The ability for modern schools and colleges to provide students with reliable and proactive security systems has become increasingly important in recent years, with one study finding 60% of students claim the perceived quality of campus security to be a deciding factor when choosing where to study.
Though the safety and security of students and faculty members will always rank as a top priority for educators and campus security teams, smaller colleges with access to limited funds may struggle to match the advanced security systems and smart technologies commonly utilized in larger facilities.
However, by learning how best to secure school security grant funding from government and charity sources, and taking the time to plan considered upgrades to existing school infrastructure, security staff and school administrators can develop cost-effective solutions designed with longevity in mind.
To explore this idea further, this short article will discuss a number of actionable ways to strengthen campus security using smart technologies, automated systems and data-informed integrations.
Upgrade rather than replace legacy hardware
The core components of an effective campus security system are unlikely to change dramatically as hardware and software systems become more advanced, so rather than entirely replacing legacy video security cameras, alarms and access control systems, it can be wise to simply update them.
For example, facilities that currently operate RFID or NFC-based access control systems will likely already have a Wiegand wiring interface installed, with this infrastructure also being compatible with several modern mobile access control and key card systems. This means security teams could simply install new access control readers to update their systems without allocating funds towards infrastructural work.
Similarly, video security systems can often be improved without the need for replacing physical hardware. Many traditional analogue and IP cameras can be upgraded to function as part of a smart cloud-based system by connecting existing hardware to a cloud adaptor, allowing for integrations with cloud file storage systems, automatic software updates and remote-access viewing functionality.
Streamline workflows with cloud security management
Campus security teams can often make more efficient use of limited resources by choosing to invest grant funding into the development of cloud-based security management systems. By connecting all installed video security cameras, access control readers and alarms to a single unified management platform, smaller teams can use automated alerts to better focus their attention on unfolding events.
Automated incident responses can be developed whereby stimuli detected by one device are used to instruct the operation of the wider security system. For instance, if an access control reader detects the attempted use of falsified credentials, alarms may be triggered with on-site teams notified of the event remotely, allowing staff to view nearby camera feeds to plan an appropriate incident response.
Developing such a system can dramatically reduce the amount of time that security personnel will be expected to manually view real-time data feeds, allowing staff to instead engage with students in a more meaningful manner with the benefit of automated alerts ensuring no incidents go undetected.
Promote personal security with app-based alerts
The benefits of smart technologies and cloud-based security systems can also be extended to students in the form of automated alerts and real-time security updates. By allocating grant funding towards the development of a bespoke site-specific security application, staff can provide students with a better way to manage their own personal safety on campus without upgrading all hardware systems.
Students can be issued unique credentials to be stored within an app-based account, with this data used to manage access control permissions, scheduling software and other related digital systems. In addition, real-time alerts can be sent directly to users if on-site devices detect a potential security threat.
Providing students with more control over their own incident responses can allow teams to strengthen campus security without relying on the installation of expensive physical hardware, instead focusing security policies towards actions and protocols with the benefit of smaller data-informed installations.
Creative ways to spend grant funding
Finding ways to reduce excess spending on security system upgrades can often leave schools and colleges with a little extra room to fund tangentially related developments, for example, some grant programs can be used to support the creation of STEM education projects and training procedures.
Often school administrators will simply be required to demonstrate how these projects relate back to wider security improvements, though some programs such as ESSER funds for school security specifically request that a certain percentage of awarded funds must be spent on educational programs.
Additionally, SRO grants can be used to fund the hiring of dedicated school resource officers, allowing existing security teams to strengthen their overall posture with the extra support of sworn law enforcement officials, high-level training programs and other related physical security improvements.
Summary
Ensuring that students and faculty members are appropriately protected from security threats continues to be a top priority for school administrators and physical security teams, however, improving and upgrading legacy systems can prove difficult for smaller colleges with limited funding.
Thankfully, with the support of grant programs, carefully considered planning and the development of data-informed smart technology systems, schools and colleges of any size can make efforts to find cost-effective methods of strengthening campus security with longevity, efficacy and efficiency in mind.