Nation's First High School Uses Ekahau RTLS (RFID-over-Wi-Fi™) to Make Students Safer

RESTON, Va., June 18, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Ekahau Inc., the high-performance leader in Real-Time Location Systems (RFID-over-Wi-Fi™), today announced the first implementation of its school safety solution in a United States high school, at Skyview High School in Nampa, Idaho. The successful Ekahau RTLS pilot started on April 12^th, 2013 and the project was completed on April 30^th, 2013.

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With the Ekahau school safety solution, a Skyview teacher simply pulls down on their wearable Ekahau Wi-Fi badge in the event of a security or health emergency and the Ekahau badge sends a request for assistance within seconds, including event details and the teacher's location, to the school's Resource Officer and local dispatchers. Ekahau's 2-way RTLS messaging solution eliminates the need for manual dialing and map look-ups; pulling down on a badge places Skyview High School into lock-down. During emergencies, dispatchers may also use Ekahau messaging software to send mass communication texts to badge-holders, directing teachers and classes away from danger without dependence on cellular networks.  In addition, the Ekahau Forensics Replay™ software feature allows administrators to test emergency plan effectiveness by reviewing second-by-second event replays.

"The Ekahau solution is going to change how we respond to unwanted trespassers as well as health emergencies inside of schools," said Nampa Police and Skyview Resource Officer, Brad Ford. He adds, "This system has already proven effective by reducing our response time to a recent medical emergency at Skyview. The solution is even more compelling when you consider that it costs on average less than forty dollars per student, which means that almost any school can adopt this affordable solution to increase school safety."

After researching a variety of school safety solutions, Petty-Ford Security Solutions of Idaho recommended the Ekahau RTLS to the Nampa Police Chief and school administrators. Funded by a private, unnamed donor, the Ekahau RTLS pilot project at Skyview High School leveraged the school's existing Wi-Fi infrastructure investment to deliver an affordable safety alerting solution for the school. By taking advantage of Skyview's existing Wi-Fi infrastructure, Ekahau eliminated the need for costly, hard-wired readers in every classroom.

"Schools need a safety solution that gives students and teachers an instant lifeline to help. The best solutions indicate the location and nature of an emergency and Ekahau's school safety solution gives first responders the information they need, in order to act quickly," said Mark Norris, President and CEO of Ekahau.

About Ekahau Inc.

Ekahau Inc. is the performance leader in providing Wi-Fi-based Real-Time Location Systems (RTLS). Ekahau RTLS with Ekahau Vision™ software and Wi-Fi-based tags gives staff and managers unprecedented visibility into the location, condition and status of assets, people and workflows. Thousands of Fortune 500 companies, hospitals and other facilities rely on Ekahau's patented technology to reveal business intelligence that drives decision-making. Ekahau partners include leading wireless software developers, systems integrators and WLAN providers. Learn more about Business Intelligence Through Location at: www.ekahau.com or on the Ekahau Blog, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

About Petty-Ford Security Solutions

Petty-Ford Security Solutions was founded by a police officer and school counselor looking to make their school safer. The consulting group is based in Meridian, Idaho and created the Rapid Emergency Response Program to effectively assist school personnel with communication and give law enforcement the vital information they need to protect students and staff. Visit: www.rapidemergencyresponse.com.

Contact: Paul C. DiPerna  
Ph: +1 781 684 0770 
[email protected]

SOURCE Ekahau Inc.