Security and life safety are crucial and often include security’s involvement with the institution’s IT department, says Glenn Husted, a Protection 1 commercial security consultant in Las Vegas.

“IT is heavily involved,” he says. At the same time, there is a move to Web-based security systems thanks to a “simple Web browser,” he adds. “It’s a matter of ease of use.” In addition, Husted points out video guard tour and video alarm verification, for example, at the  Ontario-Montclair School District in California. At the school district, threats from vandalism and copper theft must be addressed. The Protection 1 executive suggests solutions that include outside motion detection and beams around buildings and game fields with alarms that can be verified by a central station. “Some locations can include a voice aspect, too,” he says.