Classroom Lock Down Messaging

[andytheguv]

Hi all.

I have been asked how to get a Lock message to each classroom without sounding an alarm.

The staff do not log into Teams all the time (that would be the easy answer) and the classrooms do not have phones in each room.

Thanks all.

Andy

[pete]

What are they consistently logged into and in sufficient proximity to to notice an alert that appears? Subjects such as DT, Science, Drama, Art, PE where the teacher walks around a lot to demonstrate technique/monitor safety will always be a problem.

 

But in any lesson that's going well and the teacher's at the board* it's likely to be a few minutes before the teacher notices a silent alert.

 

*especially if it's set as the secondary monitor.

 

Now if (as in our case) the risk is "bear has escaped from the wildlife park up the road and has been distracted by the bins", that's not so much of a problem provided no-one actively pokes the bear. If it's "idiot running around with a machete", you need a more immediate response and for that it has to make (some) noise that's different to the normal noises it makes.

[DrBeaker]

Hi all.

I have been asked how to get a Lock message to each classroom without sounding an alarm.

The staff do not log into Teams all the time (that would be the easy answer) and the classrooms do not have phones in each room.

Thanks all.

Andy

This is a buildings/BMS issue/estates issue by it's very nature ... I'm sure a lot of us see asked of IT time and time and time again.

 

Yet again management teams looking for a technical solution to what is a non-technical problem.

 

What about machines out of order, slow logins, users who haven't logged onto a computer yet?

 

Why does the fire engine have bright lights and noisy sirens? Or does it email people to tell them get out the way.

 

There are solutions but even when in full working order people are now conditioned to dismiss notifications straight away, then e.g .IT would potentially get blamed for that as well [emoji23]

[thimon]

I cannot recommend NetSupport Notify enough. Great value for money, works consistently and their support is brilliant. Great value for money as well.

[dapaulio]

I second netsupport notify for this. We got ours for to tick lockdown protocols. But I know a lot of the schools I support use it for general instant messaging.

 

I also use it to notify staff to get out of sims before I upgrade etc etc

[Cw2k]

Alertus offer a free option via their Alertus Safe in Seconds project.

[3s-gtech]

Yes, look at what other schools are doing for this. Don’t try to be too clever, or use something that’s a bit Heath Robinson, with something like this. Treat it like a fire alarm.

[DrBeaker]

Yes, look at what other schools are doing for this. Don’t try to be too clever, or use something that’s a bit Heath Robinson, with something like this. Treat it like a fire alarm.

 

The unfortunate reality is the first time it fails (and there WILL be a first time) for anything IT have put in place, the blame game will start.

[Roberto]

Yes, look at what other schools are doing for this. Don’t try to be too clever, or use something that’s a bit Heath Robinson, with something like this. Treat it like a fire alarm.

 

Yes. Considering the nature of the problem, if it’s important enough to do at all, it should be important enough to address properly.

 

We use https://www.everbridge.com/ where I work, but I assume it would be massively overkill and expensive for edu. Equally they may offer a public sector option that I don’t know about. A cynic might show their senior leadership this solution, then it’s cost and complexity, to make a point about what’s achievable with the budget and resources available to them.

[mdrabble]

We have our fire alarm system set to use a different sound which can only be activated by a designated break glass in the main office and is a different colour (Yellow) so people know what it is for.

 

Once that goes, nominated people have access to Netsupport Notify, which sends out an alert to teacher desktops activated by a shortcut key press (cannot remember what I set it to off the top of my head)

[slugshead]

We have our fire alarm system set to use a different sound which can only be activated by a designated break glass in the main office and is a different colour (Yellow) so people know what it is for.

 

I'm literally in the midst of doing the exact same thing.

 

What fire panels do you have? We have a mix of advance MX4's and MX5's

 

My plan here is when the lockdown zone is tripped, there's a relay connected to the zone (Like the ones that release the doors) connected to one of these guys Moxa IoLogik E2200 which in turn triggers automations... Teams broadcast, SMS, netsupport message (via script), voip broadcast message, email etc etc etc.

 

Pretty neat modbus over IP interface.

[3s-gtech]

Paxton Net2 unit will interface with your fire alarm for this, so you can set trigger actions based on a relay input. Send an email, lock some doors, crack open a beer, sound an alarm…

[ITGURU]

we use netsupport to send notify with sound alert. feedback from test run was 'not loud enough' not an IT problem lol but other than works for us.

fire alarm we were advised not to use to cause confusion even with different tone as despite messages they evaculate on an intruder alarm sound! if there was a real fire during lockdown, what would happen to the tone and again cause confusion.

