Verkada and The "I Love U Guys" Foundation Partner to Protect Students

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Mar 04, 2024, 09:00 ET

Physical Security Leader and School Safety Foundation
Combine Efforts to Keep Communities Safe

SAN MATEO, Calif. and DENVER, March 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Verkada, a leader in cloud physical security, is now a Mission Partner of The "I Love U Guys" Foundation, a national non-profit organization that operates programs and trainings to standardize crisis response programs across schools. Verkada's partnership with The "I Love U Guys'' Foundation reinforces its commitment to providing real-time monitoring and response capabilities to help protect students during emergency situations.

The "I Love U Guys'' Foundation's programs for crisis response, the Standard Response Protocol (SRP), and post-crisis reunification, the Standard Reunification Method (SRM), provide a clear, common, and shared language between first responders, students, and staff. The Foundation's programs have been implemented in more than 50,000 schools, districts, departments, agencies, organizations, and communities. The Foundation is led by survivors, family members, first responders, educators, and community members — all of whom know first-hand the importance of these efforts. Verkada's technology protects more than 13 million students today with its fully integrated hardware and software solution. Verkada's six integrated product lines allow schools to:

Lockdown doors in seconds while still allowing first responders access.
Detect vaping and bullying using sensor technology to identify vape smoke and elevated noise levels in bathrooms and locker rooms.
Monitor school premises in a privacy-sensitive way by blurring the faces detected in live streams of camera footage (faces can be unblurred at a moment's notice if an incident occurs).
Respond quickly to threats with custom alerts and tools — including wireless panic buttons.
Detect unusual activity, verify the threat, and initiate an immediate response.
Prevent unauthorized visitors using security screens with cloud-based visitor management that integrates with cameras and access control.
Share live camera feeds of incidents with law enforcement for real-time action when necessary.

"'I feel safe at school,' is foundational to kids and teens learning at school. Achieving school and community safety demands human, social and physical solutions and practices," said John-Michael Keyes, Founder of The "I Love U Guys" Foundation. "Adding technology to the physical security challenges a school faces isn't simply hardware. It's holistic. Verkada offers a whole-picture approach administrators can embrace when implementing physical security solutions. We are delighted to welcome Verkada as a Mission Partner and are eager to embark on this partnership continuing to advance school and community safety."

Thousands of educational institutions around the world use Verkada's platform, which includes video security cameras, environmental sensors, guest management, and access control, to keep their communities safe. Powered by a centralized platform and single-pane management, Verkada gives real-time visibility into the health and safety of campuses.

"In partnering with The 'I Love U Guys' Foundation, we'll be able to integrate their proven methodologies across our operation and improve the strength of our security systems," said Filip Kaliszan, Co-Founder and CEO at Verkada. "It's an incredible opportunity for Verkada to help scale their training offerings, enhance the efficacy of our own products, and, ultimately, better protect students, faculty, and staff across the world."

A few of the first initiatives as partners include a training program for Bay Area schools held at Verkada's headquarters in San Mateo this fall, as well as a webinar on March 13, 2024, for school leaders and first responders to further build a common vocabulary and standard approach to implementing physical security in accordance with The "I Love U Guys" Foundation's programs.

Learn more about Verkada's education solutions and The "I Love U Guys" Foundation.

About Verkada

Designed with simplicity in mind, Verkada's six product lines — video security cameras, access control, environmental sensors, alarms, workplace, and intercoms — provide unparalleled building security through an integrated, secure cloud-based software platform. Over 22,000 organizations across 70 countries worldwide trust Verkada as their physical security layer for easier management, intelligent control, and scalable deployments. For more information, please visit www.verkada.com.

About The "I Love U Guys" Foundation

The "I Love U Guys" Foundation was started in 2006 by Ellen and John-Michael Keyes following a school shooting that took the life of their daughter, Emily. On that day Emily sent two text messages... One to her mother, Ellen, "I love u guys. K" and to her father, John-Michael, "I love you guys."

Today, the Foundation is led and supported by survivors, family members, first responders, educators, and community members with a vested interest in safety, preparedness, and reunification in schools.

The "I Love U Guys" Foundation's programs for crisis response, the Standard Response Protocol (SRP), and post-crisis reunification, the Standard Reunification Method (SRM) are used in more than 50,000 schools, districts, departments, agencies, organizations and communities around the world. They are created through the research-based practices of school administrators, psychologists, public space safety practitioners, families, and first responders. To learn more about The "I Love U Guys" Foundation, visit www.iloveuguys.org.

SOURCE Verkada