Software-based Panic Alarms

The OVCAS Technology and Building Systems team provides a software-based personal panic alarm system for use by UIC employees in their offices. Once installed and configured on an employee’s desktop computer, the alarm software stays dormant until activation. If an employee feels threatened or finds themselves in a potentially vulnerable situation, an alarm can be triggered using a combination of discreet keystrokes on the employee’s desktop computer. Any alarm activation notifies the 24×7 dispatch operation at the UIC Police Department, who will utilize the information entered when the software was configured (e.g. Jane Doe is in Building 123, room 678) to dispatch officers to the exact location of the incident.

We work with your department’s local IT support team to ensure that the alarm software is installed and kept up-to-date in a manner consistent with existing departmental IT practices.

For more information, please email vcas@uic.edu.

 

Cost of installation

Software-based panic alarms are a cost-effective alternative to hardware-based panic alarms and can be deployed quickly. The cost of the software is as follows.

One-time cost: $150 per computer
Recurring charges: $50/computer/year.