How does VOLT AI support university emergency management beyond traditional security?

VOLT AI provides cross-functional value supporting public safety, environmental health, disability services, risk management, and student wellbeing. At UTC, the system monitors for loitering, slips and falls, vehicle intrusions, zero-occupancy violations, and environmental hazards, demonstrating measurable ROI across multiple campus stakeholders.

Can VOLT AI help with suicide prevention on campus?

Yes. VOLT AI monitors areas like parking garage top levels and pedestrian pathways for individuals climbing railings or loitering, giving responders critical lead time. As UTC's Director of Emergency Management notes, 'If someone's up there, we want to know before a bystander calls it in.'

How does VOLT AI help with ADA accessibility monitoring?

VOLT AI can be configured to alert when someone loiters at ADA-compliant entrances, flagging possible elevator failures or individuals in need of assistance. At UTC, a camera at the library's only ADA-compliant entrance monitors for extended wait times that might indicate accessibility issues.

What cross-departmental benefits does VOLT AI provide for universities?

VOLT AI supports multiple departments: EHS and Insurance benefit from faster claim verification; Facilities gains smarter camera coverage evaluations; Mental Health teams receive behavioral risk detection; and IT/Access Control can support physical security redesigns. The system transforms emergency management from reactive response to institutional resiliency.

Can VOLT AI monitor critical infrastructure like campus power plants?

Yes. VOLT AI can be configured to monitor 24/7 facilities where lone workers may be vulnerable. At UTC, the system is being configured to alert if no person is detected during scheduled check-ins at the power plant, ensuring immediate awareness if a staff member becomes incapacitated.

Customer story · Higher education · Tennessee

UTC runs a campus like a small city.

More than 12,000 students, plus parking decks, an off-campus observatory and a power plant that never stops.

More than 12,000 students Academic, residential and auxiliary Kept its existing cameras Falls and hazards, not only intruders

An aerial view over a wooded university campus in a river valley

The challenge

Cameras nobody was watching, and risk that was never only policing.

Brett Fuchs has spent over a decade in higher-education emergency management. The footprint had outgrown reactive monitoring.

Awareness arrived late

Reporting lags and footage that was hard to reach meant the team often learned about an incident well after it happened.

Gaps in the places that matter

ADA compliance, off-hours occupancy and lone-worker safety had no coverage, and critical infrastructure had no integrated way to manage risk.

What they did

Deployed for value across departments, not just security.

Working with the public safety team, Fuchs prioritised cameras where risk, foot traffic and operational blind spots overlapped.

Step 1
Prioritise the right cameras
Coverage went first to high-risk areas, busy routes and the blind spots that operations actually worried about.
Step 2
Use the fleet already installed
VOLT integrated with the existing camera infrastructure, so no major hardware replacement was required.
Step 3
Tune what it watches for
Loitering in restricted areas, slips, trips and falls, vehicles entering pedestrian zones, anomalous activity near isolated buildings, and zero-occupancy violations after hours.

What changed

One system, five departments.

The value landed well outside the security office.

Falls, and the liability that follows

Slip, trip and fall detection covers student wellbeing and insurance exposure at the same time.

The places nobody visits at night

Zero-occupancy violations and activity near isolated buildings and high-value assets are surfaced after hours.

Shared across the institution

Public safety, environmental health, disability services, risk management and student wellbeing all draw on the same system.

In their words

Why it mattered at UTC.

From the Director of Emergency Management.

VOLT AI provides outstanding service, addressing needs we never considered possible - not without significantly more personnel or resources. Their team is outstanding, genuinely some of the most caring and attentive I’ve worked with in my career.

Brett Fuchs
Director of Emergency Management, UT Chattanooga