Precision Security

Jul 1, 2005 12:00 PM, By Randy Southerland

One night, a large metal loading bay door at the warehouse section of the Orangeburg, N.Y., distribution center for Olympus Surgical and Industrial America Inc. had mysteriously opened.

Nobody was working there at the early morning hour, but the police were on their way, according to a technician from the company's monitoring station. One of the company's vice presidents responded, and with a team to help, barricaded the door.

What could have been a major security breach was quickly remedied thanks to a security system that alerted police and security officials.

“Had the security system not been designed correctly, had no contact breakers been installed on that door, then we would have been none the wiser and open to intrusion and possible theft,” says Gary Hull, systems manager at Olympus Surgical and Industrial.

Designing and installing the right security had been a central focus for the company since three years ago when it first selected the wooded tract of land in a quiet industrial park for its new North American headquarters. The company is a subsidiary of KeyMed, which distributes and markets Olympus' range of industrial and surgical endoscopy equipment and industrial microscopy products.

Its precision visual inspection devices are the industry standard for technicians who need to peek inside power plant generators or aircraft engines without tearing the large machines apart. In addition, Olympus is also a major provider of endoscopy equipment used by surgeons to look inside the human body and to perform delicate, minimally invasive surgeries.

The company wanted to make its access control system an integral part of the design of its new headquarters building. In fact, before ground was broken, the building architect brought in New York-based Sabre Integrated Security Systems Inc. to develop a preliminary design for a system of cameras, card readers and door locks to protect employees and the extensive stock of equipment and products the building would hold.

“The architect came to us and literally had the concept of the building on the back of a napkin,” says Clifford Franklin, president of Sabre. “They were discussing security and what they needed to do and what the requirements were. I finally came up with a skeleton system for them.”

From the very start, Olympus wanted an elegant structure that reflected the company's values. Achieving a high level of aesthetics while also making the building secure presented early challenges.

Visitors to the building pass through soaring glass walls to a expansive 2000-sq.-ft. lobby where they are greeted by a receptionist. Placing CCTV coverage in this area was vital to the security plan, but there was a problem: “The cameras performed from a security point of view, (but they) didn't look too good,” Franklin says. “So we had to compromise to make the camera more discreet.”

The ideal location was a large white wall, but Franklin finally settled on a less obtrusive location that still covered the desired area.

While the company designated Spectra Dome Series cameras from Pelco for the rest of the building, they used smaller, less obtrusive bullet cameras from Amityville, NY-based Speco Technologies in the lobby.

To provide additional security, motion sensors were installed to cover the large glass windows that formed the front wall of the building's entrance and its side.

The main employee entrance is through double glass doors into a short vestibule and then through another set of doors. Franklin had suggested placing a card reader on the outside of the building, but the architect objected on the basis of appearance. “So we put an additional camera in the parking lot just to watch that door,” he says.

Entrance into the building was secured by an inside reader, while the camera ensured that the door itself was covered.

The amount of high-tech equipment and delicate instruments inside the 73,000-sq.-ft. building and its 18,000-sq.-ft. warehouse dictated that access control be a top consideration. With 140 on-site employees and another 160-member remote sales force, Olympus needed to know who was in the building and where they were.

“We wanted to achieve an appropriate level of access control and visibility without creating an environment like Fort Knox,” Hull says. “We wanted to know it was safe when we weren't here, and we like to know who is in the building at all times.”

Each employee — including sales personnel who are usually in the field — was issued an identification card carrying their photo, name and company information. Each card was programmed with each employee's appropriate level of access. For example, only those who actually work in the warehouse area can pass through the HID card readers that regulate access to each door.

“We not only control doors, but we control down to individual user levels so that we can authorize specific people to go through specific doors without alarm,” Hull says.

At the heart of the system is a WIN-PAK 2.0 access control system from Northern Computers (now Honeywell). Alarms are generated whenever doors are propped open or unauthorized entry is attempted. The central station operator can control the pan, tilt and zoom of CCTV cameras from a floor plan view. A central database can also generate reports of comings and goings by specific individuals with dates and times. The locking of doors can be controlled either manually or automatically.

Management agrees that the system has integrated well into the building. It provides the needed level of safety and security without the headaches and compromises companies can face if access control is not part of the building concept.

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ABOUT THE COMPANIES

For information, circle the Reader Service Card number (listed below) or visit securitysolutions.com

HID Corp.	90
Honeywell (formerly Northern Computers)	91
Pelco	92
Sabre Integrated Security Systems Inc.	93
Speco Technologies	94

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© 2008 Penton Media Inc.

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