DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla. — SOS Technologies announced on Tuesday that it has partnered with New York City to deploy an advanced Emergency Alert System (EAS) across public schools experiencing active safety threats.
This initiative aims to drastically reduce notification times from minutes to under ten seconds, providing a crucial link between schools and first responders, according to a press release from the company.
NYC Emergency Alert System Launches at Brooklyn Campus
Developed in collaboration with the New York City Office of Technology and Innovation (OTI), the new system debuted at the Spring Creek campus in Brooklyn. It marks the first time in the U.S. where a school building is directly integrated with 911 first responder services, the company says.
Related Article: Essential Campus Emergency Notification Strategies: 15 Critical Practices for Public Safety and Emergency Management Administrators
The rollout plans include expanding the system to 25 school buildings, encompassing 51 public schools across the five boroughs by the 2025-2026 school year.
——Article Continues Below——
System Connects 1.8 Million Students and Staff with Emergency Services
New York City, home to the world’s largest public school system, serves approximately 1.8 million students and staff. The new Emergency Alert System aims to establish a direct communication link with first responders, including the NYPD, FDNY, and EMS. According to a press release from SOS, this integration eliminates costly delays and significantly improves emergency response times, an essential factor when every second counts.
SOS says the NYC EAS platform seamlessly facilitates communication with agencies such as NYC Public Schools, NYPD, PSAC 911, and FDNY. The system is designed to accelerate emergency notifications and ensure that calls for help are instantly prioritized and precisely geo-located.
With features like extensive system redundancy, continuous real-time monitoring, and GovRamp-Authorized cybersecurity, SOS claims that the system offers unmatched reliability and protection for New York City’s life-safety communications and public school infrastructure.
Previous Panic Button Pilot Discontinued After Federal Investigation
This initiative follows a previous pilot with another company that developed a panic button app. Notably, the previous pilot was investigated by the federal government for possible influence-peddling within the Adams Administration and concluded without further expansion, reports Gothamist.