Secure Children's Home

Secure children’s home – replacement staff attack alarm system

A secure home for children with challenging behaviour needed a replacement staff attack alarm which ensured its team members could call for assistance quickly and reliably, both indoors and when located in outside areas of the site.

Their existing system used Infra-red triggers sending alarms to a central hub from which responders were summoned using one-way pagers or wall-mounted display sounders.

The secure children’s home management team needed –

Alarms relayed to other staff faster
A single portable device to both initiate alarms and receive assistance messages
Locations for both inside and outside areas
Elimination of noisy displays in resident areas
Integration of the existing specialised call button in service users rooms
Door entry system integration with access requests displayed on portable device
A discrete two-way communication network installed away from resident areas
Quick installation with minimal cabling and battery powered devices where possible

locusXact provided the answer with its secure wireless network supporting lightweight handheld devices able to both activate alarms and receive them from others. The location of alarms raised by the staff is provided by a secure network of location beacons using dual wireless and infra-red technology to provide both accuracy and resilience. locusXact also linked the existing service user call button in each room by installing secure wall-mounted alarm points. A wall-mounted alarm point with external input interfaces with the door entry system.

Installation was quick and simple with just a limited amount of wiring for power connections to the locusXact secure wireless network of a Master and Repeaters installed in the roof void across the site, serviceable 24/7 and therefore having negligible impact on the daily activities. The network was also extended by ‘hopping’ across to an adjacent building using a wireless Repeater – no need for contained cabling or catenary wires.

System resilience was enhanced by 4Hr battery back-up for the mains powered Master and Repeaters. All alarm portables, location beacons and wall-mounted alarms are battery powered. Beacon battery life of typically 3 years is managed by the network with battery low alert provided so routine maintenance can be easily planned.

Staff log in on a keypad using a unique PIN to register for a portable alarm. This unique PIN means any member of staff can use any portable which minimises the need for additional devices and assists with accountability. Alarms and staff identification are displayed on the locusXact PC System manager providing monthly records for analysis.