The Butler Institute of American Art opened in 1919 and was established by industrialist Joseph G. Butler Jr. as the first in the nation devoted solely to American art. The institute’s mission is to preserve and collect works of art in all media created by U.S. citizens. The institute successfully deployed the Camera Based Motion Alarming System (CBMAS) from Acuity-vct, Cleveland, to protect its holdings, which now exceed 20,000 individual works.

For years, the institute’s executive director, Dr. Louis Zona, had believed that there must be a more efficient way to protect the priceless collection of American Art during hours of operation. Historically, the Butler’s security staff used video surveillance to monitor visitor movements, insuring theft or damage did not occur. Though this method is appropriate for the vast majority of guests, Zona lost sleep for years worrying that there was a potential weakness in this strategy — a small group of individuals could create a diversion and then attempt the theft of a collection piece.

Acuity’s CBMAS electronically watches video from all configured cameras and instantly sounds an alarm when pre-defined locations are breached. Valuable artifacts are protected, while providing curators the flexibility to easily change protected areas as exhibits change and grow.

“When any barrier is breached, my staff is immediately notified so action can be taken. It’s as if I’ve added an electronic guard for each piece in our collection that is totally invisible and does not distract our guests’ view of our exhibits. Like the yellow line that marks a first down during an NFL game, we know it’s there when viewing our screen, but it doesn’t distract the players on the field,” Zona said. Watch video demos and read the full case study at sdmmag.com in the Tech at Work section.

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Brivo Systems, announced that the Bridgestone Golf headquarters in Covington, Ga., deployed the Brivo ACS WebService® cloud-based solution to improve safety and security. Southeastern Security Professionals (SSP), Suwanee, Ga., was the dealer and installer for this project.

Bridgestone Golf installed Brivo for a mix of external and internal doors in the administrative offices, manufacturing facility, and test center. Employees and contractors receive specific privileges in terms of day, time and place of access.

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Silent Knight by Honeywell announced its IntelliKnight 5820XL fire alarm system was chosen by the nation’s sixth-largest public transportation system, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA), to protect two maintenance facilities that  required a large-capacity, code-compliant fire alarm with the sophistication to control various systems — within a tight budget.

A unique requirement, as mandated by SEPTA’s insurance provider, was the ability to shut down diesel, oil and anti-freeze pumps in the event of a fire alarm. Fidelity Alarm Company, Philadelphia, tied the IntelliKnight 5820XL to the pumps for 24/7 monitoring and utilized relay modules to close down the fluid pipes during fire alarms.

The installation team was challenged to run a significant amount of wire to tie the central fire alarm control panel to more than 300 new detectors, pull stations, sprinkler tamper and flow valves and many more devices. However, Patrick Phillips, sales manager for Fidelity Alarm, relates “The beauty of going to an addressable system is that you do not need to home-run all devices to your panel.” Read the full case study at sdmmag.com in the Tech at Work section.

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Avigilon announced that Fort Dodge Community School District (FDCSD) in Iowa deployed the Avigilon HD surveillance system to better protect students and staff and prevent vandalism, robbery and student misconduct. Due to the system’s ease of use and reliability, the IT team reduced maintenance time by 100 percent.

When deploying the Avigilon system, FDCSD was able to leverage its current network without straining bandwidth or storage, saving significantly on infrastructure costs. The district also saved on installation and support costs because it can install, manage, and upgrade the system in-house.

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A new bike-sharing program from On Bike Share at Wellesley College provides students access to bicycles when they need them, using keys controlled and stored by a KeyWatcher® key management system from Morse Watchmans.

The program’s low-maintenance shaft-drive bicycles eliminate chains and other parts susceptible to weather or vandalism. A unique lock system integrated into each bike’s frame allows it to be locked by key to a standard bike rack.

The KeyWatcher system electronically secures and releases keys for bicycles in the system to students and staff. When a rider scans their ID card to access a key, the software logs the transaction to record where, when and how long a bike is used for comprehensive reporting and tracking.