Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

What Does It Take To Add Gunshot Detection Services To Your Facility?

  • By Allan Overcast
  • 05/01/18

You will need to look at your facility and identify what classrooms, hallways, entrances, and exits that you need covered. Decide how many sensors you need. Each sensor will detect within a certain range, for example 2500 square feet. Indoor sensors will generally be placed in hallways and entrances at an absolute minimum because statistics indicate that shootings occur or start in the entrances or hallways. In businesses you’re going to want to place sensors in areas 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 your coworkers hang out.

The second consideration is, are you adapting your existing alarm panel or are you going to have 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 can send IP message notification over SMS, email, and other notification means.

In conclusion, when considering a gunshot detection system for your facility, the main focus should be the size of your facility, 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 School 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

  • Children walking along bright school corridor with motion blur

    How Next-Gen Design Is Reshaping the Student Experience

    The environments where students learn play a crucial role in shaping their growth in and out of the classroom. By centering design on well-being, flexibility, and purpose, districts can ensure their facilities remain vibrant community assets for many years to come.

  • restroom sinks

    CSU Dominguez Hills Standardizes Plumbing to Improve Restroom Maintenance and Efficiency

    At California State University, Dominguez Hills, facilities leaders have taken steps to standardize restroom fixtures as part of a broader effort to improve maintenance efficiency and control long-term costs.

  • Surging Demand for Student Housing Fuels Major Campus Investment Opportunities

    University leaders throughout the U.S. are accelerating plans to modernize and expand student housing as enrollment stabilizes and demand for on-campus living rebounds. Recent data from the National Center for Education Statistics indicates that total postsecondary enrollment is projected to grow through the end of the decade, with undergraduate enrollment alone expected to increase by more than 8 percent by 2030.

  • Massachusetts K–12 District Selects Architect for New Junior High

    Swansea Public Schools in Swansea, Mass., recently announced that it has selected Finegold Alexander Architects to design a new junior high school for the district, according to a news release. The firm will create the Feasibility Study and Schematic Design for Joseph Case Junior High School after a lengthy selection process by the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA).