7,500 Children Protected by Satellite Technology

San Francisco Unified School District Upgrades to Satellite Security Systems For Its Bus Safety Tracking and Monitoring Solution

SAN DIEGO — Satellite Security Systems (S3), a global provider of asset security and logistics control, announced that the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) has signed on to use its GlobalGuard(TM) and Virtual Perimeter(TM) technology to track and protect 220 school buses for the safe transport of 7,500 students everyday.

GlobalGuard allows a team of SFUSD school administrators to view and monitor the exact location of every bus at once. Based on Global Positioning System (GPS) and ReFLEX(TM) (two-way satellite communication) technology, GlobalGuard provides up-to-the-minute vehicle location and can identify every time bus doors open and close and when the engines are turned on and off. Using Virtual Perimeter technology, the school district set up unique zones extending north to Napa, east to Concord and south to Gilroy. S3’s staff in San Diego monitors exact bus locations and alerts school district officials if a bus crosses set boundaries with data including date, time, precise location and the direction the bus is moving.

"Our top priority is protecting the children who use our bus system everyday," said Dennis Garden, director of transportation for SFUSD. "S3’s first-class security and service enables us to have the best possible accountability for our children. It’s very comforting to know that if there is an emergency such as an earthquake, we can instantly know where all of our buses are, which ones are carrying children and the best course of action."

"The system is particularly helpful in responding to parents’ questions and concerns," added Garden. "I can tell them exactly where their child is and when they got on board."

SFUSD recently upgraded from an older GPS system to S3 for its capabilities, growth potential, the ability to retrieve data in multiple forms (whether students are on board or not, direction of movement and when doors open and close) and apply it to administrative tasks such as fee analysis, scheduling and efficiency in route planning.

Headquartered in San Diego, S3 is a privately held company supported by a nationwide team of sales and service professionals with expertise in law enforcement, transportation technology, military applications, wireless communications and investment banking industries. Clients include the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, F.B.I., U.S. Secret Service, Fairfax County Public Schools, InterState Oil Company, Coca-Cola, Thrifty Car Rental, British Petroleum, Comerica, Salt River Project (energy utility) and more than 600 other entities representing a broad spectrum of industries.

S3’s GlobalGuard technology secures, tracks and controls assets throughout the U.S., Mexico and Canada for clients in the military, government, law enforcement and commercial/industrial markets. GlobalGuard is the only technology that is able to remotely shut-down vehicle engines via satellite. With GlobalGuard, users can communicate with, monitor, track, analyze and control the movement of virtually any object, fixed or mobile. The integration of ReFLEX, Motorola’s secure two-way messaging infrastructure, on-board CPU and an integrated Global Positioning System (GPS) make it possible for GlobalGuard users to send data back and forth from a central command unit or monitoring center while being continually alerted to new or dynamic changes. S3’s 24-hour, seven-day-a-week Monitoring and Support Center (MSC) is staffed with trained professionals to respond immediately to emergency situations.

With the patent-pending Virtual Perimeter a vehicle or asset’s location is monitored within a specified zone and an alert containing date, time and precise location is generated when a boundary crossing occurs.

For more information, log onto www.satsecurity.com or call (877) 437-4199.

Source: Satellite Security Systems

CONTACT: Liz DeBord of JWalcher Communications, +1-619-295-7140,
liz@jwalcher.com, for Satellite Security Systems