Cambridge Secures Its Back Doors

Jun 1, 2005 12:00 PM

Cambridge (Mass.) College needed to secure the entrances and parking structure at its main campus. Because the building is used by administrators, faculty, students and tenants, a way was needed to ensure security without making access difficult for authorized users.

According to Bruce Grigsby, director of facilities at Cambridge College, it was necessary to secure two areas, the college's entrance and the parking garage. “We needed to make all the traffic flow into the building through the reception doors instead of coming in the back door,” he says. “Only the faculty and administration should come in the back door.”

The college installed a Schlage Security Management System, which verifies credentials while allowing administrators to quickly change or update access information. The computer-based system uses proximity card readers to verify credentials and unlock the doors only for authorized holders. The same system controls access to the parking garage.

“To unlock the door you have to wave your card in front of the machine. The exit door also has a card reader.” Because there are tenants as well as faculty and staff who require access, the system must be flexible enough to accommodate the needs of both groups, Grigsby says. “We share the two parking levels with tenants in the building,” he says. “They have cards that allow them to get up in the elevators after hours, and one elevator operates with the card reader 24 hours a day so they can get in.”

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