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We are all used to the MP3 format, mostly for playing music on mobile devices. Did you know it can be used for other types of audio message, such as intrusion alerts?

In hospitals and other medical settings, accurate timekeeping is essential to maintain patient safety and run efficient processes. However, have you considered how the need for hygiene and cleanliness impacts on the time-management systems chosen for your healthcare setting?

It goes without saying that schools have a duty to both pupils and staff to provide the best security possible.

Part of this duty is to have an effective lockdown system in place. Because emergency events are random, schools can do little to prevent them – but they can control how they respond.

There are numerous protocols for synchronising clocks within a network infrastructure. The most known are NTP (network Time Protocol) and SNTP (Simple NTP), but when the utmost precision is required, the PTP (Precision Time Protocol) is chosen.

PTP was introduced in 2002 (in the IEEE 1588 standard) and has undergone numerous evolutions since (the latest version of the standard dates from 2019).

One of the most important algorithmic components of PTP is the BMCA (Best Master Clock Algorithm). BMCA allows you to establish a hierarchy of clocks (also called timing hierarchy or timing tree) and selects, within this hierarchy, the best master clock amongst all other clocks in the network. This master clock will then provide the time reference for all devices in the network.

A school’s culture should aim to build a strong community, a sense of belonging for pupils and a vision for the whole school. As a result, it can build trust and respect between staff and pupils.

In order to ensure the culture is implemented, there needs to be a desire for the culture to be fulfilled by all; this can be a challenge when trying to get pupils involved.

What does a modern school culture look like? How can you adapt to the changing needs of pupils?

Is it time to update your emergency alerts with distinguished sounds to ensure maximum safety for your pupils? Does your lockdown system take time to communicate across the school?

Many educational settings are currently using the same systems when it comes to communicating vitally important alerts such as a fire, lockdown or evacuation. Have you recently assessed how efficient your systems are? Are pupils clear on which emergency is being communicated with your alerts?

In anticipation of Martyn’s Law, which we expect to be effective later this year, we want to ensure that your educational setting is ready and prepared to protect your staff and pupils against terrorism.

As we are now mid-way through the academic year, it is a great time to reassess class management, challenges and the running of the school day.

There are many concerns facing the education sector, with staff recruitment and retention being one of the biggest challenges for 2024. According to Reed, 40,000 teachers left the profession in 2022, while 13% of newly qualified teachers left after qualifying and an additional 19% left after two years of teaching.

Time is of the essence, so the saying goes, and nowhere is this more significant than in medicine where patient lives are on the line. Accurate time isn't a mere convenience in a healthcare facility; it's a central way of ensuring that processes are running efficiently and patient safety is paramount. It determines when a patient receives medication, when shift changes occur, when appointments begin and end, how long a patient can undergo surgery and when medicines should be taken to name a few.