SAFETY FIRST AT HAWAII’S ELITE PUNAHOU SCHOOL
The Punahou School, a world-class college preparatory institution located in Honolulu, Hawaii, educates over 3,700 K-12 students each year. The large campus and athletic facilities are spread out over 76 acres in Oahu’s Manoa Valley adjacent to the University of Hawaii. Established by Protestant missionaries in 1841, Punahou School has graduated a diverse population of students, including President Barack Obama and Steve Case, founder of AOL.
Situation
In light of today’s safety concerns, a civil defense style siren was no longer considered adequate for sprawling campuses around the country. The risks facing students on campuses are at an unprecedented level, including severe weather, wildfires, civil disturbances, and active shooter incidents, among others.
On a campus the size of the Punahou School, this range of threats presents challenges in how authorities convey proper responses to different emergencies. Punahou administrators had a pressing need to enhance the school’s communications capabilities with a system that would quickly and effectively notify students, employees, and guests about emergencies. The institution required an upgrade from its old-fashioned civil defense siren, which was unreliable and limited in functionality.
Solution
Genasys equipped the Punahou School campus with multiple Genasys Acoustics installations across the campus, ensuring widespread coverage with an advanced audible outdoor notification system. The new outdoor speaker system seamlessly integrates with Punahou’s existing infrastructure and notification software.
From public announcements to safety and emergency notifications, Genasys Acoustics delivers live or recorded voice messages with exceptional clarity across the entire campus. These installations can be activated remotely, allowing for quick message distribution in different situations. Additionally, Acoustics supports messaging in multiple languages to improve communications and emergency notifications to the diverse student body.
Problem
In light of today’s safety concerns, a civil defense style siren was no longer considered adequate for sprawling campuses around the country. The risks facing students on campuses are at an unprecedented level, including severe weather, wildfires, civil disturbances, and active shooter incidents, among others.
On a campus the size of the Punahou School, this range of threats presents challenges in how authorities convey proper responses to different emergencies. Punahou administrators had a pressing need to enhance the school’s communications capabilities with a system that would quickly and effectively notify students, employees, and guests about emergencies. The institution required an upgrade from its old-fashioned civil defense siren, which was unreliable and limited in functionality.
Results
Punahou’s Acoustics communications system now offers reliable alerting and communication redundancy during everyday events or full-scale emergencies with highly audible and clear outdoor messaging. From anywhere on campus, students, faculty, and visitors can receive clear live or recorded messages reliably elevating Punahou’s safety notification capabilities on campus
