College Uses Smart Card Technology

East Los Angeles College serves more than 30,000 students and is located in the center of a vibrant community close to the cultural and civic center of Los Angeles. The 88-acre campus has 58 buildings including a library, multi-media instructional centers, bookstore, cafeteria and a 20,000-seat sports stadium.

With increasing Homeland Security pressures placed on colleges and universities across the country to strengthen campus safety, East LA College needed a solution that would meet its unique security needs, protect existing investments and allow for seamless future technology upgrades.

“We’re in a new environment where we not only need to increase security levels, but also our safety levels in terms of who has access to our buildings and at what time,” explains Richard Guy, East LA College director of facilities.

East LA College chose to work with Stewart and Associates, a Los Angeles-based security dealer, and Honeywell Access Systems. They installed several Honeywell products into the college’s two multimedia classroom centers, including: WIN-PAK PRO integrated access control system, OmniSmart card readers and smart cards. Now, when faculty members want access to a particular classroom, they simply scan their smart card for entry. Because the installation integrated a variety of security components — including access control, intrusion detection, user identification and fire/life safety — the cardholder can enter the classroom at night or on the weekend and bypass the security system.

The college currently has more than $250 million worth of construction scheduled through 2008. Guy says all the upgrades and new buildings will incorporate the integrated access, alarm and environment control systems.

He says the Honeywell solution makes his job of overseeing all aspects of the facilities much easier. “It’s convenience through technology,” he explains.

Medical Center Achieves Real-time Reporting and Monitoring of Entries/Exits

Wilson Medical Center, Wilson, N.C., is a state-of-the-art facility that provides quality health care in a technologically advanced environment. The 317-bed facility, providing comprehensive services to more than 7,790 in-patients and 170,000 out-patients annually from five different counties, requires a level of security and service that is as effective as it is reliable. That is why Envirocon was selected to install the Controlsoft KeyMaster‚ line of access control solutions in place of the hospital’s previous system. With more than 2,000 employees registered in the medical center’s database, Envirocon needed to integrate the KeyMaster Pro software, controllers, readers, and cards seamlessly in a manner that avoided compromising the security and smooth operations of the facility. The Envirocon installation group installed a new data loop throughout the building and integrated the existing badge printing system into KeyMaster Pro. The new proximity cards are able to use both the old and new readers as the previous system was being retrofitted.

The new reader-based system now consists of 22 AC-3151 door controllers, four AC-4101 Door Master controllers, two AC-1051 USB Card Take-on readers, 31 AC-1200 Weigand readers, and one AC-1300 pin pad/proximity reader –- all controlled with KeyMaster Pro via CSNet card, which is located on site in a secure location.

The building management staff can now view building graphics and see doors opening and closing in real time. Time and attendance, as well as zone control and anti-passback functionality, allow for a history of the workers’ traffic flow. This gives them the capability to generate reports not possible with the previous system.