Texas Governor Greg Abbott recently approved the implementation of Alyssa’s Law, which mandates the installation of discreet panic alarms in all schools across the state. These silent panic alarms are designed to swiftly notify law enforcement in case of an emergency situation.
Alyssa’s Law aims to meaningfully improve delayed law enforcement response times caused by inefficient communication between teachers, administrators, and first responders at the time of an incident. It addresses this challenge by providing a direct connection to 911 and first responders in emergency situations.
This article provides an overview of what Texas’ Alyssa’s Law means for school safety technology companies. It also provides a brief overview of what Texas school districts look for in a safety solution and how companies can position themselves as the most reliable and compliant solution for schools.
School safety technology market implications
Implementation of Alyssa’s Law in Texas has led to a significant investment in technology companies that specialize in school safety. $105.5M in statewide funding has been earmarked for this initiative and school safety technology companies are pitching their products and services–including silent panic alarms– to fulfill the requirements of the law.
With over 95% of schools in Texas having already applied for this funding, it is vital for school safety companies to position themselves as solutions that both enable compliance with Alyssa’s Law while providing the fastest, most reliable connection to 911 and first responders during an on-campus emergency.
What Texas 911 centers and school districts want from school safety technology
In order for companies to scale the reach of their products to schools that are investing in safety solutions, it’s vital for them to understand what 911 centers and school districts look for in a provider. For schools to adopt new safety technology, those products must possess a few key attributes:
- Include a direct connection to 911 – In order to ensure compliance with Alyssa’s Law, school safety technology must be integrated directly with local 911 centers during an emergency.
- Coordinate with 911’s existing systems – To provide emergency data that is actionable and reduces response times, It is crucial that digital emergency data sent to local 911 centers can be integrated seamlessly with existing public safety infrastructure.
- Customize for each school and district’s unique needs – New technology must account for the unique needs and workflows of each individual school district and be able to adapt to a decentralized, locally run emergency response system.
- Collaborate with neighboring jurisdictions – New solutions must collaborate with peer agencies and first responders by digitally sharing incident details to adjacent 911 centers and school districts.
Aligning with the Needs of School Districts and 911
To quickly satisfy these requirements and establish a strong relationship with local school districts and 911 centers, many of today’s leading school safety brands have turned to RapidSOS and their 10+ year relationship with public safety.
By partnering with RapidSOS, school safety technology companies are able to:
- Enable compliance with Alyssa’s Law
- Integrate their solutions with a decentralized, locally-run emergency response system at scale.
- Establish the fastest possible connection to 911
Here are some examples of how leading technology companies have partnered with RapidSOS to scale their products’ reach to school districts and 911 centers across the country:
Raptor Technologies – Designed to work under duress, Raptor Alert is a silent panic alert system that works on the devices that schools use every day. It expedites and streamlines emergency response by allowing users to initiate an alert directly through 911 and provide critical information to first responders, law enforcement, and campus personnel. Raptor Alert is part of the company’s Raptor Emergency Management Suite which includes Raptor Connect, which allows schools to activate all Rapid Alerts from a single point. Raptor also offers a robust Visitor Management System and StudentSafe™ Early Intervention Software to help schools recognize, document, support and manage the wellbeing of individual students.
CENTEGIX CrisisAlert – An easy and robust solution for school staff to get help in any emergency. It includes wearable gadgets with a single emergency button, enabling quick human action during an incident, immediate notification to administrators, security personnel and 911, facility-wide audio and visual alerts, location accuracy, and total facility or property coverage. The company recently launched Safety Blueprint, which provides a dynamic, multilayered map of all campus facilities and spaces, including the precise location of all safety assets, to optimize incident management, emergency response, and safety planning.
GeoComm School Safety – A digital mapping solution which leverages the latest Esri ArcGIS technology to support faster response to school emergencies. The solution provides detailed indoor maps of schools and surrounding grounds, along with critical information needed by school safety authorities, public safety agencies, and first responders for streamlining and reducing response times to emergencies inside schools.
ZeroEyes – A proactive, human-verified, A.I., gun detection software solution that integrates into school’s existing security cameras and mitigates mass shootings and gun-related violence by reducing response times, providing actionable intelligence with images and delivering clarity among chaos. The software will identify brandished guns and dispatch alerts to safety personnel and local law enforcement as fast as 3 to 5 seconds from the moment of detection.
Through direct connections to 911, each of these RapidSOS Ready technology companies have built powerful relationships with Emergency Communication Centers (ECCs), enable compliance with local school safety legislation like Alyssa’s Law, and ensure the fastest and most informed emergency response during an on-campus emergency.
If you’re a tech company interested in partnering with RapidSOS to connect your life-saving data to RapidSOS safety agents, 911, and first responders globally, learn more about our solutions here.
If you’re a public safety professional interested in harnessing the power of the RapidSOS Intelligent Safety Platform at your ECC, learn more about our platform here.