New Phone App Will Give Escambia School Staff An Emergency Alert ‘Panic Button’

May 23, 2019

The Escambia County School District is purchasing a phone app that will give employees a panic button in the palm of their hands in the event of a campus security breach.

The panic button in the Volo app can trigger a lockdown, notifying school staff and law enforcement.  The app is “geofenced” — meaning it will only work in specific geographic area such as on a school campus.

Use of the app by employees will be voluntary and training will be offered during the summer break.

The first year of a five-year contract will cost the school district $104,100 under an agreement approved 5-0 by the school board.

Comments

4 Responses to “New Phone App Will Give Escambia School Staff An Emergency Alert ‘Panic Button’”

  1. teacher on May 25th, 2019 8:42 am

    @thetruth . Sure the button to the office works UNLESS of course there is already someone in the office. Say the emergency is in the front office where the PA is located to alert all of the classes that something bad is going down would you prefer that the classes sit unaware like sitting ducks? or someone in the back of the office be able to hit a panic button that would alert all the classes? sure we have cellphones do you know how long it would take to let everyone on a campus know? and NO not everyone not in a tradition classroom has a radio. You’re throwing around info like it is facts and you obviously don’t know how campus life works. There are lots of scenarios where another line of communication is needed. You might want to get info from real people working there before you assume you know what is going on.

  2. thetruth on May 23rd, 2019 10:32 am

    So the button on the wall to call the office isnt good enough anymore ? You have already added miles and miles of fences in the district. Everybody has their cell phone and I would assume that most campus leaders give their numbers to their employess, so why can they call and report something. And the teachers that are not in tradtional classrooms have radios to call the administration. But my vote doesnt matter when you throw around 100k.

  3. just sayin on May 23rd, 2019 9:50 am

    Sure is a lot of money. Especially if only two employees volunteer to use it.

  4. Oversight on May 23rd, 2019 5:58 am

    Where can you get more information about the app, like who produces it and what other functions are embedded in it? A quick web search for “volo app” produces results that have nothing to do with what is being given to the public through the school district’s media release published here.