Staff protection is a critical priority for all businesses. But some sectors need to provide their staff with more protection than others.
For instance, financial institutions like banks, post offices, and credit unions can be under threat from break-ins and robberies while other areas such as 24-hour fuel stations or factories have staff on premises working throughout the night. Therefore, if a robbery was to occur during these unorthodox working times, it is vital that the alarm can be raised, and help can be provided immediately.
Traditionally the method for signaling a threat was a member of staff would trigger a silent alarm that would be reported to police, or staff would enter a unique duress code. These code option and the silent panic/ hold up are available on the SPC system. That said, an often-reported issue with duress codes is that adding a one-to-four-digit number can be challenging to perform when under pressure.
Vanderbilt’s SPC
However, Vanderbilt’s SPC intrusion system has several features that help protect staff. One such feature is the ‘All okay’ function. Simply put, this is a step that staff can perform to signal everything is ‘okay’ when the SPC system is unset. The nice thing about this is that SPC allows this ‘All okay’ signal to be almost anything. Additionally, you can add multiple elements that will trigger the signal.
The SPC system can be configured to have this functionality for specific areas and the time and action can be defined for what will happen if the signal is not given. Any input or zone can be used.
SPC: How it works
For example, at a bank, if the manager arrives early, he uses his card to gain access to the branch office and PIN to disarm the alarm. His code disarms the office and secure area but the ATMs, vaults, and safe deposit boxes remain armed. A central monitoring station (CMS), is alerted to the early entry.
They need to know whether the entry is routine or under duress. The monitoring station views the manager in live video as he executes a predetermined security procedure and until he hits an ‘All Okay’ button. If there is a problem, a silent duress alarm is automatically sent. The monitoring station listens in and if necessary calls the police. The core element here is that it is easy for staff to remember not to perform an action and also more natural.
