Site Lockdown Software

[garethEds]

Morning All,

 

Has anyone implemented a piece of software that can be used during a lockdown to say there is a lockdown? We have a few rooms where there are no phones and no passing people - yet a classroom with kids and a teacher.

 

What we want is a piece of software that sits quietly on every computer in school. If the Headteacher (or delegated person) logs in - pushes a big red virtual button so every computer screen displays the message 'Code Red' - or something similar.

 

Get in touch....

 

Thanks

[supportman]

Not sure if you use it but Bromcom MIS can do this I believe with their alert app.

[garethEds]

Thanks @supportman - We don't use Bromcom. Our MIS is being looked at by the LEA, but no decision has been made as to where we go yet.

 

Thanks again.

[simpsonj]

NetSupport Notify might be worth a look

[PotNoodleTech]

Theres no perfect system sadly. There's been a bunch of lockdown threads this year, loads of useful info in there.

 

https://www.edugeek.net/forums/how-do-you-do/240814-how-do-you-do-lockdown-alerts.html?highlight=lockdown

 

https://www.edugeek.net/forums/network-classroom-management/240164-classroom-lock-down-messaging.html?highlight=lockdown

 

https://www.edugeek.net/forums/how-do-you-do/240105-lockdown-procedure.html?highlight=lockdown

 

https://www.edugeek.net/forums/how-do-you-do/239220-classroom-emergency-alert.html?highlight=lockdown

 

https://www.edugeek.net/forums/network-classroom-management/234622-school-emergency-alert-recommendations.html?highlight=lockdown

 

https://www.edugeek.net/forums/how-do-you-do/237789-lockdowns.html?highlight=lockdown

 

https://www.edugeek.net/forums/netbooks-pda-phones/237874-3cx-lockdown-alert.html?highlight=lockdown

 

https://www.edugeek.net/forums/how-do-you-do/237266-modern-day-bell-pa-lockdown-system.html?highlight=lockdown

[Aprice]

Previously used Netsupport Notify, which worked. Just got annoying when the school tried to turn it into a bell system over covid. Drove everyone up the wall.

 

Does the job though as an alert system.

[garethEds]

So - I spoke to NetSupport today and have run a small test this afternoon on 30 machines. Yes - it works, but there is one huge annoyance. If I sent a 'Lockdown' message to every computer - whole screen, there is no way to cancel this message from the console. Users can do it, but I need to be able to cancel it and basically people will know when the message goes the lockdown is done.

 

Also - if the monitor is in stand by mode - but the power is on, the message doesn't kick the monitor into life. You have to move the mouse to see the message (wakes the monitor up).

 

So - at the moment, not sure.

[DavR]

So - I spoke to NetSupport today and have run a small test this afternoon on 30 machines. Yes - it works, but there is one huge annoyance. If I sent a 'Lockdown' message to every computer - whole screen, there is no way to cancel this message from the console. Users can do it, but I need to be able to cancel it and basically people will know when the message goes the lockdown is done.

 

Also - if the monitor is in stand by mode - but the power is on, the message doesn't kick the monitor into life. You have to move the mouse to see the message (wakes the monitor up).

 

So - at the moment, not sure.

 

Are you sure it doesn't wake up the monitors? We use it at our place, and I thought it did. If it doesn't, you can also program it to play a loud alarm-type noise with the message, ours is set to use a classic burglar alarm tone. Scares the crap out of people!

 

You can control the duration of the message, so how long til it times out, if that helps. We manage the problem of ending the lockdown by sending a second message, which pops up on top of the last message, to say alarm over.

 

For all the fact that we've got this system though, our SLT still don't trust it, as there isn't a PC in every room and corridor. We're about to spend £2k on air horns that people are to sound manually as an alternative, would you believe!

[PotNoodleTech]

So - I spoke to NetSupport today and have run a small test this afternoon on 30 machines. Yes - it works, but there is one huge annoyance. If I sent a 'Lockdown' message to every computer - whole screen, there is no way to cancel this message from the console. Users can do it, but I need to be able to cancel it and basically people will know when the message goes the lockdown is done.

 

Also - if the monitor is in stand by mode - but the power is on, the message doesn't kick the monitor into life. You have to move the mouse to see the message (wakes the monitor up).

 

So - at the moment, not sure.

 

Yep. That is a big issue that I have reported to them a year ago saying it is essential for us to be able to "stop" lockdowns as well as just start them. This was their answer:

 

It is currently not possible to cancel a message manually once it has been sent to the Agents from the Notify Console. So your only options at the moment would be to set a timer (either with auto close or user close) or without timer so the users can close whenever they wish to do so.

 

I believe this has already been raised with our dev team as a possible enhancement, may I add your name to this request so we can keep you informed should there be any development?

