School geofencing: how Wihkum routes staff alerts
Written and reviewed by Michael Zurzolo, Co-Founder and Director, Safe Watch Global Pty Ltd · Updated 3 November 2026
The short answer: In Wihkum, a geofence is an area your school sets up to route alerts. It doesn’t trigger an alert when someone enters or leaves. When a staff member presses HELP, push notifications go to the closest staff set up for that help type, voice calls go to a set number, and emails go to nominated mailboxes. Wihkum is for staff only.
Schools often ask what geofencing means for a staff duress alarm app. In Wihkum, it is about who gets the alert and how, not about drawing a boundary that sets off an alarm. This page explains how a Wihkum alert is routed, step by step.
Wihkum is a staff duress alarm app: a teacher presses HELP on their own phone and chooses a help type. See our staff duress alarm for schools page for the full picture.
What is a geofence in Wihkum?
A geofence is an area your school sets up in Wihkum. Each geofence has its own details: the phone number allocated to it and the mailboxes nominated for that area. A school can use these details to send each alert to the right place.
Geofences route alerts. They are not boundary triggers. Nothing happens when someone walks in or out of a geofence. The alert starts when a staff member presses HELP.
How a Wihkum alert is routed
A staff member presses HELP on their own phone and chooses a help type, for example behaviour, medical or intruder. The alert is routed by channel:
Push notifications
Push notifications go to the closest staff set up to respond to the matching help type.
Voice calls
Voice calls go to the number set for the custom help type. If no number is set, they go to the number allocated to the geofence.
Emails
Emails go to the mailboxes your school has nominated for that geofence area.
Outside a geofence
If a staff member is outside every geofence, Wihkum uses the details of the last known geofence.
When a staff member presses HELP
The people your school has set for that help type are alerted with the staff member’s location. Every incident is recorded with the date, time, staff involved and location, which helps with incident reporting and review. Schools can create their own help types, so the examples above are only examples.
Off-site: excursions and camps
Wihkum works off-site, such as on excursions and camps. Outside a geofence, it uses the last known geofence’s details, so an alert still has somewhere to go.
What to decide when you set up geofences
Setting up is mostly about deciding who receives what. Before you start, it helps to decide:
- Which help types your school needs, and whether any should be custom.
- Which staff are set up to respond to each help type.
- Which number voice calls should go to for each custom help type, and which number is allocated to each geofence.
- Which mailboxes should receive emails for each geofence area.
Wihkum is used alongside your school’s other systems. For lockdown and evacuation alerts, see our school lockdown alert system page.
From A$3 per user per month. Set up in as little as 2 hours. Demos take 30 minutes.
Staff only
Wihkum is for school staff and teachers only. It is not for parents or students, and it doesn’t replace how the school contacts parents.
Geofencing in Wihkum: FAQs
What is geofencing in Wihkum?
A geofence is an area your school sets up in Wihkum to route alerts. Each geofence has its own details, such as an allocated phone number and the mailboxes nominated for that area. It routes alerts. It isn’t a boundary alarm.
Does a geofence trigger an alert when someone enters or leaves it?
No. In Wihkum, geofences route alerts. They aren’t boundary triggers. An alert is sent when a staff member presses HELP and chooses a help type.
Where do voice calls go?
Voice calls go to the number set for the custom help type. If no number is set, they go to the number allocated to the geofence.
Who gets the push notifications?
Push notifications go to the closest staff set up to respond to the matching help type.
Where do emails go?
Emails go to the mailboxes your school has nominated for that geofence area.
What happens if a staff member is outside a geofence?
Wihkum uses the details of the last known geofence.
Does Wihkum work on excursions and camps?
Yes. Wihkum works off-site, such as on excursions and camps. Outside a geofence, it uses the last known geofence’s details.
Can parents or students use Wihkum?
No. Wihkum is for school staff and teachers only.
How much does Wihkum cost?
From A$3 per user per month. Set up can take as little as 2 hours, and a demo takes 30 minutes.
From A$3 per user per month. Set up in as little as 2 hours. Demos take 30 minutes.