Yorba Linda, CA (November 6, 2018) – Maxxess, the industry leader in innovative security management and communications solutions, recently partnered with the Santa Ana Unified School District (SAUSD) to deploy a powerful new security and operations solution that leverages the power of smart mobile devices to maintain comprehensive communications and emergency management operations. Maxxess Ambit™, which provides private, two-way, managed messaging and intel on a more personal and intuitive level, received its first wide-scale test during the SAUSD’s annual earthquake preparedness drill called the Great Southern California ShakeOut.
“The 2018 Great Shakeout drill was more realistic than in years past,” said Camille Boden, Executive Director or Risk Management for the Santa Ana Unified School District. “With Maxxess Ambit, our Emergency Operation Center (EOC) was able to receive simulated eyewitness accounts and requests for assistance from multiple staff members at schools across the District. The information with GPS locations provided by Maxxess Ambit came into the EOC rapidly, providing first responders with the specific details they would need if we really had experienced a disaster. The drill tempo was accelerated and provided real-world insight as to what the District could possibly experience in the event of a massive earthquake.”
SAUSD used Maxxess Ambit as their primary communications solution during the Great Southern California ShakeOut drill. Maxxess Ambit’s “see it, say it” application kept SAUSD’s EOC fully informed of missing people, dangerous situations, property damage and more during the emergency simulation. This allowed the EOC’s staff to instantly generate various reports and assign the appropriate personnel to respond.
One report that came in during the drill was from a school needing to be evacuated, which was immediately assigned to SAUSD’s logistics personnel. Logistics then called the school transportation service and directed them to the correct pick-up spots. The EOC at SAUSD not only took action on reports that came in, but was able to anticipate issues resulting from the information collected with Maxxess Ambit. All of the EOC’s actions were captured for reporting and future audits within Maxxess Ambit.
During an earthquake scenario, Maxxess Ambit can broadcast a mass notification that will be sent to all users of the organization, by site, by department or even by selected user groups. This allows emergency personnel to quickly monitor staff status, communicate with staff members using an organized interface, and help first responders act efficiently. As end users respond to the mass alert broadcast, a geo-tag is placed on a map to correspond with each mobile user’s location.
Unlike systems that handle only one aspect of communications like a mass texting tool, Maxxess Ambit also addresses longstanding security challenges by transforming the way organizations operate on a daily basis. In a school environment, for example, a staff member can activate a duress report via Maxxess Ambit in the event a meeting is becoming emotional or tense. The report would appear on the mobile devices of the school’s security team, enabling a real-time chat session while continuously tracking the staff member’s location. This unique combination of features empowers total awareness by making administrators, teachers, staff and students an integral part of the security solution.
Maxxess Ambit is a cloud-based solution that does not require a capital investment in any hardware or servers, and is deployed like a mobile app with all information logged into the system for compliance and audit purposes.
