IP Phones Increase School Communication with First Responders

News headlines can worry a lot of parents about the safety of their children while they are at school.

Luckily, technology is helping schools out to increase how and when schools can reach first responders in the event of emergencies, thus creating a safer environment for students and faculty. New communication platforms can put schools in direct contact with police, fire, EMS and other first responders in emergency situations, increasing response time and situational awareness. Using gateway devices that can connect radio, video, telephone and public address/intercom systems, the system is licensed exclusively for public and private school use.

Using IP communications to communicate with emergency responders is making it easier for organizations and businesses to act fast and efficiently. Equipment like IP phones can be tailored with specific buttons to be directed to the most appropriate point for optimum response time without the dialer having to remember numbers or contacts. IP phones equipped with emergency services can support voice telephony services at optimum levels in the general Internet environment.

We see examples of this on the regular, perhaps without realizing it. Modern elevators can be equipped with call boxes that are IP phones in disguise; with the ability of being connected directly into existing routers and LAN infrastructure, these devices can provide mass notification software, allowing emergency personnel to issue targeted alerts to any part of a facility.

While we typically talk about IP phones in the business sense, the technology is being employed by organizations and other non-business entities to ensure safety and security for everyone.