Kastle Systems unveils EMC platform

FALLS CHURCH, Va.—Kastle Systems International, a managed security solutions and services company based here, announced in June the launch of its KastleAlert offering, a mobile, crowd-sourced emergency mass communications (EMC) platform.

KastleAlert aims to save lives in the critical five to 10 minutes after an emergency incident occurs, but before authorities arrive, by enabling a fast and convenient method for initial emergency reporting and the quick and comprehensive dissemination of critical information (including text messages, photos, and response protocol documents) to all building or facility occupants, according the press release.

“Kastle is committed to making spaces safer for those that own, manage and occupy them, with the smartphone as a core of our innovations,” Kastle Systems' chairman Mark Ein said in the announcement. “KastleAlert empowers every individual to take a role in their well-being and safety, enabling them to say something—to everyone in a facility—during an emergency situation.”

With KastleAlert's Incident Commander (situational emergency manager) controls, one can quickly assess the emergency based on multiple immediate reports, issue live updates and direction to everyone affected, receive individual safety status, and control/lockdown building access through integrated access control functions. Features of KastleAlert include:

• Customizable message templates for situation-specific emergency notification
• Configurable communication workflows for multiple event types
• All-to-all communications, with pictures and highlighted Incident Commander communications
• Geo-fenced and integrated “last seen” building access awareness to intelligently distribute information to the right people and enable accurate mustering
• “Safe” vs. “Need Help” polling and self-reporting, with a directory for texting individual end users
• Emergency document library for easy access and rapid download
• Incident Commander building lockdown and post-event auditing capabilities

In the press release, Kastle pointed to a 2017 FBI report that noted nearly half of all active shooter events occur at commercial/office workplaces, with 2017 representing the highest number of active shooter incidents in U.S. history.

“Emergency preparedness and business continuity is a core competency for modern facility management professionals, all the more so with the variety of natural and man-made disasters we've seen in the past year,” International Facilities Management Association president and CEO Tony Keane said in the press release. “Innovative solutions like Kastle's mobile Emergency Mass Communications platform help facility management professionals make people safer and more confident in their workplaces.”

KastleAlert, as a crowd-sourced EMC solution, will be offered on a per-site subscription basis, rather than the per-user model, and is being introduced as part of KastlePresence, Kastle's Internet of Things Smart Office Platform. Because it's a mobile platform, the KastleAlert solution does not rely on landlines or desktop-based technologies that are “ill-suited for time-sensitive emergency scenarios and eliminates many steps from traditional mass communications systems and processes,” according to the company.

Kastle also has offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Sydney. The Kastle Systems International family of security brands includes Kastle Systems, Mutual Security Services, Stat Land Security Services, CheckVideo and Urban Alarm.