The University of Manchester, the University of Salford and Manchester Metropolitan University have created the Manchester SafeZone Alliance, an initiative enabling the three university security control rooms to extend the footprint of 24/7 support beyond their campus boundaries.

The collaboration between the three Greater Manchester universities, using SafeZone technology from CriticalArc, enables security teams to provide faster response and assistance to their students and staff. In the event of an emergency, students and staff are directly connected to the appropriate safety and security team or first responder via the SafeZone phone application.

The three individual universities had already deployed SafeZone technology within their own institutions. Now, with the formation of the Manchester SafeZone Alliance, security staff from each campus will provide reciprocal support to each other’s staff and students.

If a University of Manchester student walks home alone late at night through the Manchester Metropolitan University campus, that individual can press a button in the SafeZone app and alert the nearest security team, confirming who needs assistance, their precise location and the type of incident. The nearest first responders will be dispatched to the scene to provide an efficient response. Only when an individual calls for help is the identity and location of that person shared with the university’s security team.

The Manchester SafeZone Alliance, the first of its kind in the U.K., connects security teams from three area universities to provide a larger, reciprocal safety zone for students on all participating campuses.