Bridging the "Security Gap"

Campus Safety
Parents rank campus safety as a major decision factor in selecting a college or university for their college bound children. However, when an incident or emergency does occur, campus public safety officers, local police and 911 responders may not be able to provide you or your child with the fastest, most appropriate response. Schools that choose to offer Campus Guardian to their students, faculty and staff can provide a faster and more appropriate response to campus emergencies.

What Does This Mean To You?

911: When faced with an emergency, the first reaction is to call 911. While calling 911 is a good thing to do, relying on 911 alone has some serious limitations:

1. The caller's situation must be described verbally, the call must then be relayed to a local first responder (e.g. municipal police, fire, EMT) and they must drive to the campus.
2. 911 first responder networks do not include most college campuses, so Campus Public Safety is not notified of the emergency, even though they would likely be able to arrive sooner than responders who must drive to the campus from elsewhere. Enhanced 911 systems often return only the address of the main entrance to the campus.
3. Arrival at the caller's location can be delayed as campus layout and roadways often are not included on 911 responder maps, are out of date and/or do not provide familiar names for buildings, fields, parking lots, etc.

Blue Lights: Many schools provide blue light security systems in fixed locations on campus that alert Public Safety when a call is made from one of these phones. Getting to a Blue Light phone takes time and delays notification, requires that the caller remain at that location and may not be a viable option in some emergencies.

Campus Guardian: Emergency calls, including 911 calls, and alarms from mobile phones running Campus Guardian software alert Campus Public Safety and display the location of the caller's mobile phone within seconds. Because Campus Guardian displays both the caller's location and the locations of available officers on a campus map, Campus Public Safety can efficiently and rapidly deploy officers to the caller's location. Additional information describing the caller, the caller's mobile phone number and any medical conditions that may be of concern are also provided. Caller and officer locations are updated several times each minute to assist in accurately guiding responders to the caller, even if the caller is moving.

How Does Campus Guardian Work?

Links you directly to Campus Public Safety and 911
With Campus Guardian software running on your GPS-enabled mobile phone, it becomes your own personal security system while you are on campus. It provides a direct connection to the campus Public Safety dispatcher from anywhere on campus by pressing a single button. Further, Campus Guardian pre-dials the emergency number that you chose (either 911 or campus Public Safety) so that just pressing one more button (the CALL button) will also place an emergency voice call.
Then, you have the option of:

1. Dialing 911: Information about your emergency is sent to Public Safety using the data channel on your mobile phone without affecting the voice call that you place to 911, giving you the benefit of both emergency response systems.
2. Dialing Campus Public Safety: Information about your emergency is sent to Public Safety using the data channel on your mobile phone without affecting the voice call that you place to Public Safety. You can talk with a dispatcher, while your phone provides location and other information electronically.
3. Panic Button: Pressing one of the panic buttons immediately sends your emergency information to Campus Public Safety, while pre-dialing either 911 or Campus Public Safety (whichever you configured in advance). No call is actually placed until you press the Call button on your phone (the same as retrieving a number from your phone's directory).

Locates and tracks your position
Campus Guardian uses the GPS capabilities on your phone service to identify your location and report your movements on campus after you have made an emergency call. Public Safety has a detailed campus map and will see exactly where your phone is located even if your voice call to 911 is interrupted or ended. Your phone will continue to broadcast your location, even while you are moving.

Provides additional information to ensure an appropriate response
When you subscribe to Campus Guardian, you can choose to provide personal information about yourself that will only be used by Public Safety if you ever have to call for help. When you declare an emergency, Public Safety has immediate access to your information, including your picture and other important information, such as any medical conditions or special needs that you may have.