Inside SSI’s 2016 Security Solutions Award Winners

Security Sales & Integration’s Security Solutions Awards put innovation, creativity and successful deployment in the spotlight as manufacturers and integrators meet access control, video surveillance, security monitoring & other application-specific needs.

Improved surveillance capabilities for a capital city; a safer environment for a sheriff’s department; an enterprising and efficient rekeying solution for a continuing care community; a cloud platform to ease the worries of an island-based central station;  and an innovative camera-related answer for an equally innovative digital billboard ad campaign.

The vendors and integrators who collaborated to achieve successful results for a variety of end-user requests also earned spots among SSI’s Security Solutions Awards honorees.

Formerly called the Awesome Application Awards, the program distinguishes those manufacturers whose electronic security solutions have been proven in the field to meet security, safety or other organizational needs for end users.

The second annual winners, announced during September’s ASIS Int’l Seminar and Exhibits in Orlando, Fla., are:

A panel of experienced security industry professionals judged each entrant based on not only the technical merits and ease of installation of the product or technology solution, but also the ability of it to help integrators meet project bid, specification or design parameters; satisfy regulatory, compliance or code requirements; and deliver the highest level of system capabilities, features, functionality, user-friendliness, results and client satisfaction across the full range of general, niche and vertical market applications.

All manufacturer-submitted project applications had to be installed or deployed in the past 18 months to be considered for the program.

Take a gander at some of your industry colleagues’ compelling work by perusing the various winners and runners-up ahead, and start thinking about your own great projects that ought to be considered for next year’s awards.

Featuring an integrated multiCLASS SE reader, the IN120 WiFi lock from Sargent supports multiple credential types, which enabled the end-user se-nior living communities to manage access centrally and easily issue or revoke credentials for residents, using access cards instead of keys

ACCESS CONTROL | Sargent WiFi Locks Facilitate Healthier Senior Care Community Management

This particular client – a national leader in continuing care retirement communities – struggled with key control issues in their facilities throughout Maryland and Virginia. 

Each campus faced $150,000-$300,000 in rekeying costs, which only addressed the immediate problem of lost keys, but not the ongoing management of the thousands of keys at each facility.

In addition, as a senior living facility, they needed to do daily health checks of each of their residents, which entailed a staff member physically visiting each residential unit. They had created a device that would show whether the resident had opened their door, indicating that they were OK.

For doors that had not been opened, they would investigate further to ensure the resident was safe and healthy inside the unit. With thousands of units on each campus, this was a very difficult and time-consuming task, says ASSA ABLOY’s Chris Villarreal, integrated solutions specialist.

The client sought a solution that would eliminate their key control issues and enable centralized management of the entire facility.

ASSA ABLOY joined forces with Herndon, Va.-based Integrated Security Technologies to provide a solution that would help these senior living communities focus on their main priority – the health and well-being of their residents.

They recommended the Sargent IN120 WiFi lock, which allows facilities to leverage their existing WiFi infrastructure to expand access control coverage to more doors easily and affordably.

Without any wires to run, disruption to the facility is minimal and installation costs are significantly lower than traditional access control installations, Villarreal explains.

Talks began with the customer at the NFMT (National Facilities Management and Technology) conference in March 2015, in which ASSA ABLOY introduced them to the wireless solution capabilities, Villarreal says.

IN120 Wifi Lock

The manufacturer put together a plan in conjunction with Integrated Solutions Technologies that involved IT, management and facilities, he says. “After heavy review of various industry options they felt that the IN120 WiFi solution was the best fit for their needs,” Villarreal says.

“After continued evaluation and testing ASSA ABLOY received an order to begin a deployment in November 2015. ASSA ABLOY worked closely with both the integrator and end user ensuring all questions were answered and products were delivered. They even assisted onsite to ensure a smooth installation.”

Featuring an integrated multiCLASS SE reader, the IN120 supports multiple credential types, which enabled the senior living communities to manage access centrally and easily issue or revoke credentials for residents, using access cards instead of keys. This solution eliminated the large rekeying costs they had previously, and provided greater control and visibility over their campuses.

The customer selected leading VMS provider Genetec to control the WiFi locks. Besides being an ASSA ABLOY Access Control Partner, some of the considerations, Villarreal says, included ease of use and the capability to manage access control and video management in a unified software platform.

The locks were installed on 355 resident doors. No wiring was required since the locks used the existing corporate 802.11 wireless network already in place. The customer is looking to deploy the solution at more facilities in 2017 – overall they have 20 locations with roughly 20,000 doors they’d like monitored.

ASSA ABLOY trained and certified the integrator on wireless hardware installation, software programming of an IP access control lock and commissioning of an IP deployment. The manufacturer also assisted with training the end user on basic lock and reader functions of the IN20.

From the time the order was received in November 2015 to completion in March 2016, the project proved relatively pain free. “The most difficult challenge was when painters had disassembled some of the locks while painting,”  Villarreal says. “The locks were reassembled incorrectly, causing some failures. Once the problem was found, it was quickly resolved.”

Integrator and manufacturer report the client is now able to monitor the patients’ doors from their central management system and rather than visiting thousands of doors each day, they run a daily report of which doors are opened, and visit only those that are not. This frees up a significant amount of time to focus on other important activities.

Page 2: Read on to see who took home awards for exceptional video surveillance solutions!

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