The New First Responder
How integrated paging and emergency solutions automate mass notification and communication tasks, reducing security workloads and human error
- By L. William Nattress III
- Nov 01, 2017
People are constantly on the move—particularly in busy
transit hubs—and passengers need to know where
they should be and by when. While visual displays
play a critical role in communication, verbal pages can
assist in last-minute updates or station changes that
may be missed if conveyed only on digital signage.
Minimize Confusion
Couple those needs with the requirement to disseminate critical and
emergency messaging while maintaining a high level of visual surveillance,
and transportation security and communication centers have
an ever-increasing level of responsibility to ensure passenger safety,
reduce the opportunities for accidents, and minimize confusion during
a crisis.
Until recently, much of this work had to be done manually, and
despite new technology capabilities, security and life safety officers
were burdened with how to respond to incidents in a timely and efficient
manner. However, with today’s integrated paging and emergency
communication systems (ECS), the number of decision points
can be reduced to help automate the process.
The biggest factor contributing to that burden is that life safety,
fire alarm, voice evacuations and paging solutions have long been
disparate systems. Each system worked independently and had to be
monitored separately. Add to that, security operations in mass transit
are primarily driven by video analytics, with information coming in
from hundreds of video cameras and sensors. The main goal of video
analytics is to reduce workflow through programmable functions that
automate as many actions as safely possible. Now, with changes to
the National Fire Protection Association’s (NFPA) NFPA-72 code
that allow for fire safety and ECS to use the Ethernet as a viable
transport, paging and ECS can be integrated with other systems to
permit interaction and automation of these monitoring tasks.
As the needs for mass notification have evolved, the integrated
paging systems used for ECS have had to keep pace with new requirements
and security measures, taking into consideration the type of
audience and its needs. With the changes in the NFPA code, these
systems play an integral role distributing critical information and
alerts within the four different layers that these systems must address:
- In-building ECS. Allows rail station personnel to send pages to
specific platforms at a specific station and to specific areas within
a building.
- Wide-area mass notification system (MNS). Permits personnel to
use the system to address people inside and outside a station.
- Distributed-recipient MNS. Allows the system to send personal
notification to mobile devices registered with the public transit
authority.
- Public broadcast measures. Sends an alert
to key public entities, such as broadcast
radio and television, to widen the circle
of communication as needed.
Covering All Lines
A rail station security operation center is often
responsible for covering multiple transit
lines, especially in larger cities. Not only does
station activity significantly increase during
rush hours and special events, but also each
area of a station may have unique needs and
requirements that add to the large number of
communication tasks to oversee. By gaining
efficiencies and reducing workflow through
ECS automation, the time needed to send
messages manually is reduced, allowing
transportation staff to focus on more critical
tasks.
For example, transportation personnel
may need to page a traveler or page a particular
zone or platform to inform corresponding
passengers of a departure or arrival. The
first requirement these systems must address
is the ability to communicate to a specific location.
Through the ECS, each station can
receive communication and audio tailored to
that particular locale. If a train that normally
disembarks at platform six is now disembarking
at platform 10, the system will allow
for a localized announcement of that schedule
change to the platform(s) impacted. The
officer only has to enter the information once
with no other action or follow-up required.
Second, an integrated ECS system can
send out automated safety alerts that are
triggered by sensors and camera feeds. An
example would be if a passenger waiting on a
platform crosses the yellow safety line, a scalable
and flexible paging and ECS integrated
with the rest of the center’s security and safety
systems would allow a tripped sensor to
send an alert to the paging system. The alert
would send out an automated, pre-recorded
announcement over the loudspeaker on that particular platform telling the person to
move back to safety—all without any manual
involvement.
It is only if, after the warning message is
sent and the person does not back up to safety,
that the ECS automatically sends an alert
and assigns a video image to a security officer.
The system automatically queues up the appropriate
loudspeaker, and the security officer
would be able to speak directly to that specific
platform and address the wayward passenger.
“Sir, in the blue shirt, for your safety, you
need to back up behind the yellow line.” The
system automation streamlines manual tasks,
gaining efficiencies, increasing the volume of
potentially dangerous situations that can be
addressed, thus preventing injuries.
Another example would be if security
personnel needed to push out very specific
messages to specific locations within a given
station. If they don’t want passengers on
the track level due to a situation unfolding,
the system allows them to make special announcements
to public areas or zones within
the station, such as the station entry, requesting
people to remain within the lobby area
or exit the building to another location. In
addition, the system allows for communications
to be simultaneously issued at all mass
notification layers.
- Layer one sends the message in the building
or station, telling people not to go up
to the platforms and to exit building.
- Layer two sends a message over a wide
area, using the system’s integrated external
paging solution to send alerts outside
of the building to deter passengers from
entering.
- Layer three, which is personal notification,
would allow a text message to be
sent to registered cell phones informing
them not to enter the building.
- Layer four, which broadcasts radio and
television, would automate messages to
the public as needed, informing them to
stay away.
Security centers also often have to oversee
each of the stations’ public access parking
lots, which are encompassed within the widearea
layer two of mass notification. Many
public access parking lots are equipped with
call boxes that provide a person in distress
direct contact with the security center. Tied
into the paging system, an officer is automatically
assigned to the call and is provided
with a local camera feed for the area.
This immediately puts eyes on the call
box, so the officer can see the person and the
details around the situation. They can key
the microphone and page the entire parking;
bringing comfort to the individual confirming
that assistance is on the way—and potentially
deterring others.
The rail station security and communication
centers are the epicenter of all message
dissemination to passengers, operators and
station agents. They are constantly bombarded
with incoming information, making
it increasingly difficult for officers to perform
the largest priority of their job: ensuring the
safety of all passengers and even the outlying
public community.
By integrating paging and emergency communication
systems that automate the coordination
and distribution of low-level messages
and sound the alarm where true emergencies
have arisen, these systems become the new
first responders and allow security communication
teams to better prepare,
manage and prevent
tragedies.
This article originally appeared in the November 2017 issue of Security Today.