Kiosks Provide Security

Version imprimable

Kiosks are now being deployed in some US schools to tighten security.
 
The LobbyGuard visitor management kiosk helps to keep track of people entering the school. Users scan their driving license and the kiosk takes a photograph of them. If for any reason a user’s name is recognised and flagged up by the system, the kiosk will alert security.
 
The kiosks incorporate a touch-screen interface, camera, driver's-license scanner, barcode scanner and visitor badge printer to provide the user with a complete method for signing in and out.
 
The software system screens thousands of visitors, contractors and others who pass through school doors. It allows for quick visitor check-in, instant background checking and volunteer registration. It also gives school personnel instant access to information regarding parental custody for each parent and student, eliminating questions about who has the right to pick up students.
 
More than 2,000 kiosks are now deployed in several schools. Officials at one school stated that the system has helped identify at least three people using fake names.
 
Cheri Coons runs an Alternative Centre which has deployed the kiosks and is also a parent of a child at a school using the kiosks. She is reassured by the presence of the kiosks: “It's a safeguard, it's a check-in system, it’s something we can refer back to, to see who's been in our building, and who's been out of our building. A benefit of LobbyGuard is now we know and can identify individuals that shouldn't even be on school property and intervene.”