Meta=Introduction to Guardian

Hi, I’m Vic Herrera. On March 27th, 2023, I arrived in Nashville, Tennessee, eager to start a new chapter in my life. As I drove into the city, I was met with a sign that read “Nashville Strong.” Little did I know, that same day, the Covenant School shooting had shaken the community.

This tragic event struck a chord with me, especially since I had moved to Nashville to start a surveillance video business. I couldn’t help but wonder what I could do to make a difference.

A conversation with an old colleague sparked an idea – what if we could create a solution to provide situational awareness during active shooter events? I began speaking with police officers, school administrators, and technical staff to understand the challenges they faced.

My research led me to volunteer with the National Emergency Numbers Association, where I gained insight into the capabilities of next-gen 911.

With three key goals in mind – simplicity, affordability, and a cloud-based solution requiring no hardware – we developed Guardian. This secure and extensible solution integrates with schools’ camera systems, access control, and door locks, as well as other systems with APIs.

We’re now ready to deploy Guardian and look forward to building a comprehensive system that can help take the chaos out of tragic events. My ultimate goal is to make schools harder targets. I envision a future where the presence of Guardian Cloud makes a school an undesirable target for these horrific events.

Vic’s Introduction to Guardian

Hi, my name is Vic Herrera. I moved to Nashville, Tennessee on March 27th, 2023. As I drove into the city, I passed a sign reading “Nashville Strong.” It wasn’t until I tuned into the local news that I learned about the Covenant School shooting that had happened earlier that very day. I came here planning to start a surveillance video business, something I’ve had experience in for quite a while.

Shortly after the move, a conversation with an old colleague got us both wondering: what could we do to make a difference? That was the spark. I began speaking with police officers, school administrators, and technical staff, aiming to understand how to deliver better situational awareness during active shooter events. This work led me to volunteer with the National Emergency Number Association, which has opened my eyes to what’s possible with Next Generation 911 systems.

With this insight, I set three goals for our solution: keep it simple, keep it affordable, and make it entirely cloud-based—no additional hardware required. The result is a secure, expandable platform that can seamlessly integrate with existing school camera systems, access controls, door locks, and virtually any other system with an available API.

We’re now ready to deploy and work toward creating a truly comprehensive system, one capable of reducing the chaos in these tragic scenarios. Ultimately, my hope is to make schools harder targets. I dream of the day when knowing that Guardian Cloud is installed deters would-be attackers, making them think twice before choosing a school that refuses to be an easy mark.