Most of us are probably familiar with intercom systems in highschool or middle school. It was usually a front office receptionist who reminded students about upcoming events, lost or found items, or a parent seeking his/her child. Intercom systems are most vital when used during emergencies, or to alert students of potential danger. It is during that time that there would be an immediate need of communication between staff, students and administrators. Having a campus wide intercom system would provide faster communication, and would be cost effective to the school.
In the case of an emergency of any kind, the fastest way to spread information is over a loudspeaker that would be heard by all the students and staff at once. Sometimes there might be an emergency in the classroom, for instance, a student might need medical attention, or even worse there might be an active shooter on campus. In that case the teacher could use the intercom to page the school for assistance or warn students on campus. Our school already has a “Blackboard system” that sends text alerts or voice messages to students’ cell phones in case of an emergency, but that does not always work because a student’s phone might be off or might not have any reception and that would delay getting the message across.
Two years ago, University of California Santa Barbara experienced an active shooter situation where a 22-year-old student, who once also attended Pierce College, killed 6 and wounded 13 students. It took so long for the school to immediately notify people that a gunman was on the loose, and by the time the announcement was made, gunshots had already been fired. But an intercom system might have prevented more deaths.
Sometimes after a late night class, when a student walks to his/her car at night the campus is pitch dark, with no one left on campus, not even the Sheriffs. Sometimes the emergency blue phones do not work or do not light up, and a reasonable fear might overcome a student for that reason. If there was a robbery where the student gets their phone stolen and there was not an active emergency phone or an intercom to use nearby, what would a student do? Intercoms should be accessible to students as well as staff, if there were to be any.
An audio intercom would definitely be beneficial to the campus as it would allow faculty and staff to simultaneously alert each classroom and provide specific commands such as lock in place or evacuate to a safer location. The school can make use of such technology to make the campus a safer place and ensure criminals are caught and sent behind closed doors much sooner.
