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Chicomm Blog

School Safety Gets a Boost from Mobile Apps

Posted by Lisa MacGillivray on Thursday, March 10, 2016

Kristina Anderson, co-founder of the mobile school safety app LiveSafe, has said that if her company had existed in 2007, it probably would have changed the course of her life. collEducation-5.jpg

Anderson was a 19-year-old sophomore when a gunman opened fire at Virginia Tech. She had no idea that shots had been fired at another building on campus, and she was struck three times while entering a French class. She has since become a vocal advocate for campus safety and violence prevention, and her innovative company “was born from a spirit of triumph over tragedy and the desire to make the world a safer place.”

LiveSafe and other apps like it are providing a boost to school safety efforts nationwide by leveraging the power of everyday mobile devices. Students, parents, staff and campus safety officials can communicate instantly and anonymously with the touch of a button or transmission of a text.

Here are 4 of the mobile apps that are changing the school safety landscape:

LiveSafe

Through the LiveSafe app installed on iPhone and Android devices, students can send real-time reports about incidents or suspicious activity to safety officials with GPS-enabled information, pictures, video and audio clips. A Command Dashboard on desktops or laptops allows safety officials to respond to reports and broadcast messages about emergency and non-emergency situations.

By using the SafeWalk function, students can ask someone to virtually walk them to a destination with features including in-app chat.

Anonymous Alerts

The free Anonymous Alerts app allows students or parents to anonymously submit reports of everything from suspicious activity to family issues to bullying. Users can set up one-way or two-way communications with school officials about a particular incident or situation.

TapShield

The TapShield app also allows for anonymous reporting and GPS-enabled alerts that can be initiated both by users and safety officials. TapShield also has a “Yank” feature that sends an alert to campus safety officials whenever a phone’s headset is pulled from the device, either by the user or an attacker. The user has 10 seconds to rescind the alert if no help is needed.

E2Campus uAlert system

The e2Campus Alert system allows campuses to immediately communicate with a variety of audiences during an emergency, including first responders, teachers and media. The system can send alerts via text and voice message, email, social media post, PA and digital signage.

To learn about creating an effective communication strategy for your school, download our free eBook below or contact Chicago Communications today

 

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