See How SafeZone Works
CriticalArc’s first customers were in the higher education market, so we understand you face some of the most complex, wide-ranging security challenges–large open campuses, multiple cities, thousands of students, faculty and staff. As University administrators are expanding areas of responsibility and freezing budgets, safety and security leaders turn to campus security solutions like SafeZone® to act as a force multiplier.
If you’re looking for more than just a campus safety app, CriticalArc’s unique public safety solution, SafeZone®, is changing the way educational institutions are managing safety. By providing unprecedented situational awareness, the command and control software provides your team with a common operating view so your officers can view their position relative to each other as well as incidents, which enables your team to respond faster and minimize impacts. In addition, the free SafeZone app makes it easy for students and staff to summon help via simple tap on their mobile phone, enhancing the duty of care provided by your organization.
The range of services needed for mental health and wellbeing across a campus community is varied. Accounting for so many unique circumstances, which require different levels of support and have different hours of availability, is challenging to present in a succinct manner, especially considering those seeking assistance may be in crisis. The Wellbeing feature directs students and staff to the best resource available (counselor, hotline, website). The information presented can be tailored based on a combination of WHO presses the button, WHERE the user is when the button is pressed and WHEN they press it. This enables each university to help get the individual the specific type of help they need, based on time of day, day of the week, type of assistance needed etc.
Given the growth and expansion of Universities, Campus Safety teams are under increasing pressure to absorb incremental responsibilities with little or no increase in staff or budget. When faced with these pressures, college security leaders turn to technology to offset a shortage in resources. Our customers have frequently described SafeZone as a force multiplier that acts an essential component of their Emergency Response Plan. The ability to view the location, availability and role of each officer in the field enables universities to manage their large campuses and estates with small teams, yet still fulfill their duty of care to students, faculty and staff.
Astute universities recognize that parents often heavily influence the decision on where their son or daughter will attend University. Given this, universities are now beginning to proactively address parents’ concerns about safety to increase positive perceptions. Several of our customers have cited the positive feedback from parents when they learn about SafeZone. It’s rare that campus security teams can point to an improvement that so clearly demonstrates the university’s commitment to protect its students and staff as part of its overall risk management strategy.
Whether a school lockdown, fire, or severe weather, a campus emergency alert system enables you to quickly send emergency communications to students, faculty, and staff. SafeZone is custom-configured to your university and enables you to set up a series of geo-zones so you can send targeted messages to impacted parties based on location or send a mass notification message across the entire university. This real-time security solution creates a safe student experience.
It’s common for universities to have study abroad programs in 100+ countries. In addition, professors and students participate in exchange programs and university officials travel extensively to attend various conferences. As part of their expansion programs, several universities are building campuses in regions outside their main campus. Campus Safety teams are turning to SafeZone to help them create geo-zones around the cities or countries where their students and staff travel, to enable mass notification, provide visibility to incidents, and meet their duty of care. In fact, SafeZone is operational in over eighty countries worldwide by our customers.
University Registrars and Vice Chancellors are under increasing pressure to attract and retain new and existing students, including international students. Since 88% of international students say a strong campus safety and security program influences what university they’ll attend, (and international students represent tens of billions of dollars in economic impact) investing in technology like SafeZone has a high ROI. Several universities have begun to promote their culture of safety and their use of SafeZone as a means to distinguish their institution from competing universities. Registrars understand that when students feel safe, it positively impacts the student experience and university retention rates.
Staff and student well-being and safety is of the utmost importance at the University of Washington and a critical component of the Husky student experience. The SafeZone solution enables us to respond more effectively and efficiently to students and staff who need emergency support. We have been consistently impressed with the benefits SafeZone can deliver, along with its ease of use and deployment.John Vinson, Assistant Vice-President for Student Life/Chief of Police
With the growth of internationalisation, the use of the SafeZone app outside of the UK is proving an invaluable management and safeguarding tool. Being able to contact users abroad and provide them with a comfort level of personal security is a major consideration and mitigation when managing international travel.Denis Fowler, Director Health, Safety & Security Department
University public safety and security leaders report a 50% or greater reduction in their response times to incidents, after the deployment and use of SafeZone.
SafeZone helps ensure the personal safety of students and staff, plus boosts the performance of Northeastern University’s campus police in Boston, MA.
Safezone enables Northumbria University to respond more quickly and is also helping them recruit more international students.
University of York was the first SafeZone customer from the Russell Group of Universities. They use SafeZone to support international travel programs, satellite locations and to protect their brand.
Heriot-Watt University in Edingburgh implemented SafeZone to accelerate the modernization of its Security Services, including extending visibility to its campuses in Dubai and Malaysia.
The University of South Australia uses SafeZone to support its 32,000 students and staff in six campuses dispersed across 800km, and provide round-the-clock security.