 

What we do now is sent a message out on red background when it is lockdown with the timer set to 10 mins and then send another green message when lockdown is over. Staff are instucted if thei dont see a green message yet then it is still a lockdown.

 

Another issue with Notify that I reported and they have not done anything about is that it only shows on one screen - not all screens on a multi monitor system - so some rooms it displays o the IWB and some it doesnt depending on the monitor config/extend/duplicate settings on each PC. This is really anooying too.

 

Overall it does A job but it doesnt really do THE job properly.

[garethEds]

Hi everyone - it looks like Notify is what we will be moving towards but like you say @PotNoodleTech - "Overall it does A job but it doesn't really do THE job properly"

 

Gareth

[PotNoodleTech]

Just don't expect it to improve much it has barely 1 software update a year if your lucky.

[DavR]

Just don't expect it to improve much it has barely 1 software update a year if your lucky.

 

Simple, and low maintenance, what's not to love

[Primus]

Would you rely on Notify for a fire alarm?

 

The reality is that if anything goes wrong with a lockdown it could be incredibly serious - having a system as robust as a fire alarm is what's required and unfortunately if anything happens it'll be someone like us getting the blame when the solution they felt they had to provide doesn't operate acceptably.

[PotNoodleTech]

I don't disagree.

 

Theres a big gap in the market for some really pie hot lockdown software that ties in with fire alarm and gate/door access and doesnt cost a million dollars.

[EntrySign_Dev]

You might find this news about our recent partnership with Vivi interesting...

https://www.entrysign.co.uk/press-and-news/entrysign-and-vivi-integration-partners/

 

If you have any questions, or would like any more information please feel free to PM me and we'll be happy to help.

[ReddDwarfer]

In my last few schools, I've used Alertus Desktop.

 

https://www.alertus.com/safe-in-seconds

 

Free for all schools under their Safe in seconds initiative.  It is american but UK schools can use it too.

 

We believe every organization should be able to offer mass notification to help protect their people. Free desktop alerting software for universities and colleges, software and hardware grants for K12 schools, and scalable solutions enable more schools, places of worship, and other organizations to secure mass notification technology that they may otherwise not afford.

 

[Olliekai]

27 minutes ago, ReddDwarfer said:

In my last few schools, I've used Alertus Desktop.

 

https://www.alertus.com/safe-in-seconds

 

Free for all schools under their Safe in seconds initiative.  It is american but UK schools can use it too.

 

We believe every organization should be able to offer mass notification to help protect their people. Free desktop alerting software for universities and colleges, software and hardware grants for K12 schools, and scalable solutions enable more schools, places of worship, and other organizations to secure mass notification technology that they may otherwise not afford.

 

I’ve used Alertus too. Really good. 

[timbo343]

Is the Alertus software still free for UK schools?

 

I've just requested a demo and was wondering if it's still free, if not, i'll cancel the demo.

[Olliekai]

7 hours ago, timbo343 said:

Is the Alertus software still free for UK schools?

 

I've just requested a demo and was wondering if it's still free, if not, i'll cancel the demo.

I think so. Website seems to still list it as part of their safe in seconds initiative. You do only get the basic desktop alerting and they will try to sell you other packages, but I’ve found the free option to work well for us, particularly given how much more functional the basic version still is over what we did before. 
 

alertus.com/safe-in-seconds

 

[ICT_GUY]

How do you deploy the software I take it it has an MIS installer?

 

We are looking at solutions at the moment and they are vastly different prices.

[JDawgg]

I think the key thing to think about here is having multiple different options in case of an emergency. 

I've been part of a Martyn's Law working party and we have the below options, each differ in use case. IT services might be offline etc...

 

NetSupport Notify

 

3CX - One handset presses a key and becomes a transmitter to either speak or play a pre-recorded message, all other handsets then turn into a speaker effectively needing no intervention. 

 

Tannoy/Bell System - Three rings of bell indicates Lockdown

[pete]

8 minutes ago, JDawgg said:

3CX - One handset presses a key and becomes a transmitter to either speak or play a pre-recorded message, all other handsets then turn into a speaker effectively needing no intervention.

 

Expand a bit more on this if you don't mind?

[JDawgg]

1 hour ago, pete said:

 

Expand a bit more on this if you don't mind?

 

Look into 3CX multicast paging. We have an estate of Yealink devices which allow this either natively or via 3CX.

 

If you need any support, just drop me a pm. 

[pete]

^ Ah, we have a few Yealink wireless phones, but we're mostly Fanvil on hosted 3CX (trust-wide phone system) with a SBC VM at each school.  3CX forums suggest multicast paging support on Fanvil is a bit erratic compared to Yealink.

 

It looks like we'd need a paging gateway/relay at each school.  Either hardware (Fanvil PA3) or something like this: https://github.com/bengrabau/SIP-Multicast-Relay

 

[itskdog]

Our SLT got the ads from InVentry, so we're going with their TeamSOS system.