Johns Hopkins University turns to enhanced GPS location solution to address campus-security need

There is also an SOS button that would send an alert to the university’s communications center. Ritter said this smartphone-app feature would also work well with students and staff, giving them the ability to alert campus security of an emergency.

Johns Hopkins is not currently using these additional features but plans to adopt additional functionalities in stages.

“It’s really hard to absorb an entire solution into an operation at one time,” Ritter said. “You kind of just have to get your feet in the water and say, ‘OK, what is this about? Let’s see it work.’ … We would like to see them grow into the product as their comfort level dictates.”

The solution also was designed to deploy officers quickly, Ritter said. Users can create profiles for individuals, indicating specific skills and certifications. The solution would then automatically match the need with the most qualified person who is in the best position to respond.

“I think [of SAIF GPS’s] real strength is the ability to identify your internal assets and your personnel resources and then either auto-deploy the faster, closest resource or manually deploy,” Ritter said. “It’s really a kind of revolutionary concept. It’s almost taking the person out of it you want to.”