendor fatigue.  Most of what they are been peppered with are products that do not move the safety needle and will do little to keep schools safe. Many times we can bring a team of experts together for a s ..read more