Residential Revamp

Mar 1, 2003 12:00 PM, By Corrina Stellitano

The University of New Hampshire, like most universities today, offers numerous residential options to students wishing to live on campus. Students may select from more than 25 residence halls, choosing among varied floor plans, and even determining their neighbors — themed halls at UNH gather together artistic students, honors students, or even students who pledge to avoid alcohol or drugs.

More choices for the 6,000 on-campus UNH student body, however, can mean more planning for university officials. The university's newest residence hall, Mills Hall, hosts 358 students in suites, in which three to five bedrooms open from a common area. Because students must enter the locked door of the common living area before entering the locked doors of their bedrooms, university housing officials were faced with a unique access control challenge.

Unlocking the Puzzle

Previously, the university would have issued the same key for the corridor door to the common area and for the bedroom door, but this solution falls below current industry standards, says William Conk, senior manager for housing facilities at UNH. This situation left Conk with three options: extend the access control system used on exterior residence hall doors to the interior doors, issue separate keys for each door, or use an electronic off-line key system similar to those used in hotels.

Each solution had its disadvantages, Conk recalls. “Some of the options were not user friendly,” he says. “The key was the most uncomplicated, but it presented problems in terms of service.” If a student lost his key to the common area, the other seven students who had access to this area would also need to replace their keys. The off-line option would require a new access control system, and would force the housing staff to download information to each door lock. Even extending the exterior access control system to interior doors seemed impractical; hardwiring the suite doors would cost more than $50,000, according to preliminary estimates.

Still, Conk was convinced that today's technology-savvy market could present a wireless solution. “I had the wholehearted idea that there might be technology out there that could let us connect the doors to a central location,” he recalls. On the hunt, Conk asked his staff members to search the Internet and consulted Brian Nelson, director of national accounts for Electronic Technologies Corp. (ETC).

Conk had worked closely with Nelson since 1993 when Nelson introduced UNH to its current access control system: the C-CURE system by Lexington, Mass.-based Software House. “(William Conk and I) have had a good relationship,” Nelson says. “When he brainstorms, he thinks about new technologies. He had heard about wireless video, but not wireless locks. And about a year ago, he asked if I knew of a product that would work for a dormitory.”

The Suite Solution

Any wireless product Nelson located would have to satisfy several criteria. “We were trying to balance the functionality, cost, and service to our clients,” Conk says. “And I can't say that one took priority over the other. What we installed had to facilitate our ability to get the students in and out of their suites with as little inconvenience as possible. Next, the cost had to be in line. Then, the reliability — we were not going to put anything in the building that would not work, or would be subject to tampering.”

The new wireless access control system for Mills Hall would have to integrate with the C-CURE access control system. UNH students use their access cards, armed with both a magnetic strip and a bar code, for access to dorms and meal halls, as a debit card, and for library loans. Dorado card readers complete the access control system.

Nelson surveyed major access control product suppliers and presented Conk with what seemed like the ideal solution: Wyreless Integrated Reader Locks from Recognition Source. The Integrated Reader Locks combine an electric door lock, a card reader, a request-to-exit sensor, door position terminals, a power supply and a transceiver in one package. In Mills Hall, the reader locks would attach at the suite doors and communicate by wireless technology with a panel interface module. The modules would be hardwired to the C-CURE system, allowing each door to be accessed on the C-CURE network. Installation of the product was also efficient, requiring little more than one hour.

“This was a product that I was excited about, and I've been in the industry for 26 years,” Nelson says. “(The Wyreless locks) are invisible. It's seamless technology to the host computer. That's what makes it the golden egg.”

Recognition Source's prototype of the integrated wireless locks was slated to be released for testing in February 2002, just as UNH was to make the final decision on a vendor. At first, Conk and Bruce Chamberlin, UNH's housing communications systems operations manager, were cautious about pioneering such a new technology. “My concern was whether the locking devices met the mechanical standards the university has for all its locks. And then for the wireless device, I wanted it to be reliable and secure,” says Chamberlin.

To ensure Wyreless would work at Mills Hall, Conk and Chamberlin put the system through a series of tests. “I would not go forward with it until I got the exact piece of equipment that I would be installing in the residence hall, and tested that piece of equipment in one of our existing residence halls. We basically tore the whole system apart, took pictures of it, tested it, reviewed the specifications for it and installed it,” Conk says.

Because Mills Hall is constructed from concrete block walls and concrete floors, and the transceivers would be located in concrete-walled closets with metal doors, transmission of the wireless frequency was also a concern.

“Our environment is probably the harshest in terms of RF (radio frequency). There's a lot of concrete,” says Chamberlin. “From a technical end of things, I wanted to make sure it worked; and it has been reliable since.”

This reliability didn't surprise Nelson; he says his own testing of the locks made him realize that Recognition Source is “conservative” in its promises about the range of the wireless frequency. “They say 200 feet. We've gone 900 feet with line-of-sight and had it work,” he says.

A Home for Wyreless

With the tests complete, installation of the Wyreless system commenced — without the aid of an outside security consultant. Chamberlin and Shawn Kretchmar, UNH's manager of electronic communication, had been cross-trained to install and support access control products several years ago, and Nelson encouraged Recognition Source to accredit the pair to work with Wyreless products. After the reader lock hardware was installed by a construction subcontractor, Northeast Interior, Chamberlin and Kretchmar completed the wiring from the panel interface modules to the C-Cure system.

“Let it be known Bruce and Shawn will be responsible for maintenance and support from now on,” Nelson says. “UNH is really a self-contained entity as far as supporting the wireless and access control.”

The process was completed on schedule, with only minor hitches, Conk says. A Recognition Source technician visited the hall to handle configuration updates in the firmware; and several units that malfunctioned initially were returned and repaired. Students made Mills Hall their new home in November 2002. The system is so seamlessly integrated, however, those students might not notice the difference, Conk says. “They just know that they use their cards to enter their suites, just like they've always used their cards on exterior doors.”

For the UNH housing staff, the wireless advantages are apparent. Changes to students' access designation can be changed centrally; and the doors can be unlocked on a time schedule for special events. Even worries such as battery failure are mitigated; once the low battery indicator signals, the lock will continue operating for 2,000 reads.

Five months after the installation, however, Conk isn't sold on wireless as a universal answer. “I am still not sure the wireless system is the solution for everything,” he says. “I think there is a value to having a hardwired system for the few exterior doors that we have in Mills Hall I think if you look at people's ability to track down frequencies — it's not a very easy thing to do, but there is a possibility that you might get some engineering students who might attempt to play around with it. In a hardwired system, they would have to go into the ceiling and find the components in order to tap into the system.”

Wireless may not be economical or practical if used to replace locks and keys on a large number of doors, but could be the best solution for adding card access to smaller numbers of doors, Conk says. “We will never, at least as long as I am around, recommend putting a wireless lock on every bedroom door,” he says. “The standard that we have using keys and locks is the appropriate standard for the bedroom door. I do think wireless serves the purpose in areas such as the suite or apartment entrances. And we are adding card access in other locations on campus and would certainly consider it in those situations to avoid the pulling of new wire.”

For The Record

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Corrina Stellitano is a Fairhope, Ala.-based writer and regular contributor to Access Control & Security Systems.

ABOUT THE COMPANY

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

Dorado	16
Electronic Technologies Corp.	17
Northeast Interior	18
Recognition Source	19
Software House	20

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