Child Safety – KiddyKoral provides safety for children at day care centers and kindergartens

By Mark Cowley, Infotronics International Inc.

At Mount Zion Lutheran School in Boulder, Colorado, security has gone high tech. “People want security for their children,” said Mark Cowley, President of Boulder-based, Infotronics International. “They want to know that they are in a safe environment.” Mark Cowley is the parent of two Mount Zion students.

The system incorporates a digital camera and TROVAN passive transponder technology to provide the school with a very flexible access control system and automated accounting system, while controlling movement of the children. Digital photographs of each child and parent(s) are taken and stored in a database along with important emergency contact and medical information for each student. All authorized care givers must be registered in the database and their data is linked to the child’s record via a unique TROVAN ID card. Teachers have quick access to photographs, family contacts and detailed information about each student, including immunizations and allergies. “We have instant access to vital information in emergency situations,” said Cheryl Crabbs, a teacher at Mount Zion. “For new teachers who haven’t yet met all the parents, there’s a picture on there [in the system] so they can make sure it’s the right parent, even if the person doesn’t have a card.”

The first line of defense begins at the door, the only direct entrance into the daycare center. Parents have specially coded cards that are scanned to open the lock of the door. Parents are pleased with the system. “I like that it’s convenient and quick,” says Jennifer Turner, a parent. Once inside parents scan the card again at a PC, where they can check their children in and out of daycare. The system keeps track of who dropped off and picked up which children at what time, down to the minute. When the child is picked up, the ID card is scanned and the photographs of the children linked to that card are displayed for the operator to authorize release.

KiddyKoral automatically captures drop-off and pickup times for billing calculations and provides a number of reports to aid in facility administration, invoicing and tracking of payments and receipts.

Source: http://www.trovan.com/childsafety.html