Programmable cards help telecom company monitor building entry

Feb 1, 1997 12:00 PM, By Don Garbera

More than 100 buildings have been put on-line at tele-communications provider NYNEX. Future plans are to put all 2,200 sites on-line. NYNEX, a major telephone service provider for the New York metropolitan area, uses a card system to monitor employee access to its numerous buildings that house phone equipment.

All sites in New York City and some in Westchester and upstate incorporate card access on entrances and exits - along with a number of other critical areas, says Jeff Marshall, staff manager of the Network Protection Environmental Control Center at NYNEX.

More than 100 buildings have already been put on-line at the telecommunications giant. All employees must be input into the card access system to obtain entry not only to their building, but also to their specific area, says Marshall.

There are three levels of employee access privilege. A central office technician in charge of inside office communications equipment has access to virtually every area of the building, including power and battery rooms, carrier areas and the cable vault. Outside service technicians only need access to common areas, while employees with various responsibilities have their cards programmed for specific locations.

Marshall, who oversees the entire operation, keeps track of more than 40,000 little blue proximity cards and maintains the system with the help of vendors and administrative clerks. His staff consists of two associates who do all the programming and handle day-to-day operations such as fielding complaints. Marshall's responsibilities also include filling requests from NYNEX sites not yet on the system. NYNEX has approximately 2,200 buildings and properties.

How it works The software program for the card readers was written by Security Applications Inc., Valhalla, N.Y. Card readers ACU 808 and 818 and accompanying hardware in the field are made by Westinghouse. Communication with all sites is accomplished through dial-up modems and a remote-dial interface manufactured by Security Applications.

In operation, a person uses his or her card to gain access to a building and a specific area. When the person exits, it is not necessary to use the card again - an infrared device senses the person exiting and allows passage without triggering an alarm. If an intruder attempts forcible entry, however, it is detected by the door contacts, and an alarm sounds, explains Marshall. The door simultaneously sends a signal to the ACU (access control unit), which then dials a Hewlett Packard model 9000 host computer. A display then appears on a screen in the Network Protection Environmental Control Center, located at NYNEX's building on West Street in downtown New York. A decision is then made by a manager to investigate the alarm condition.

All investigations are handled by the NYNEX Security Division, which is separate from the Network Protection Environmental Control Center. On occasion, Marshall's department receives requests from the security division to provide information as to who has entered or exited a building at a given time, or whether an alarm was recorded during that period.

Maintaining the system According to Marshall, the installation of the card system was difficult because of clean room requirements in certain areas. For example, the digital phone switching locations must be kept dust-free to prevent damage to extremely sensitive equipment. Dustless drills had to be employed, along with proper phone equipment techniques, in order not to contaminate and ruin million-dollar switchers.

Marshall says vandalism of outdoor card readers has become a daily challenge. Our biggest problem is maintaining and protecting outdoor readers from neighborhood kids who try to break the key pad code that bypasses a proximity card, he says. Every chance they get, they try different number combinations until the number sequence is discovered. They have broken the code once or twice. After they have gotten in, we have discovered them wandering the hallways. It seems that they are not out to steal anything; they just like the thrill of breaking the code.

The outside readers are also accompanied by auto-dialing call boxes for use by visitors and employees who left their cards at home.

Other applications and expansion The access control system has been successful in tracking down equipment thefts. Marshall reports the security unit, through analysis of the database, recently caught the thieves of computer equipment from one of the buildings.

Marshall is also responsible for a trial program called remote video surveillance. Currently, four sites have been put on-line and are monitored at a central location. The perimeter fence of each of the four buildings is sensitive to movement and weight. If it detects a break-in, one of many American Dynamics cameras focuses on the point of intrusion. A picture is then transmitted instantly to a video display at a Presearch guard console. The operator is connected to the intrusion site via ISPN phone line and determines whether to dispatch a roving security vehicle or contact police.

Marshall is also handling design and construction of a new fire system that will replace the current Class E system. The new system, made by Simplex, will incorporate new addressable heads and a video display that graphically informs the operator which head is in an alarm condition, he says. The new system has already been installed in one of the buildings and will eventually be included in every NYNEX facility.

According to Marshall, future plans are to put all of the company's 2,200 sites on the card access system and to implement the remote surveillance program throughout the organization.

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