Once And Future System
Oct 1, 2005 12:00 PM
A top security priority for any governmental agency is to make sure only authorized personnel are moving about the premises. The City of Corona, Calif., wanted a system that could be expanded to incorporate all of the city's facilities.
In April 2005, the city entered into a contract with SDA Security Systems Inc. to install a Honeywell access control and intrusion alarm system at its new city hall building. The system is designed to help city officials and police prevent emergencies, as well as react quickly and effectively if one should occur.
“It gives us a better reaction time to what could happen,” says Curtis Showalter, the city's public works manager.
The system's alarms and access card readers are tied together through access control software from Honeywell that enables the monitoring of events and alarms from central or remote locations. The software can automate functions, such as creating customized alarm reports, and photo ID badging.
City officials can monitor the entire security system from a single, internal location. After hours, dispatchers in the neighboring police station monitor the system's cameras and intrusion alarms.
“Knowing that the police department can see inside our building provides peace of mind to our employees and our patrons,” Showalter says.
The building is divided into 13 access-controlled areas with 84 doors outfitted with Honeywell access card readers. With other systems the city considered using, each section of the building would have had a designated number of codes or “slots” that could be assigned to users. But some employees need access to multiple areas, and therefore would have to be assigned multiple slots.
“So you might have 900 total slots on a system, but you might end up with only 300 people who can access the facility,” Showalter says.
With the Honeywell system, employees can access multiple areas with a single code on their cards, and system administrators can determine which areas each card can access. Now, 900 “slots” means 900 different users.
“One person can have or be denied access to any door,” Showalter says.
The use of cards also eliminates the need for employees to physically arm and disarm an alarm system when they enter a secured area. The software also tells users if doors are locked and enables them to control the locks from a workstation or a remote location.
Besides access control technology, SDA Security Systems also provided the city hall building full intrusion protection, including glass break sensors, magnetic door contact sensors, holdup buttons and a closed-circuit video surveillance system that can be monitored internally and from the dispatch center.
The video surveillance system, in particular, is especially convenient. Currently, 14 cameras (analog cameras that record information into digital video recorders) are in various locations throughout the facility. The system can be expanded in the future to include 64 more cameras. Users can view video from computer workstations.
The video system's greatest benefit is to enable city officials to keep track of people as they move through the building. It also improves response time and effectiveness for the police in the event of an emergency.
If an alarm is triggered after hours, police can use the network software to find out the exact location of the alarm and then use the nearest cameras to investigate before an officer ever arrives. Dispatchers can see if, in fact, someone has broken into the building or if the alarm was tripped inadvertently.
Corona officials are hoping to install similar access and intrusion systems in each city facility in the next few years. In the meantime, they expect the city hall building to serve as a model of a well rounded, effective and preventive security system.
“We owe it to our taxpayers to have the best maintenance for the facility, and the security to protect our assets and our people” Showalter says.
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