New York City is set to enhance public school safety through the implementation of a cutting-edge Emergency Alert System (EAS) developed by SOS Technologies.
This collaboration between NYC and SOS will bring the system to 25 school buildings, which include 51 public schools across the city’s five boroughs, throughout the 2025-2026 academic year.
The EAS is designed to establish a swift communication link between schools and first responders to significantly reduce emergency notification times from minutes to under ten seconds.
Launch in Brooklyn
The system's first installation occurred at Brooklyn’s Spring Creek campus,
The system's first installation occurred at Brooklyn’s Spring Creek campus, marking it as the inaugural U.S. school building with direct 911 first responder integration.
This initiative represents a significant step forward for NYC, which boasts the world's largest public school network with nearly 1.8 million students and staff.
By facilitating immediate communication with NYPD, FDNY, and EMS, the EAS eliminates delays and enhances response times during emergencies.
Setting a National Standard
Travis Leonardi, Chairman and CEO of SOS Technologies, emphasized, “New York City is setting a new national standard for school safety.”
The newly implemented system integrates public schools with the city’s life-safety communication infrastructure, enabling first responders to act promptly in critical situations. Leonardi expressed pride in contributing to safeguarding the city's students and educators.
Seamless Communication Platform
The EAS platform is structured to engage seamlessly with agencies such as NYC Public Schools, NYPD, PSAC 911, and FDNY. It ensures emergency calls are instantly prioritized and accurately geo-located, facilitated by robust system redundancy and real-time monitoring.
With GovRamp-Authorized cybersecurity measures, the platform promises to offer unparalleled reliability and protection for the city’s educational and life-safety communications frameworks.
Advancing Life Safety Systems
According to Paul Averill, President and COO of SOS Technologies, their mission focuses on enhancing life safety systems through innovative solutions. By integrating NYC Public Schools directly with first responder communication networks, the initiative bridges crucial gaps in emergency notification and response.
Averill expressed optimism that other cities might adopt similar technologies to improve communications between public and private institutions and emergency services nationwide.
The selection of SOS Technologies by New York City reflects a strong commitment to pioneering safety measures and providing top-tier protections for students and educators. This initiative could pave the way for national advancements in school safety protocols.
SOS Technologies, a pioneer in life safety and emergency communication solutions, announced that New York City has partnered with SOS to deploy its first of a kind “Emergency Alert System” (EAS) to help protect NYC public schools experiencing an active -safety threat.
This innovative system enables direct, instant communication between schools and first responders, slashing notification times from minutes to under ten seconds.
The new Emergency Alert System, created in partnership with the New York City Office of Technology and Innovation (OTI), debuted at the Spring Creek campus in Brooklyn — the first school building in the United States to have direct 911 first responder integration — and is scheduled to be rolled out to a total of 25 school buildings, representing 51 public schools across the five boroughs during the 2025-2026 school year.
World’s largest public school system
Home to the world’s largest public school system, NYC schools serve approximately 1.8 million students and staff. This pioneering initiative establishes a direct link with first responders—enabling immediate notification to NYPD, FDNY, and EMS—eliminating costly delays and vastly improving emergency response times when every second counts.
“New York City is setting a new national standard for school safety,” said Travis Leonardi, Chairman and CEO of SOS Technologies.
“For the first time ever, public schools are directly tied into a city’s 911 first responder life-safety communications infrastructure. This groundbreaking integration eliminates costly delays, giving police, fire, and EMS the ability to begin responding almost instantly when seconds matter most. We are honored to be a part of the technology which helps safeguard the lives NYC students and educators.”
NYC EAS platform
The NYC EAS platform seamlessly communicates with agencies like NYC Public Schools, NYPD, PSAC 911, and FDNY—helping to accelerate emergency notification and ensuring that calls for help are instantly prioritized and precisely geo-located.
With extensive system redundancy, continuous real-time monitoring, and GovRamp-Authorized cybersecurity, the Emergency Alert System delivers unmatched reliability and protection for New York City’s life-safety communications and public-school infrastructure.
Improving life safety systems
“From day one, our mission has been to help improve life safety systems through innovative technologies,” said Paul Averill, President and COO of SOS Technologies.
“By directly linking New York City Public Schools to the city’s first responder communication infrastructure, we’re closing a critical gap in emergency notification and response times.”
“With the announcement of this important NYC initiative, we are optimistic that other cities across the country will adopt these technologies to help revolutionize communication between public and private institutions and first responders.”
New York City’s selection of SOS Technologies underscores the city’s commitment to pioneering safety initiatives and providing the most advanced protection possible for its students and educators.
