Project Name:  MGS Grimwade Campus - School Guardian Project

Project Duration:  November 2012 - March 2013

Scope of Works

ATS was engaged by MGS to develop, design and install a customised audible evacuation and lockdown system that would safely manage the movement of staff and children onsite in the event of a crisis.   ATS worked closely with MGS's OH&S Committee, The School Board and The Faculty and Department Heads.

Project History

The School Guardian Project was born from a concern raised by the client due to an unfortunate tragedy involving a gun man at a school in the USA.  Whilst the school already had a crisis management plans in place, in practice these plans were hard to implement due to the size of the campus and the number of buildings involved.

ATS were asked by the school to conduct investigatations in to what system could be implemented to manage this type of situation in the future.   The initial concept development commenced in 2009 and was based on the needs of the senior campus, however it was decided to redesign the concept for initial installation to the Grimwade campus in late 2012.

Project Description

The School Guardian Project required ATS to develop the concept, design, integrate and install a site wide, audible, Evacuation and Lockdown System.  The System needed to meet the following Requirements:

• Utilise where possible the existing fire system evacuation speakers and associated cabling and equipment
• If there was no fire system in place, install required equipment and speakers with a view to meet the future fire system requirements
• Must be completely Standalone
• Must have no connection in any way to the existing school IT infrastructure
• System control needed to be “simple” and user friendly
• System needed to integrate multi vender equipment installed in 10 buildings
• Communicate over a large site
• Allow for future expansion
• Integration of existing Fire system
• Integration of existing Security system
• School Bell integration
• Security camera integration

Challenges

This project was riddled with challenges ATS that was required to overcome to deliver the project.

• Multiple buildings spread across a large site
• Multi vender equipment integration
• Obtaining equipment from overseas for installation during the Christmas break
• Software vender not suppling the user interface which meant additional development by ATS
• Power supply issues with FIP’s with no CPU

Achievements

• Software development
• Assisting global software supplier to resolve a bug in their application system
• A user friendly system that the staff are extremely happy with and not afraid to use

Technologies utilised

• Wireless IP Devices
• Fire Panel Integration
• Touch Screen
• ATS developed audio output detection device

Equipment

• The system required the integration of 10+ buildings with 8+ devices in each to be control/linked to the system/operator interface

Software

• ATS developed a proprietaty control software and operator interface

Melbourne Grammar School showed great faith and trust in ATS to take a conceptual idea and develop into a working system.   As such, the School Guardian System is state of the art and novel in its approach to solving the multi building and cabling infrastructure issues on site.