Header Right

(678) 894-4408

Call for your Free Consultation

Security Systems

Spending on Equipment

By

Does your organization need facial recognition technology as part of your security system?

According to Forbes, facial recognition software is already being used to:

  • put Snapchat and Instagram face filters on your face (using object recognition)
  • identify your friends in Facebook photos
  • unlock your phone
  • create CG characters in movies
  • verify identity
  • identify imposters and screen passengers at airports
  • prevent crime in retail spaces
  • tailor advertising to you individually
  • find missing children / individuals

While there are security-related benefits to facial recognition, there are also hurdles with the technology. For example, the technology tends to have high rates of racial bias as well as insufficient rates of accuracy. Furthermore, many current (and future) applications are used without the permission of the public, causing serious privacy issues.

So, is the cost (both financial and social) of the technology worth it for your school or business? The technology doesn’t come cheap – companies selling facial recognition software make millions in revenue each year.

As we’ve talked about on this blog before, while we firmly believe in security technology, we find that improving your organization’s policies and procedures (and making sure your people are properly trained) can go a long way towards keeping your people safe. See these posts for more on this:

Read This Before You Budget for Security

Include Everyone in Your Emergency Training

Layers of Security

Technology is Not Your Crutch

Visitor Management

Yes, technology is good, and technology is important to keep your people safe. If you have unlimited funds, facial recognition software may be appropriate. But don’t rely on technology like facial recognition software to keep your people safe.

 

Mobile Security Operations Console

By

A security operations console is a key part of security management in any given organization. In a perfect world, an organization’s security operations console would:

  • be housed in an interior room
  • have access control on the door
  • have camera coverage of the door
  • have integration of systems (e.g., cameras, access control, gates) inside the room
  • have video analytics
  • have dynamic presentation of alarms
  • be manned by security personnel
  • have the ability to remotely control gates, doors, etc.
  • have the ability to relay information to responding agencies
  • put the campus/building on lockdown
  • initiate mass notification

Because a proper security operations console could be a large undertaking for an organization that doesn’t already have most (or some) of the above points in place, decision makers sometimes shy away from deciding to install one. With that said, new technology means that a physical room with equipment and personnel isn’t strictly necessary anymore.

With a cellphone and a web-based login, it’s possible these days to hit most of the salient points of a security operations console without the physical location of one. Systems integration, video analytics, dynamic presentation of alarms, remote control of gates and other entrances, contact with responding agencies, and initiation of lockdown and mass notification can all be achieved with a mobile operations center.

Don’t let the price tag overwhelm you when it comes to a security operations console. There are multiple options on the market for all types of organizations and their needs.

School Safety

By

A recent article by the Associated Press had some good points about selling security equipment to schools. “Many proponents of hardening a school like an airport or police station have backgrounds in law enforcement or the military. Some have little experience or qualification.” One person interviewed for the story had sold $500,000 worth of security equipment to a school to later say (after he was no longer selling security equipment) that the same school could have paid a fifth of the price for the same level of security upgrades.

Listen, technology and gadgetry are not going to solve all of your security problems. Here at Invictus Consulting we believe that your school’s culture of safety can go a long way toward protecting your faculty, students, and staff. Having an emergency action plan that your faculty and staff have been trained on is such an important part of school security. We believe that security plans for intelligent threats should be as commonplace as fire evacuation plans – everyone should know what to do in case of an emergency, everyone will have practiced what to do, and lives will be saved because of prior planning and training.

Beyond an emergency action plan, a culture of security means that faculty, students, and staff have been trained to keep all exterior doors locked and closed; children do not open doors for strangers (even though this goes against a polite culture in parts of the country); parents and other visitors are aware that they need a reason for their visit; visitors have their identification checked against offender databases; visitors are escorted while they’re on campus; and a record is created for each instance of a visitor on campus (i.e., there is a record of exactly who is on campus, when they were there, how long they were there, when they left, who they came to see, etc.).

There are 5 layers of security on any property: outer perimeter, visual perimeter, access control, alarms, and policies and procedures. Your emergency action plan and culture of security would be considered the innermost layer of security – your policies and procedures.

