Engagement model
How it works
Pioneer designs the system and configures what runs locally. A certified install partner does the physical work. You get one owned stack that typically pays back in about 1–2 years versus cloud license rent — grants are optional acceleration, not the only path.
Design
Site assessment, camera and door scope, VLAN plan, and hardware bill of materials. We map what you rent today (cameras, filtering, VPN, access) against a local ownership model.
Fund it — budget or grants
Most districts can treat Pioneer as a normal capital/ops investment: kill $8–15K/yr rent, pay back in about 1–2 years. If you want grant help, fill the grant brief and we prepare and file. Programs: Grants.
Certified partner installs physical
Cameras, cable, readers, strikes, and related low-voltage work are performed by a certified install partner. Pioneer does not pull cable or act as the electrical/low-voltage contractor.
Pioneer configures & owns the relationship
Firewall rules, VLANs, Frigate, access automation, DNS filtering, VPN, monitoring, and backups are configured by Pioneer. The client relationship stays with Pioneer end to end.
Go-live + Care
Training for facilities and IT, cutover from legacy licenses where planned, and a clean handoff. Pioneer Care (~$249–$299/mo or about $3K/yr) covers remote monitoring, updates, and backup checks — still with $0 cloud licensing.
What Pioneer owns
Architecture, software configuration, grant preparation and filing from the brief, project management of the client relationship, and ongoing Care (~$3K/yr).
What the install partner owns
Physical security and low-voltage craft: mounting, cabling, readers, strikes, and related field work under certified practice.
Emergency modes — later phase, designed right
Not required on day one. Tying into lockdown policy and the fire panel (FACP) pulls in the fire authority / AHJ and more district approvals. Phase 1 ships cameras, door access, network segmentation, and Care alerts without that drag. When a district is ready, Pioneer’s command layer keeps lockdown, fire, and drills as different signals — common sense built in: safe exit out, not open entry in. Hardware still goes through a certified partner and your fire contractor the way code requires.
Lockdown
One action secures planned doors/zones, notifies administrators, and can pull live camera views to entries and corridors. Distinct from a fire tone so nobody confuses “secure in place” with “get out.”
Fire / evacuate
Life safety wins for people inside: egress out so nobody is trapped. That is not the same as unlocking the building from the outside. Fire always overrides lockdown for exit — it does not open the campus as an entrance. Pioneer listens to the FACP; it does not replace your UL-listed fire system.
Drills & all-clear
Fire drills and lockdown drills are labeled modes staff run — not a fake fire-panel signal that defeats security. All-clear returns the building to normal. Door-by-door behavior is set with your install partner and fire contractor.
When you add it: exit ≠ entry. A pulled station must not become a free front door for an attacker. Cameras + staff + LE handle the security side; the UL fire panel handles life safety. Pioneer coordinates software modes — your install partner and fire contractor own the door matrix and AHJ sign-off.