The glass shield

Feb 1, 1998 12:00 PM, AC&SSI Staff

A striking glass wall in the lobby of a Manhattan high-rise doubles as a barrier against unauthorized removal of assets.

In New York City, 540 Madison Avenue is a highly desirable corporate address. Located next to Sony Headquarters, 540 Madison offers walking distance to many of the city's grand hotels, restaurants, famous art galleries and museums and is in the heart of the international shopping district. Owned and managed by The Macklowe Organization, the 39-story office tower was designed with comfort, privacy and elegance in mind. The lobby is constructed of such quality products as Taemo wood (a Japanese ash), Nero Marquino marble and Southern Pearl limestone.

But visitors and tenants are greeted by more than Manhattan opulence - the lobby also features an asset tracking/access control system.

"My objective," says Harry Macklowe, chairman of the realty company, "was to make it as smart as can be and provide a world-class facility offering the most modern high-tech advantages to our tenants, while providing the highest level of security and ease of operation." The property has been outfitted for today's technological needs with the T-1 and T-3 lines, fiber optics, telephone system redundancy, cable television and Internet access.

Design challenges Novatek Corp., Union City, N.J., was given the challenge of designing and installing the security system. First and foremost, says Michael Byrd, vice president, technical services for Novatek, was the integration of a "hands-free" access control system with one of the lobby's most striking features - a 30x20-foot-high glass wall with a 7-foot-wide double sliding glass door. A large antenna loop was needed to provide a range that allows egress and ingress without breaking stride, but, since the walls around the sliding doors are glass, the antennas could not be placed around the doorway. Instead, the antennas were placed in grooves in the marble floor on either side, providing a read range of about five feet. The cable to the door controller is hidden in a chrome-wire mold around the edges, blending in with the door-operator header.

In addition, Macklowe wanted asset tagging and tracking that allows free egress when authorized assets are removed, but prevents unauthorized removal of property. Without electronic tracking, assets can be removed by concealing them in a briefcase, package or gym bag, and Macklowe did not want to have to subject employees and tenants to searches.

Novatek chose Cotag's proximity system for its long read range and dual read capability that allows an asset tag and employee access card to be read at the same time.

The system can be installed as a new access/asset control system, as a stand-alone on a PC, or as an integrated partof a company's existing access control system, says Bob Bacon, president of Novatek. "Any system affording Wiegand interface will work," he says.

Tracking assets An access card is assigned to tenants of the facility with normal access levels and work shifts. The card is encoded with the tenant or employee name and other information. Also assigned are small tags for assets permitted to be removed from the building. These asset tags are encoded with a serial number and the owner's name, department and telephone number.

Initially, all asset tags are assigned a zero access code, with no privilege for egress. When assigned, the tags are programmed into the system along with the cardholder or escort who is permitted to remove the asset from the facility. The loop readers read card and tag at the same time, and the system checks to see if the two tags have been linked, records the movement and triggers an alarm at the security desk if the removal of property is unauthorized. The name of the person carrying the asset, the serial number of the asset and owner's name and extension appear on the PC screen at the security desk.

All movements through the glass doors are recorded on the software system, by time and by employee and asset codes. The CCTV system keeps a visual record that is also date- and time-stamped.

A security or facility manager can also keep track of assets throughout the building's interior. Quite often, an asset has not really disappeared, it has merely been moved to another room, division or floor. By installing the loops at selected doors, assets can be tracked by department, user's name or asset serial number. "It's a simple add-on to the standard card reader at the doors," says Bacon, "the difference being the loop."

Visitors are issued a temporary badge and access card to record their movement within the facility, and to prevent removal of a tagged asset.

Message center 540 Madison's message center is separate and contained in its own area at grade level. Parcels and packages are delivered from the message center to tenant premises by in-house runners. This practice prevents outside delivery personnel from wandering the floors, but couriers from local restaurants are granted access to their clients. The couriers must enter and leave through the message center, and an RF loop around the message center's doors prevents the removal of tagged assets.

The same holds true for packages mailed or shipped out of the facility. The door to the loading dock has been looped, thereby identifying an asset that is being shipped. The tag on the asset can be read through shipping containers, and the loading dock attendant is signaled audibly if an asset is unauthorized for shipment.

The backbone The Synergistics WA-PAC card access and intrusion detection system ties it all together. It was chosen because it is "large enough to meet the expansion of the building, and has the fastest card read and response time of all the systems we have previously installed. That is a critical element of asset protection," says Bacon. And, of course, it is compatible with the reader software.

The host computer and printer reside in the building management office, which also houses the tenant badging system by Polaroid, Sony 14-inch security monitors, Gyyr 960-hour VCRs and Gyyr DS16D multiplexers. Communication and system control are achieved with the Synergistics CC-1065 Communications Controller with building expansion through the QRC-1065 quad reader controllers.

In the main lobby, built into a custom security console, is a redundant Synergistics WA-PAC edit terminal for guard use, Sony 8-inch security monitors, and a computerized visitor and guest badging system, the WinVIS windows visitor control system by K&A Industries.

Also used in the installation were the Stanley automatic door controls and operator, West Penn fire-rated cable, Securitron locks and power supplies, Sony 304 cameras and special pinhole lenses by Computar. All egress is controlled by Kantech T-Rex-XL passive infrared detectors.

"The system meets every criteria we specified," says Karen Haughney, building manager. "It is simple enough to program the tags and cards into the system, produces excellent reports, is appreciated by our tenants due to the hands-free access and asset protection and so far has been service-free."

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