Technology Roundtable:
Best Practices for Adding
Mobile Duress

How integrators can incorporate the technology into an overall solution (sponsored by Inovonics)

Mobile duress has always been a solution that attracts the attention of security customers. That said, the hardware and costs associated with the technology, along with the physical limitations of many systems that only offer general area location have been a real hurdle in selling it for integrators.

 

This exclusive technology roundtable sponsored by Inovonics takes a closer look at best practices for integrating the technology into an overall security system.

 

What details are most important to consider when piecing together an all-encompassing security system offering?

Lund: Understand the expectations of the end-user and what problems they want to solve. From there, find out how they want the system to function, what current infrastructure is in place, where and how they want it to be managed, who they want to have access to it, etc. Finally, find out what their budget is. Knowing their desired end-result, along with the budget you have to work with, should provide what you need for building out a system design and proposal.

 

Goldenberg: Each customer must prioritize what is most important to them when developing a plan for a security system. It is not a good idea to simply accept the default offerings from one integrator or manufacturer. Each company has its own unique features which can make a security system that is most effective and responsive to the customer's needs. For example, many phone systems include a duress button. However, the functionality of the button is often not much more than a quick key for dialing security and may not be what the customer really needs.

 

Spellman: Security, safety and error-free two-way emergency communications go hand in hand today. Adding a layer of locating beacons will provide greater flexibility in both design and use of wireless mobile duress buttons for certain market verticals.

 

Dever: Although this question is best directed to system integrators, from our standpoint, an all-encompassing security offering is cohesive and fits efficiently within an existing framework. The best add-ons should bring unique solution value, be scalable and cost effective, but also easily integrable with existing systems. A mobile duress system should provide this, along with the ability to provide precise location on a large premise.

Lund: Anywhere you can leverage existing infrastructure is usually a win. This helps keep unnecessary costs out of the deployment, but also keeps it in an environment and experience that the existing system users are already acclimated to.

 

Goldenberg: Leveraging existing architecture is the most efficient way to build out a security system. Not only does this keep the initial costs down, it also reduces the ongoing maintenance and training needed for the future.

 

Spellman: Once a secure wireless infrastructure is in place that solves a singular problem – such as duress – other capabilities are shared that include duress, intrusion, temperature, leak detection, fire extinguisher/defibrillator monitoring and so on. Wireless makes for a simple integration effort.

 

Dever: Leveraging existing architecture can avoid creating security silos that do not communicate well with each other.

Lund: The industry has historically seen fixed duress buttons or mobile pendants that do not provide a location. Having the ability to give roaming personnel the ability to use location-based duress and allowing responding parties a more efficient response, arriving faster and more prepared. For facilities/ environments where this is a need, it is a major value add.

 

Spellman: Mobile duress is a substantial leap forward for facilities requiring precision location of the person that has issued an alert – allowing them to move from picking up a location-specific transmitter for use for a shift, to wearing a button for use anywhere in a facility or campus knowing that when activated the location is now transmitted.

 

Goldenberg: Having fixed position buttons are great when people are usually sitting at their desks; however, when people have more active jobs that take them throughout a facility, these buttons may be out of reach in an emergency. The ability to carry the button around provides mobile personnel with a sense of security because they always have access to their duress button no matter where they are. Buttons are a better solution than a phone app, because they can be activated quickly without much concentration.

 

Dever: In a security event, every second counts. Mobile duress gives employees the simplest and fastest way to call for help using location accuracy. This reduces response times, allowing help to arrive faster, and potentially resulting in better outcomes.

Lund: I consider this very important. Unless it is a fixed duress button, a duress response can be wide open for points of failure when it comes to response time. In a time when seconds matter, having the location to respond to is paramount.

Goldenberg: Mobile duress alarms are often the most critical types of alarms. SecureTech's WAVE system transmits these alarms over two-way radios carried by first responders and security officers to ensure they are heard as quickly as possible. The security response commences when the automated alarm is broadcast to officers within seconds of the buttons being pressed.
 

Spellman: Our Go2Blu and Notify products provide a wide-area network of users and buildings with specific location details ported directly to law enforcement in their vehicles for active shooter incidents. Adding mobile duress within a building will serve to improve location resolution.

 

Dever: The idea is not to change the response protocol, but to enhance it. By giving employees a simple, reliable, and fast way to notify of an event, the overall response protocol improves. By working within the bounds of the technology and protocols already in place, additional investment is minimized, as is the impact to both employees and responders.