Siemens, SDS team to boost public safety during active shooter incidents

MUNICH, Germany and ROWLEY, Mass.—Siemens, an innovation leader in safe and secure buildings, and Shooter Detection Systems (SDS), an Alarm.com company and the security industry’s leading gunshot detection provider, have integrated technologies to improve public safety in the event of an active shooter situation.

The integration between the Guardian Indoor Active Shooter Detection System and Siveillance Video system (with possible inclusion of Desigo CC building management system or Cerberus danger management system) software will enable organizations to automatically alert building security by triggering alarms, associate live video feeds with real-time tracking of identified shots on building floor plans, and take other automated actions when gunfire is detected within a building.

The Guardian Indoor Active Shooter Detection System is a network of smart sensors that utilize advanced acoustic detection software combined with infrared detectors to immediately and accurately detect gunshots happening inside a building, while filtering out false alerts. The sensor instantly transmits shot location information, including the building address and the location within the building where shots were fired.

Siveillance Video is Siemens’ video management system that provides efficient visual tracking and verification of events. Its modular structure, scalability, and open architecture enable an adaptable approach to an organization’s growing security needs, whether the organization has one building or multiple buildings at different locations.

Desigo CC building management system and Cerberus danger management system are multi-discipline facility management platforms that provide operators with a holistic view of building automation, fire, access, and video systems information. By integrating these systems, shooter detection inputs can trigger automatic responses such as restricted access control and mass notification alerts.

“In the event of a security incident, like an active shooter, it’s imperative to know as much information as you can as fast as you can and be able to share those details automatically with first responders,” said Rich Reidy, Security Segment Head at Siemens Smart Infrastructure USA. “Digitalization is the key to creating safer indoor and on-campus environments. The integration of Siemens’ smart security portfolio and SDS’s gunshot detection solution is a prime example of this.”

The combination of these technologies further automates the emergency communications process, expanding the reach of shot notification to more people at once, while automating the video verification process. These automated actions serve to remove the obstacles of human reaction time that are commonly associated with delayed notification of gunfire events, ultimately providing security personnel with a means to reduce response time and mitigate risk during active shooter incidents. Additionally, they help create a safer environment for building occupants.