Financial Institutions

Aug 1, 1998 12:00 PM, DON GARBERA

           

Security at Travelers: Varied technologies at multiple locations

Insurance company in Hartford, Conn., gets results combining equipment and procedures. Hartford, Conn., has been the focus of numerous gang- and crime-related media stories, which have contributed to negative perceptions about the safety of the city, says Thomas O'Connor, director of corporate security at Hartford-based Travelers Property Casualty Corp. "While the reality regarding safety may be vastly different, negative perceptions linger," he explains. Travelers is in the business of assessing risk. It sells a range of commercial and personal insurance products through a nationwide network of agencies, brokers and distribution channels. It does its part to alleviate its employees' safety concerns with a top-notch security operation run by O'Connor that relies on state-of-the-art equipment and procedures. O'Connor came to Travelers almost two years ago from the Hartford Police Department where he served as deputy chief of police. He is responsible for security at Travelers' 225 national locations, which employ as many as 500 people per location, and at the Travelers home office in Hartford, which comprises eight buildings.

Card access control Travelers area offices rely on a stand-alone card access system: the Sensormatic C*Cure 750 from Software House. The home-office complex and five field facilities are hardwired via a C*Cure 1 Plus card access system, which secures more than 160 points of entry. Another 90 less frequently used points of entry use stand-alone card access systems from Ilco Unican. O'Connor says that stand-alone card entry at these doors is a much more cost-effective way to secure locations that do not experience many users. "They provide many of the same features as a full-blown card access system at a fraction of the cost," he explains. "For example, it costs roughly $1, 200 to add a door to the complex's card system, but only $500 to equip it with an Ilco Unican unit." O'Connor adds that the project's budget made hardwiring the 90 entrances prohibitive. "Using the Ilco Unican units gave us 99 percent of the benefit of hardwiring at a greatly reduced cost and made the project possible," he says. The reason for the lost 1 percent of benefit is that the units are not centrally located and must be programmed by visiting each entry point, he says. The Ilco Unican units replaced key and combination locks, which were ineffective because employees who had difficulty remembering the door combination number would write the combination on the door frame. "The new units also provide us with a paper trail of who went in and out at what time, in the event that something is reported missing," adds O'Connor. Wiegand card technology is also used for employee identification. Extremely high-security areas such as LAN centers and computer command facilities use a PIN along with a card. Kantech motion detectors are employed as request-to-exit devices at card access entrances.

Monitoring the operation Forty-five Panasonic, Burle and Kalatel CCTV cameras are located throughout the office complex. Approximately half of them employ Vicon pan-and-tilt heads and zoom lenses. Cameras are used on all exterior building walls, loading docks, hallways outside high-security areas such as communication command centers, and inside high-security areas, as well as in parking garages and lots. O'Connor is installing 20-inch monitors, multiplexers, Toshiba VCRs, Compaq computer systems and a Kalatel Paragon graphical user interface in the security control room at the home office. The control room also employs an AlarmSoft central station automation system that receives burglar and environmental alarms from field offices. Also operated in the control room are two fire, HVAC and security systems and all office lighting for the main complex. For example, if an employee wants to come in at night or on a weekend, his or her office lights must be turned on from the control room. The control room also monitors 140 emergency phones throughout the home-office complex and parking facilities and emergency communications for 64 elevators. O'Connor recently installed in the Travelers' training center a new access control system that runs off of the home-office system. The center is used to train company employees as well as employees from companies such as United Health Care and Smith Barney. Another user, the University of Connecticut (UConn), maintains space in the building for classes offered in downtown Hartford. The security operation secures these tenants' areas according to their specifications. "If they want it opened or locked 24 hours a day or anything in between, we will accommodate them," says O'Connor. The corporate security department also creates limited-use ID cards that expire when classes are over for UConn students.

Planning staves off workplace violence O'Connor explains that he is involved in every new field site design to stave off the threat of workplace violence brought about by disgruntled former employees, domestic violence affecting the workplace and disgruntled claimants. "We make sure that a safe room is incorporated into the design," he says. The safe room is a conference area that a visitor cannot get past. Employees must receive personal visitors in the safe room. The room includes a request-to-enter bell or phone, and has no direct access to offices. It features a door that is electronically controlled by the receptionist, who also discreetly monitors meetings held there. If the receptionist notices any problems with the meeting, a discreet panic button is activated that sets off a signal light enunciator in the office area, calling for assistance. Should it be warranted, outside police assistance can also be summoned. A recent incident handled by O'Connor and his staff involved an employee of a tenant in one of Travelers' secured buildings. The estranged husband of a female employee came, armed with a gun, to the one place he knew he could find her - at her job. According to O'Connor: "He made three attempts to bypass security procedures and enter the workplace. He changed his clothes between attempts, but was turned away by security personnel every time and was eventually arrested." O'Connor plans to continue integrating security systems so that alarms, access control, property management and CCTV better complement one another. The department also plans to create a corporate security intranet Web page that will provide Travelers employees with access to security tips, policies and international travel security information.

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