But the other four layers of security are also places where schools can implement cost-effective solutions that improve the security of their people. Lots of schools we assess actually already have some measures in place – fences, gates, cameras, intercom systems, burglar alarms. It’s just that a lot of these systems are mismanaged or not used effectively or to their fullest capabilities. Before you upgrade to a half-million dollar security system, look at your current security measures and see if things can be managed better (e.g., fix broken fences, learn how to use video analytics in your camera system) or used more effectively.

We absolutely believe in the efficacy of physical and electronic security measures. Card readers, cameras, door prop alarms, systems integration – these are all effective and important aspects of security. But don’t mistake expensive equipment for a cure-all to security issues.

Are You Making Decisions Based on Emotion?

By

As we are all well aware, there have been a number of school and workplace shootings in our country in the past 12 months. Las Vegas. Parkland. Santa Fe. Capital Gazette. And those are just the big ones. Depending on what sources you use, what statistics you use, what criteria you use for defining a mass shooting event, the number of shootings for 2018 is anywhere from 28 school shootings, 1 school shooting per week on average, 198 mass shootings,  or 154 mass shootings.

Executives, board members, and other decision makers often look at statistics like these and panic, then install various aspects of an electronic security system (more cameras, a new card reader, a fingerprint scanner) that they think will help protect their own people from something like a mass shooting. Here’s the thing about thinking about your organization’s security from a fear perspective – you usually wind up with a Band-Aid solution that is a quick fix to a perceived flaw in your security.

Here at Invictus Consulting we absolutely believe in security systems. Cameras, card readers, scanners, door alarms, locks, fences, and security guards are all important parts of keeping your people and property safe. But making a hurried decision about any one of these things doesn’t necessarily keep your people and property safer than they were before. Adding a few new IP cameras to your existing analog camera system now means your people have 2 separate camera systems to deal with. Installing a fingerprint scanner that doesn’t actually interact with any other systems (e.g., your cameras) does little more than give a superficial image of improved security.

A collection of independently operating security systems and procedures can create extra work for your security people with little return on the investment. There is no all-encompassing answer to your unique security problems that can be quickly fixed with some security camera you saw on a commercial. Your organization’s security issues are unique to you – your location, your type of business, your clients, your size, etc. Your organization needs a security solution designed to work fluidly and integrated; cameras talking to card readers; door alarms integrated with your operations console; fingerprint scanners integrated into your visitor management software. You get the picture.

Please don’t let fear and panic dictate your security decisions. Don’t wait for another mass shooting to think about your organization’s security measures.

Read This Before You Budget for Security

By

We thought it would be a good idea to look at the fundamentals of risk management to remind people what it is they’re trying to so when they talk about security.

Risk management means determining what your unique risks are and coming up with a plan to mitigate those risks. It may involve security guards, active shooter plans, security cameras, access cards / badges, fingerprint scanners, fences, locks, door alarms, mass notification, visitor management policies and procedures, and any number of other gadgets, devices, systems, policies, and procedures you can think of to mitigate risk. It’s overwhelming. It can get expensive. It can be time and resource consuming to put a risk management plan into place.

But it’s important to remember that risk management is built upon a pretty straightforward principle – protection of your people and your property.

We find that a lot of organizations first determine a budget for their security needs and then try to fit solutions into that budget. We think that’s a backwards approach because you wind up with a piecemeal security system where you’ve chosen products and solutions based on price rather than on the true needs of your organization.

At Invictus Consulting we believe the first step is to do a risk assessment to determine exactly what it is you’re protecting and how you can go about protecting it. Then, when it’s time to budget, you can prioritize the most important things first rather than purchase the most inexpensive items first or the items with the flashiest appearance that will give your people and your visitors the appearance of a security system.

By knowing exactly who and what you are trying to protect, as well as knowing what your specific threats and risks are, your organization can have a phased approach to security, budgeting for the most important things first. We understand it may takes a few years worth of budgets to get your ideal security system in place, and that’s why tackling the most critical things first is important. And that’s why identifying the most critical things first is important.

Another note to remember is that much of your organization’s security is about your policies and procedures regarding emergencies, personnel, visitors, etc. Often adjusting your organization’s policies and procedures is free – it just takes some time with the board and executives and some time to train your people. Tackling these types of things while you’re budgeting for a phased implementation of other aspects of your security system is a great way to make improvements without waiting for board approval.

