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Florida Department of Education Selects AT&T to Improve School Safety with Instant Response Solution

Innovative Emergency Response Solution with Mutualink Enhances School Safety Throughout the State

What’s the news?

The Florida Department of Education (DOE) has selected AT&T* to provide an instant emergency notification and coordinated emergency response solution to enhance school safety throughout Florida. The system securely shares live video and directly connects school communications, including radio, with responding public safety agencies so they can understand the situation, coordinate action and quickly resolve the incident.  

The selection is part of the State’s Alyssa’s Law, which requires schools to install mobile panic buttons in every teacher and staff member’s mobile device to silently alert law enforcement to emergencies on campuses. Alyssa’s Law was named in honor of Alyssa Alhadeff, one of the students killed in the 2018 Parkland school shooting.

Why is this important?

With this solution, AT&T is collaborating with Mutualink to transform school panic buttons, powered by Raptor Technologies and Rave Mobile Safety. This smart emergency response platform instantly creates a near real-time connected emergency response and collaboration environment with responders to provide lifesaving critical information.

It is a proven emergency communications platform to support a multi-agency response with direct connection between school administrators and first responders to share radio, video, data, and text for silent communications. Features also include:

• Management and integration with existing compliant technologies and panic alert infrastructure.
• Streamlined emergency response times with immediate and simultaneous notifications to campus staff, local PSAPs, and first responder agencies.
• Reduced time to incident resolution by enabling near real-time information sharing and communication between schools and multiple first responder agencies.
• Delivery of critical panic alert details, such as the location of emergency and key facility data.
• SAFETY Act certified and Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) compliant.
• Option to use with FirstNet® – the only nationwide, high-speed broadband communications platform dedicated to and purpose-built for America’s first responders and the extended public safety community (for schools and school districts that subscribe to FirstNet).

The State also created the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Public Safety Commission to analyze information from the Parkland school shooting and other mass violence incidents in the state and address recommendations and system improvements. The Commission released a report stating a school must be connected in real-time, with live-streamed video to first responders to create situational awareness to respond and resolve an incident. This solution includes interoperable communications technology that fills the gap the Alyssa’s Law statute requires.

AT&T is leading the way to smarter and safer communities in Florida. For decades, it has been a trusted communications provider of solutions for public safety and 9-1-1 services to many of the state's largest and most populous counties, providing reliable and modern technologies, including 9-1-1 call delivery and call handling systems.

What are people saying?

Captain Rick Francis
Director, District School Safety & Security, Seminole County Florida Public Schools

“We wanted a technology to save lives. We wanted the ability for each staff member to feel safe. We wanted to be able to quickly resolve any incident, so we chose AT&T and Mutualink. In my opinion, they are the only ones qualified for this statewide effort in Florida."

Brian Troup

Vice President, Public Sector, AT&T

“AT&T is deeply committed to creating safer communities and we align with the Florida Department of Education in their vision to keep students, teachers and staff safe. Providing schools with fast and reliable communication solutions every day, especially during times of a crisis, can help save lives. We're honored to help enhance emergency communication safety measures in schools so parents, students and teachers feel safer and can focus on educating kids.”

Joe Mazzarella

President, Mutualink

“Understanding the real dynamics of an emergency and how systems can really help is what we do. After-incident investigations around the country, consistently show that communications problems and information failures delayed response and cost lives. Mutualink's instant emergency notification and response solution, integrated with the Rave Panic Button, is established in 15 Florida counties and is a proven emergency communications platform to support a multi-agency response with a direct connection between school administrators and responding officers to share radio, video, data, and text for silent communications.”

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