St. Eugene School Gets Affordable Access Control Upgrade
Munger Technical Services provided St. Eugene School with a Web-based access control system.
“We can now easily keep tabs on who has access to the building, and when. It’s no longer a time-consuming paper-and-pencil process, and that’s a relief,” says Terry O’Neill, St. Eugene School building supervisor. “We’re freeing up teachers and staff from having to sign parents in and out as they drop off and pick up their children, for example, and we’re also that much more certain about our own safety and security.”
Access Control Designed for Scalability and More
St. Eugene completed installation of NetAXS-123 during the summer of 2013, and the system was fully ready to accommodate users when students returned to classes for the 2013-14 school year.
St. Eugene is using the system to primarily address the security needs of the school. However, administrators plan to take advantage of the system’s scalability and protect a total of nine doors throughout the facility. St. Eugene’s campus also includes a gymnasium that will be tied into the system as soon as funding is available. The same goes for a rectory as well as other areas of the school.
“Knowing that we can add on more door controllers tied into a single Web interface is really appealing,” Munger says. “Again, that’s done through the Ethernet virtual link.”
NetAXS-123 provides out-of-the-box support and can expand as needed to accommodate as many as 48 doors on a single wire loop. Plus, with EVL technology the system automatically updates each control panel when changes are made, simplifying configuration and management.
“We want to provide technologies that enable our customers to manage, control and even maintain their access control system themselves,” Munger says. “The straightforward nature of NetAXS-123 lets us easily train our customers on how to use and maintain the system – and then they can expand it as they grow. It’s not rocket science, but good security doesn’t have to be.”
While the church does not integrate video surveillance cameras into its new access control system, the capability does exist with its chosen panel. NetAXS-123 provides the capability to take snapshots of individuals as they card in or request access to leave the building. The video would be able to be remotely viewed via the same Web interface.
“It is video that is stored locally within the access panel. As you go back and look at the events, the history of when an individual would request access, there would be a snapshot of the person,” Munger says. “If somebody were to access the building, force the door open or go out after-hours, you could also capture those images as well.”
For now O’Neill says he and his colleagues are looking forward to making it even easier for administrators, teachers, parishioners, visitors and staff to have easy but controlled access to the campus.
“Our primary motivation for installing the access control system is to keep our students and staff safe. But we also have a larger community that uses the church and funeral home on a regular basis,” he says. “And we want them to be equally safe and enjoy the convenience of the access system.”
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About the Author
Rodney Bosch, Senior Editor
Although Bosch’s name is quite familiar to those in the security industry, his previous experience has been in daily newspaper journalism. Prior to joining SECURITY SALES & INTEGRATION in 2006, he spent 15 years with the Los Angeles Times, where he performed a wide assortment of editorial responsibilities, including feature and metro department assignments as well as content producing for latimes.com. Bosch is a graduate of California State University, Fresno with a degree in Mass Communication & Journalism. In 2007, he successfully completed the National Burglar and Fire Alarm Association’s National Training School coursework to become a Certified Level I Alarm Technician.
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