Use it or lose it: CARES Act funds must be spent by December 30

State, local and tribal governments must spend CARES Act dollars by December 30 or lose that funding. Much of that funding, aimed to relieve the impact of the pandemic, hasn’t been spent. “The significant amount of funds left unspent suggests a substantial risk that money will be returned to the federal government,” warns the New…

Dept of Justice: 10 Essential Actions for Student Safety

A few weeks ago, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) released Ten Essential Actions to Improve Student Safety, aimed at preventing and mitigating violence on school campuses. In this post, we sum up those 10 actions, linking to the full report and other resources below. The 10 essential actions are as follow: Comprehensive school safety…

Post-Pandemic Recovery: Resetting for Growth & Safety

Looking to thrive past COVID-19? Whatever you were doing before ain’t gonna cut it. We’re talking… Emergency management. Customer experience. Safety and security. Routine operations. All of it demands a massive shift. It’s time to act, not react, warn McKinsey researchers. Transformation with a capital T  McKinsey argues that organizations “going all-in on transformation can…

|

3-minute demo: Integrating your paging systems

Business, healthcare and school leaders often ask us to make their existing paging systems work together as one. What they’re really looking for is greater automation, reach and ease when deploying alerts — whether for routine communications or emergency response. Of course, they’re also looking to keep costs low. (We bet you are too.) In this…

|

Layered Solutions to Overhaul Intercom Systems at Lawrence Township Schools

News release, September 21, 2020 INDIANAPOLIS — Layered Solutions, an Indianapolis-based provider of integrated emergency and routine communications, was chosen to update school intercom systems for the Metropolitan School District of Lawrence Township, Indiana. In doing so, school staff will have two-way communications from classrooms to front desks. The technology will also enable school leaders to…

School Technology Integrations: 3 Ways to Improve Student Safety, Engagement

Rising risks and shrinking budgets have long been challenges to student safety and adequate emergency management in schools from K-12 to higher ed. Then came COVID-19. Risks skyrocketed, priorities shifted, and you’ve been forced to cook up new ways to serve your school community. There’s the challenge of keeping students and staff healthy, of course….

The Future of Work: Contact Tracing?

Contact tracing is nothing new. For decades, it’s been used to contain the spread of infectious diseases like Ebola, SARS, MERS, tuberculosis and other outbreaks, explains McKinsey. It’s also a cost-effective alternative to blanket lockdowns, making it possible for communities to reopen safely. That’s because contact tracing allows authorities to pinpoint, isolate and treat infected…

Survey: 1 in 4 Campuses Still Lack Layered Emergency Notification Capabilities

A few days ago, Campus Safety published the feedback of nearly 600 school, university, and healthcare safety/security professionals on their use of emergency notifications. The survey revealed nearly 3 in 4 campuses use two or more emergency notification systems, with 21% using four or more systems. Results raised a few questions: Why layer multiple systems?…

|

Preventing Person-to-Person Contamination with Automated Social Distance Alerts and Contact Tracing

News release, 06/02/20 Layered Solutions, an Indianapolis-based provider of integrated emergency and routine communications, has released two new automation tools for organizations seeking to minimize person-to-person contamination across their facilities: automated social distance alerts and contact tracing. Sold together or separately, the two modules track the movement of people across facilities, leveraging the organization’s existing…