2023 Singlewire Software Update
In 2023, Singlewire Software made significant updates to its product offerings as the safety needs of organizations worldwide continued to evolve. Our team worked diligently to address challenges organizations were facing with innovative solutions and strategic partnerships that helped expand the capabilities of our solutions. In this blog post, we’ll recap some of the most important updates you may have missed in 2023.
InformaCast Updates
Our InformaCast mass notification and incident management software continued to demonstrate its flexibility with several enhancements and integrations that maintained its place as a core component of organizations’ safety and communication strategies. Major informaCast updates for 2023 included:
- Merkai MT Sensor Integration: InformaCast notifications can be initiated when a Meraki MT Sensor is activated. This extends the reach of Meraki MT sensor alerts to all of a school’s connected communication devices. Text, audio, and visual alerts can be sent throughout a school building or to designated groups via desk phones, desktop computers, overhead speakers and paging systems, digital signage, and mobile devices. Depending on the severity of the situation, InformaCast also serves as an incident management tool, enabling schools to gather key stakeholders via tools like Webex to assess situations and coordinate a response. Learn more here.
- Critical Incident Mapping: Organizations can now upload floorplans of their buildings directly into InformaCast. Floor plans provide a detailed visual of the location of an emergency when initiating a scenario using the InformaCast app, a Cisco IP phone, or Microsoft Teams. This feature debuted in conjunction with our partnership with CRG, a leader provider of critical incident maps that can be used within InformaCast to define buildings, floors, and rooms. Learn more here.
- AI-Video Surveillance Integration: Singlewire Software stepped into the world of artificial intelligence with a partnership with IntelliSee, an AI risk mitigation platform that detects drawn guns, slipping hazards such as leaks or spills, fallen persons, trespassing, loitering, vehicles, and other risks. It overlays with existing surveillance systems to actively monitor live camera feeds 24/7/365 to detect threats in real time. When integrated with InformaCast, organizations can automatically send text and audio notifications to alert everyone, or specific groups, like safety teams, who can respond to the situation. Learn more here.
More partnerships are coming in 2024 that will add to the functionality of InformaCast to further its safety, communication, and incident management capabilities.
Visitor Aware Updates
At the beginning of 2023, Singlewire Software announced its acquisition of Visitor Aware, a visitor and safety management solution. This added critical visitor screening and student tracking capabilities to our product offering, and we continued to add to Visitor Aware throughout the year. The full Visitor Aware suite includes:
- Visitor Manager: Organizations can screen visitors to identify threats before unwanted guests gain access to sensitive areas. Visitors have their IDs scanned when they enter a building. That information is used in conjunction with encrypted facial recognition to screen visitors against national sex offender and government watchlists and active legal injunctions. Potential issues are flagged to prevent guests from further entering a building, and approved guests are given a printed pass so they can proceed. Learn more here.
- Safety Drill Manager: Organizations can create drills for any type of safety situation they need to practice, including fires, tornadoes, and active shooters. Drills can then be assigned to specific people who are in charge of scheduling and carrying out the drills, along with a specific time frame for when the drill needs to be completed. Each assigned drill can also include a checklist of required action items that need to be completed. This creates a digital record organizations can use, reducing paperwork and making it easy to verify they are meeting local mandates for compliance. Learn more here.
- Student Manager: Keeping students safe is every school’s top priority. The Student Manager capabilities of Visitor Aware help schools account for students during a crisis, reunite them with guardians after an incident, and securely release them at the end of the day. It also offers tip-line capabilities to help school officials stay ahead of potential threats. Learn more here.
- Bus Manager: To help keep track of students coming to and from school, the Bus Manager app can be used to check students in and out of verified bus routes. A mounted mobile device equipped with the app will verify the student is on the correct bus and record that they have gotten on. The software also marks when the student has gotten off the bus. Parents and school administrators have access to an online portal that shows where student buses are located within their active route and information about when students get on and off buses. Bus Manager can also be used for students getting on and off the bus at the beginning of the day to come to school. Learn more here.
- InformaCast Integration: As we strive to provide added value to our customers, we offer seamless integration between Visitor Aware and InformaCast. Organizations can combine these visitor management and mass notification tools, creating a comprehensive system to detect threats, deliver notifications, and manage incidents. Learn more about this integration here.
Other Updates from Singlewire Software
Our Visitor Aware and InformaCast solutions received a total of 13 awards this year from leading industry publications, including Campus Safety, THE Journal, SmartBrief on EdTech, Security Today, and more. Singlewire Software was also recognized as a Top Workplace in Madison by the Wisconsin State Journal for the third consecutive year.
We look forward to continuing to provide innovative safety and communication solutions in 2024!