Making School Safety a Top Priority
With students getting ready to go back to school, educators are continuously looking for ways to improve school safety every year. From the moment a student leaves home, whether travelling on a school bus or across campus, faculty, and staff are responsible for providing all necessary safety precautions.
Research from a 2017 MSI Education Survey indicates that, regardless of school size or location, the top priority to support student and teacher safety is a reliable communications system between faculty and first responders. These same educators also admitted that their existing communication capabilities fell short of what they needed, minimizing their efficiency and coordination in emergency responses.
School systems across Canada have been working to improve their communication capabilities by using handheld two way radios. With coverage challenges from thick walls, basement levels, and across large campuses, personnel can’t always rely on their cell phones to connect. While there is technology available to connect two way radios and cell phones, portable radios offer advanced safety features and alerts to coordinate faster with each other and first responders.
Take this scenario of cell phone use in schools:
A substitute teacher witnesses a fight break out on the playground. He/she may not have the school’s contact information in their phone, so the fastest response would be to physically locate the correct personnel. Even if the substitute had the correct contact information in their cell phone, they would have to scroll through contacts and possibly talk to multiple personnel on the call to successfully connect. This all takes critical time away from quickly responding to the fight, leaving the opportunity for it to escalate.
Now take the same scenario with a portable two-way radio:
The substitute teacher was assigned a two way radio in the office before heading to the classroom. As soon as he/she sees the fight break out, quickly presses the push-to-talk button on their radio, connecting instantly with the rest of the faculty for immediate response. Easily-located emergency buttons also offer audio and visual alerts to signal the need for first responders.
With shrinking budgets and funding, schools are having difficulty affording the upfront cost of two way radios. A lot of schools have started renting radios to be able to increase or decrease their fleet, only paying for what they need. Even for schools with a larger budget, choosing among the wide variety of two way radio options available is a challenge in and of itself.
For more details on the best two way radios for schools, download our free one-page guide on top industry radios, features, and accessories.
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Nova Communications, a division of ROCK Networks, is a wireless voice and data communications company, as well as the largest communications systems integrator in Eastern Canada. As the largest communications systems integrator in Eastern Canada, Nova Communications has been connecting schools for over 30 years. We are committed to creating safe learning environments across the education industry and have our team on standby to help with any questions you have about choosing the right two way radios for your school.