[Roberto]

if there was a real fire during lockdown, what would happen to the tone and again cause confusion.

 

I mean, what does your policy say about that now? Surely it’s acknowledged that intruders could cause a fire if they wanted to!

[PotNoodleTech]

Paxton Net2 unit will interface with your fire alarm for this, so you can set trigger actions based on a relay input. Send an email, lock some doors, crack open a beer, sound an alarm…

 

Ooooooooh

 

This sounds good our paxton is linked to our fire alarm and we alreayd have a big red button set up on the paxton system. So your saying it's possible the big red button could then sent message from paxton to fire alarm to sound some kind of alarm?

[3s-gtech]

Ooooooooh

 

This sounds good our paxton is linked to our fire alarm and we alreayd have a big red button set up on the paxton system. So your saying it's possible the big red button could then sent message from paxton to fire alarm to sound some kind of alarm?

Kind of. No message - the fire alarm needs an input from a relay (which is the same as a fire call point effectively, and the fire system interprets this as 'trigger lockdown'. It then doesn't drop the doors, but it sounds a different alarm.

 

We don't trigger Paxton from the call points, we trigger the fire alarm and this triggers Paxton through an input relay on one ACU. Net2 then handles this trigger to lock the doors.

[PotNoodleTech]

Kind of. No message - the fire alarm needs an input from a relay (which is the same as a fire call point effectively, and the fire system interprets this as 'trigger lockdown'. It then doesn't drop the doors, but it sounds a different alarm.

 

We don't trigger Paxton from the call points, we trigger the fire alarm and this triggers Paxton through an input relay on one ACU. Net2 then handles this trigger to lock the doors.

 

Ah OK so kinda like what i want biut reversed.

 

Ok cheers that's very helpful.

[andytheguv]

So we have now got two potential methods. We supply and fit Clevertouch boards along with a VOIP system. The VOIP system has a paging facility so you call the extension of the paging number and anything you say in the handset is broadcast out of the loudspeaker/handsfree speaker on the handsets in the group, i.e. all the classrooms. If someone is on the phone, they don't receive it.

Clevertouch have a content delivery system called Cleverlive, where you can deliver content, i.e. alerts to all the boards that are on and in the school. They also have an MDM where you can WOL the boards from standby.

Food for thought, thanks for your input guys.

[jcubbin]

We are looking to do something similar at my school but are thinking of using the remote control / monitoring software that will already be installed on all the Classroom Teacher machines. Clevertouch software sounds good but if it is not used regularly then it will end up becoming IT's responsibilty.

 

If you have impero / senso etc could you not create a new group that includes all the teaching machines and then have a defined group of staff users (IT /SLT / Admin / Reception) who have the permission to send the lock down alert. Have the lock down alert slide available for these staff on their desktop so it is quickly accessible and then use the broadcast feature to send the lock down message to the machine group. Teaching staff don't need to be logged on at the machine to see the lock down alert, the machine just needs to be switched on.

 

I am going to give this a test run next week at half term but believe it should be a suitable and cheap implementation.

[MrIlly]

We are looking to do something similar at my school but are thinking of using the remote control / monitoring software that will already be installed on all the Classroom Teacher machines. Clevertouch software sounds good but if it is not used regularly then it will end up becoming IT's responsibilty.

 

If you have impero / senso etc could you not create a new group that includes all the teaching machines and then have a defined group of staff users (IT /SLT / Admin / Reception) who have the permission to send the lock down alert. Have the lock down alert slide available for these staff on their desktop so it is quickly accessible and then use the broadcast feature to send the lock down message to the machine group. Teaching staff don't need to be logged on at the machine to see the lock down alert, the machine just needs to be switched on.

 

I am going to give this a test run next week at half term but believe it should be a suitable and cheap implementation.

 

We use Senso to do this. I can tell you with certainty it is not ideal. Senso service needs to be running on the PC - usually if the PC is left on for too long without a restart, the service becomes bugged, doesn't allow remote connections, shows offline in the console, just to name a few issues.

 

Impero may be better, but only if it's using the on-prem system, better than Senso for this, but not totally bulletproof.