Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

How can we add gunshot detection to our facilities?

  • By Allan Overcast
  • 05/01/18

You will need to look at your facilities and identify what classrooms, hallways, entrances, and exits need to be covered. Decide how many sensors that you need. Each sensor will detect within a certain range; for example: 2,500 square feet. Indoor sensors will generally be placed in hallways and entrances at an absolute minimum because statistically shootings occur or start in the entrances or hallways. Place sensors in areas that have more people or where people congregate the most, because if a crime is going to be committed it generally will be focused in an area that has a larger populace. Examples would be in a lunch room or in a large open atrium area where a lot of people hang out.

Decide if you’ll be adapting your existing alarm panel or are you will need to put in an additional network system to support the sensors. Some sensors have integrated contact closures that can tie directly into your alarm panel, therefore minimizing the need for an additional new system. You also need to determine how you want the message to go out. Look for sensors that can provide IP message notification over SMS, email, and other notification means.

In considering a gunshot detection system for your facilities, the main focus is going to be the size of your buildings, the number of sensors that you want to put in those facilities in the high-traffic areas, and the message notification style, whether it’s alarm panel integration or and/or if it includes IP message notification.

This article originally appeared in the College Planning & Management May 2018 issue of Spaces4Learning.

About the Author

Allan Overcast is owner/CEO of Shot Tracer Technologies, Inc. (www.shottracer.com). He can be reached at [email protected] or 866/636-8867.

Featured

  • Can AI Help Build Stronger Communities in Student Housing?

    Student housing success is shifting from operational performance to student experience, with belonging now at the center. A recent 2025 report underscores a growing emphasis on student well-being, community, and engagement, signaling that expectations now extend beyond logistics to ensure students feel supported in their living environments. AI is enabling that shift by reducing administrative workload and giving teams more time to focus on meaningful student engagement.

  • Johns Hopkins Starts Construction on New Residence Hall, Dining Facility

    The Homewood Campus of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md., recently began construction on a new residence hall and dining facility, according to university news. The work involves demolishing the existing Alumni Memorial Residence Hall I, which was built in 1923, to make room for the new facility.

  • UT-San Antonio Begins Residence Hall Renovations

    The University of Texas at San Antonio recently began a $6-million renovation project to one of its residence halls, according to a news release. Originally completed in 1986, Chisolm Hall measures in at 120,860 square feet and is the oldest and largest residence hall on campus.

  • St. John Fisher University

    Classroom Revitalization – Basil Hall Room 216

    Established in 1999, the Education Design Showcase is a vehicle for showing off innovative — yet practical — solutions in planning, design, architecture, and construction. St. John Fisher University's Basil Hall Room 216 Classroom Revitalization has been recognized with an EDS 2026 Project of Distinction award in the category of Spaces.