School Lockdown Project

Public Address and Lockdown

Solutions for Educational Facilities

Project:                Castell Alun School

Installer:             Full Circle Security Systems Ltd

Overview

The use of the word lockdown is new terminology in education so, what does ‘lockdown’ mean? Unlike evacuation where people leave the building, lockdown is an emergency action where people are prevented from entering or leaving an area for a certain period.  Normally triggered, in the event of the threat of danger, in a school it allows staff to stay or move themselves and their students to areas of designated security to ensure maximum well-being and protection. Lockdown was a specific requirement of this project.

The Project

This school lock down system was commissioned to provide public address and lockdown announcements and was installed using the IP-A1 series by Full Circle Security Systems Ltd.

The system consisted of a VM-2240 5 zone amplifier with a P-3248D booster amplifier, for larger speaker loads, and an RM-200M S microphone. All ‘messaging’ is supplied via an IP-A1PG gateway which is loaded with custom announcements.

This audio solution was designed to give the staff at Castell Alun School, a secondary education facility in Wales, the ability to communicate with students in a variety of ways using a simple system to achieve this.

The project required an upgrade of amplifiers to allow for paging in up to 5 separate zones and all call if required as well as lockdown, scheduled class change messages and warning messages about running in the corridor at lunch times.

The lockdown requirement is a simple one with a ‘lockdown message’ that can be easily triggered from a central point and play for up to one hour in all zones.

This was achieved by loading a custom lockdown message, that was recorded by the Head Teacher, on to the IP-A1PG Paging Gateway which is triggering by a wall mounted switch in the main reception area.

Once the school is deemed safe the Head Teacher can put out a broadcast from the RM-200M S microphone to signify the end of the lockdown period. The pupils have been trained to not come out until they hear this message with regular practise exercises as part of the school’s overall Health & Safety procedures.

KIT LIST

IP-A1PG Paging Gateway

VM-2240 Amplifier

P-3248D Booster Amplifier

RM-200M S       

PoE Switch

“We were recently approached by the school’s business manager to resolve ongoing issues with their outdated class change system. Following a full assessment of the existing equipment, speakers, and cabling, we designed and implemented a modern solution that upgraded the front-end control equipment while retaining the existing infrastructure. This upgrade has delivered a reliable, fully functional system, eliminating the daily disruptions previously faced by staff and students.”

Dan Farrell

Managing Director, Full Circle Security Systems Ltd

“We are seeing the need for change in educational facilities in terms of how they manage security and the movement of staff and pupils.  Using voice activated messages rather than a bell allows for greater flexibility in giving commands and enables specific incident training to manage the everyday running of these facilities and to use the same system in the event of an incident to give greater clarity and safety.”

Ian Bridgewater

Managing Director & Technical Director, TOA Corporation (UK) Ltd

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