Optimized Access

Apr 1, 2008 12:00 PM

St. John’s College High School opts for browser-based access control.

St. John's College High School (SJC), an independent, Catholic, coeducational college preparatory school with 1,100 students and 150 faculty and staff, is located on a sprawling 27-acre campus in Washington, D.C. Formerly, SJC was using a standard lock-and-key access control system.

The SJC administration sought to improve access technology to provide school administrators with maximum flexibility, using existing infrastructure and giving them a “tiered” management system to fit the overall needs of the school and each specific administrator. Also needing an improved access system was St. John's athletic program, which consists of 15 different teams, coaches and staff that need access to facilities at different times of the year. The school also hosts numerous after-hours activities and groups that need access to all different parts of the school campus at different times.

When determining that they needed a new system, the school administrators asked themselves: “Is the technology going to work the way we want it to work or do we have to conform to the software or hardware?” Of all the systems that were evaluated, Brivo Systems LLC, Bethesda, Md., fit their important criterion, allowing SJC to implement their access control system according to their own specific needs.

eVigilant, Arlington, Va., a service provider for surveillance systems, alarm management systems and access systems for both mobile and permanent locations, introduced Tony Colvin, director of facilities, and Mel Colvin, director of technology, to Brivo's OnSite SE, which provides all of the advanced benefits of Brivo functionality and ease of use. The system offers the school on-site data storage control, as opposed to the Web-hosting option the company also offers.

After evaluating the first phase of Brivo system installation, the SJC's administration confirmed that the system was meeting their needs, and it was time to look at other buildings and access points to expand system control. In addition to the athletic building, Brivo has been installed in the main academic building on the main entrance doors, the administrative offices, the Business Manager's suite and is in plans to control cafeteria access. “We knew we wanted a Web-based system,” Mel Colvin says. There was one other advantage that SJC liked very much — the Brivo ACS is not limited to the Windows environment and can be operated with Macs. “I didn't want to hassle with making sure all the computers had the right software and the right versions of software. The Brivo system made it easy.”

Brivo enables remote administration of the entire system from any Web browser anytime and anywhere, and enables SJC to schedule an open time for the building as well as the ability to lock the building once everyone is inside after the official start of the day. Deliveries are buzzed in while the building is locked during these hours. As part of their emergency plan, SJC has also installed a single-button “lock-down” for the entire facility. As the access control management plan unfolds, SJC intends to funnel people in and out of the building through two access points in the front and back of the building. Similar to access control for the athletic facility, the goal is to know who is coming and going and when. The Brivo system can also manage cards and schedules for the facility.

The athletic director controls doors from his office and remotely grants access to outside groups that rent the facility. At the end of each day, the Brivo system gives him an easily accessible view of the entire building so that he knows if any doors are open — without leaving his office.

With the old lock-and-key system, if a student got a hold of a key, that presented a potential security problem and a big expense to re-key. Now, SJC just cancels the missing access card.

Also, when someone opened a door with a key using the old system, it generally stayed unlocked, and then the building was vulnerable. With Brivo, SJC does not have to worry that the doors remain unlocked.

System scalability, flexibility and the ability to expand the system where and when appropriate has been a real advantage. As budget becomes available, SJC plans to continue to control internal access within buildings.

Total Cost of Ownership for a Brivo ACS is up to 50 percent less than traditional PC-based electronic access control systems. Such lower up-front system and installation costs enable the school to keep working capital focused on the students.

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© 2008 Penton Media Inc.

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