Dive Brief:
- AI-assisted security video company Volt and incident-response platform company Centegix have announced an integration they say will help get responders to a school incident more quickly.
- “Pairing our real-time detection with a platform like Centegix … means that critical seconds aren’t lost translating an alert into action,” said Volt CEO Dmitry Sokolowski in a statement.
- The partnership gives schools an option to step up security and, where applicable, meet requirements like Alyssa’s Law, which a number of states have enacted to put schools in direct touch with law enforcement.
Dive Insight:
Alyssa’s Law requires schools to have silent alarm systems, including panic buttons, connected to law enforcement to reduce response times. Since 2019, the law has seen widespread expansion across states, including New Jersey, Florida, New York, Texas, Tennessee, Utah, Oklahoma, Georgia, Washington, Oregon, Virginia and West Virginia.
Notwithstanding the law, nearly 40% of teachers report having no panic button in place at their school, according to a survey of 511 full-time U.S. school staff members by Singlewire. Only 65% of respondents said they were confident that help would arrive quickly when they request assistance, the report found.
Officials are also having trouble monitoring school entrances. Almost half of respondents said they don’t have enough staff to monitor entrances adequately, up from 30% in 2025. A quarter of respondents said they don’t have technology in place to meet their needs.
“As schools struggle to find personnel to monitor hallways and entrances, … automation and integration technology must bridge the gap to maintain existing safety protocols,” Singlewire said in announcing its findings.
Traditional surveillance systems don’t have rapid-response capabilities when they capture suspicious activities, according to a 2023 study in Expert Systems and Applications. People monitoring such systems tend to miss up to 95% of screen action after 20 to 40 minutes of intensive monitoring, the study found.
Looking specifically at weapons detection, the study concluded that automating that function would improve outcomes. “An automatic weapon detection system that responds quickly in situations that could be dangerous is good for public safety,” the researchers said.
The integrated Volt and Centegix platform is intended to address issues like these, with cameras capable of activating a response in real time so that responders can address events as they unfold, the companies said.
Volt’s camera system uses AI-assisted monitoring and detection and Centegix’s platform directly connects to law enforcement dispatchers. The company also makes panic buttons available.
The two systems operating together means that no manual handoff is needed between detection and response, the companies’ announcement states.
"The moment a threat is identified, the right people are already moving,” Sokolowski said.
“By combining manual alerts activated by human panic button users, who cover areas that typically don’t have cameras, like classrooms, and AI, for areas where staff aren’t able to monitor, schools will be able to identify and address safety incidents faster,” the announcement states.
The integration requires no new cameras or the need to replace existing infrastructure, the companies said. They also said Volt’s AI system doesn’t use facial recognition technology, protecting privacy. School districts will be able to control how camera footage is used, shared and stored, according to the release.
“We’re putting the security investments schools already made to work as proactive tools,” Brent Cobb, Centegix CEO, said in the announcement.