Finally, it’s important to understand that, even if your organization had unlimited funds, you can’t possibly protect against every single threat and risk. Again, this is why a risk assessment is so important – it allows you to determine your biggest threats and risks and create a phased approach to implementation.

Mass Notification Considerations

By

Mass notification is a critical part of emergency planning. Without a way to alert your employees or students about an emergency, you have no way to manage your most valuable assets – your people. Imagine a scenario where an active shooter is in the main lobby of your multi-story building. You have no formal mass notification system, so someone pulls the fire alarm in an attempt to alert people to the shooter. Because people have been trained to exit the building when they hear a fire alarm, most of your employees dutifully shuffle down the stairs to make their way out the main entrance. In other words, they head straight to the location of the shooter. Proper mass notification in this situation would have altered your employees to the nature of the threat, it would have initiated a lockdown procedure, and it would have kept other employees from coming into the office at that time.

When considering installing and implementing a mass notification systems, decision-makers should consider the following points:

  • Will it include the ability to send text messages to users?
  • Will there be ways to alert users who do not have their cell phones on hand (e.g., scrolling marquees, email, audible sounders)?
  • Is the system easy to maintain? Will the vendor/installer work with you if problems arise?
  • Will it be easy to add new users as necessary?
  • Will the system be user-friendly?
  • Can the system be integrated in to your security management system?
  • Will the system be easy for administrators/executives to use during an emergency?
  • What are the upfront costs? What are the monthly costs?
  • Do you want the system to have bi-directional communication (e.g., ability for users to give feedback or respond to certain alerts)?
  • Do you want maps to be part of the system, where users can view a map of where the emergency is occurring?
  • Do you want to be able to send alerts to various audiences (e.g., employees only, certain office locations only, executives only, etc.) rather than all users?
  • Will the system support your organization’s emergency action plan?

There are many mass notification systems on the market, and there are many features that can be included in whatever system you choose. Mass notification is such a critical facet of emergency preparedness – it is important that your organization have some way to alert your people of an emergency or threat. Make sure you get the right system for your organization’s needs, size, types of users, location, and culture.

How to Talk to Your Board of Directors

By

Security costs money. Fences, gates, cameras, card readers, training, security guards – all are important parts of a security management system, but all cost money. Getting your organization’s board of directors or executives to add appropriate numbers to the budget is often a challenge. Boards and executives like numbers – give them data and they will be more likely to spend the necessary money.

Data comes from a risk assessment; by having your current security systems assessed, your organization can have real data about what you currently have and your site-specific threats. This kind of data can help your organization create a roadmap to where you ideally want to be in term of security. Data plus a roadmap are important tools when approaching your board or executive level management about the budget.

If it were up to us and money were not an issue, we would have everyone install the latest and greatest equipment. But we live in the real world where money is not unlimited and where line items need to be justified. This is why having a risk assessment performed and creating a roadmap based on the results are the best things you can do before going in front of your board. Data can help you justify security-related budget items.

 

Fire Safety and Egress Points

By

Today we’d like to talk about fire safety and egress points, specifically doors with magnetic locks. Mag lock doors are (usually)  exterior doors that have magnetic locking hardware, whereby an electromagnetic current is passed between the device on the door and that on the door frame, thus creating a locking action.

Mag locks don’t interact with the levers or knobs on a door, which means that if the magnetic lock is active, pushing a door strike or turning a door knob will not open the door. This is why Life Safety Code requires that any door with a mag lock also needs distinct additional ways to break the power (and thus open the door) in the event of an emergency. These include:

 

  • a passive infrared motion sensor (drops power to the magnetic lock whenever motion is observed)
  • an egress button (a button that can be pushed to immediately break power to the magnetic lock in an emergency)
  • a fire alarm relay ( if a fire alarm is triggered the relay will drop power to the magnetic lock)

The National Fire Protection Association instructs facility managers or those people in charge of security that the authority having jurisdiction (AHJ) is the final authority on whether your fire, life, and electrical safety programs are up to code. The AHJ differs by state, area, type of facility, etc. and may be your local fire chief, labor department, state department, or other organization, office, or individual responsible for enforcing the requirements of a code or standard, or for approving equipment, materials, an installation, or a procedure.

Mag locks are great security measures; with that said, it’s important that if you have them in your facility, that you have redundant measures that allow for free egress in an emergency.