ISONAS Delivers New Access Control Solution for National Freight Company

Transportation Impact deployed an IP access control solution that offers numerous security and convenience benefits, such as mobile credentials.

EMERALD ISLE, N.C. — Transportation Impact has been providing supply chain cost reduction for clients in multiple vertical markets since 2008. The privately held company, based here, has made a huge impact on the bottom line for clients by reducing shipping costs through small package and freight negotiation along with their state-of-the-art transportation management system.

The company claims to leverage its industry savvy to drive down clients’ net annual freight spend by an average of more than 20%. By staying true to its stated core values of work ethic, professionalism, perfection, integrity and passion, Transportation Impact has developed a strong presence in its community, is a 5-time Inc. 5000 company, and has been named among the Best Workplaces 2017.

With two ultra-modern office buildings in North Carolina, the safety and security of the company’s 70 employees and infrastructure became a major priority, with special emphasis on deploying a new access control solution.   

The company’s corporate headquarters reside in a building that consists of four floors. The first two floors contain executive offices and conference rooms, while the top floors house a restaurant and bar which is open to the public. The biggest challenge Transportation Impact found with a shared building is the common occurrence for the public to walk in on private meetings in the conference rooms and inquire about the location of the restaurant.

Having the public enter Transportation Impact’s office at will was not only a disruption, but a security risk for employees and private company information and systems. It was imperative that the conference room and executive areas were safeguarded from unauthorized access.

Pure IP Access Control Solution

With its rampant growth, it was time for the company to increase the level of security at their facility and invest in an access control solution that was simple to administer across multiple buildings, could handle the addition of geographically dispersed locations and provide their users with a convenient method to access the buildings.

Transportation Impact needed a special delivery, the right access control solution from their trusted security integrator, Electronic Solutions of Greenville, N.C. The integrator has been working with Transportation Impact over the last few years and understood their need for a simple and convenient access control solution.

Ron Snyder, president at Electronic Solutions and an ISONAS certified partner, delivered the ISONAS Pure IP access control solution in the fall of 2016 starting with a pilot program for the new RC-04 reader-controller all managed from the ISONAS software, Pure Access cloud.

Transportation Impact was one of the first companies to use the new hardware product and provide feedback on the functionality and usability of the system. In addition, they were one of the first to take advantage of the Pure Mobile credentials from the Boulder, Colo.-based access control provider.

“ISONAS is a great team to work with as they are all about supporting their certified dealers and offering top notch customer service to help make the implementation process seamless,” states Snyder. “The ISONAS solution is a great product and so much easier than the past access control systems that required running several cables to install it. ISONAS offers a simple solution, which only requires an ISONAS reader-controller and a Cat-5 cable for power and data; making it an easy deployment for customers.”

Ease of Mobile Credentials

One key challenge that drove Transportation Impact and Electronic Solutions to choose ISONAS was the need for convenient access for their users. Upon the initial installation, the company utilized key fobs to provide access to their users. Unfortunately, a number of the key fobs were lost which resulted in employees propping open doors; circumventing the security and effectiveness of the access control solution.

Access Control

The addition of Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) allows customers to use their smartphone as a credential.

With the number of lost key fobs, Transportation Impact needed to find a way to incorporate access control into their employees’ normal, everyday practices. The ISONAS Pure Mobile credential allowed them to take the convenience of their mobile phone to the next level. The Bluetooth Low Energy feature of the Pure IP hardware family (RC-04) eliminated the need for a physical card or key fob and allowed a mobile device to act as an access card.

With the simplicity of Pure Mobile in combination with Pure Access, there was no need to install additional software, purchase additional licenses to enroll mobile credentials, or acquire a massive bank of credentials. The RC-04 hardware and Pure Access software are ready to use with the ISONAS

Pure Mobile credentials right out of the box. An employee at Transportation Impact can simply download the Pure Mobile application to their phone, present it to a reader-controller, and the facility administrator associates that mobile phone to the user’s profile.

“We were looking for an easy-to-use access control solution that allowed access with the touch of a button and we found it,” says Norm Pollock, vice president of IT at Transportation Impact. “In addition to having mobile access, we really liked having the ability to automate on a schedule and set the doors to lock and unlock during certain times of the day all from the Pure Access Cloud software.”

With this new technological advancement delivered to their door, Transportation Impact had the right solution in place to avoid the days of lost key fobs. By having employees use their smart phones as a credential to enter the building, the company could rest easy knowing that they were protected and in a secure operation.

Cloud Delivers Security, Flexibility

With a successful pilot program under their belt, Transportation Impact currently has 11 RC-04 reader-controllers installed across two office buildings all administered from the Pure Access Cloud software, giving them access from anywhere at any time.

Pure Access cloud eliminated the need for any additional onsite network infrastructure and provided full administrative and management power of their access control system from any device. Now they can assign users to the system, establish access schedules, events and holidays preventing doors from being propped open and surprise visits from the public. In all, nine doors are secured in the corporate headquarters, as well as front and back doors in the second building.

With plans of a third office building in the works, Pollock explains it will be an easy road for Transportation Impact to add additional doors to their powerful access control system now and in the future.

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