Technology Goes To School

Feb 1, 2006 12:00 PM, BY ERIN SEMPLE

AT LARGE UNIVERSITIES, such as Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., security precautions are moving forward and soon will include digital video.

Cornell University students, faculty and staff carry Cornell ID cards, which act as a library pass, bus pass, meal plan and entry badge for buildings and/or rooms that they have been approved to access through a centralized software system. The card access system is used for entry into buildings, including external doors of residence halls, labs, rooms and main doors to school buildings and security areas. When they are added, each department becomes its own independent “segment” in the centralized system. Each segment has an administrator whose responsibility it is to provide any cardholders access to any of that segment's card readers that they are allowed to use. Each segment administrator has access only to his or her own segment and cannot access any other segment's readers in the central database.

Cornell University uses the B.A.S.I.S. access control system from Stanley Security Solutions, Indianapolis, as the campus card access system. The system has a centralized database server, with user connectivity through a browser and a Citrix thin client. When providing access to the server through Citrix, a segment administrator is able to log-on to the B.A.S.I.S. applications from any computer that has access to the Internet, in order make changes to access of certain cardholders. Each department's B.A.S.I.S. administrator has an individual secure login name and password to access the applications.

The university's cards are unique and formatted specifically for Cornell, in order to prevent duplication. They use a card format called Corporate 1000, which is produced by HID Corp., Irvine, Calif. The B.A.S.I.S. software also has the capability to make use of Stanley Best Access Division's offline lock products, which are standalone, battery-operated locks with card readers built in. They hold their own database information — similar to a hotel room lock. The locks are usually installed in the residence halls on suite or room doors. Once a student has registered, his or her information is automatically downloaded into the card access system through an application called Data Exchange, which is a software licensing option available in B.A.S.I.S. to enable the transfer of information from two different databases. Students are therefore able to enter their dormitories within minutes of registration. Certain wheelchair-accessible doors on campus are integrated so that once the proximity reader reads the person's card; the door automatically unlocks, and then opens via the door's electric handicap door operator. There are also several elevators on campus that use the card access system to restrict the use of the elevators to anyone unless they have the necessary access levels.

Some of the entry points use magnetic stripe readers, but most points use proximity readers. Currently, there are more than 400 readers on campus, and eventually Cornell will change all of the readers at the university to proximity readers. The proximity reader is more secure than a magnetic stripe reader because proximity cards cannot be easily duplicated, says Colin MacKenzie, a programmer in Facilities Services for Cornell University.

The readers installed at the Corson-Mudd Academic Building are connected to digital video, which responds when a card activates the reader to open the doors or when an alarm is generated when a door is “forced open” or “held open” (propped). Digital video from Lenel Systems International Inc., Rochester, N.Y., can store several weeks of video records. The option is available to each department on campus through the B.A.S.I.S. Access Control System. The central system was installed around five years ago.

“The system has brought a decrease in dependence on brass keys, an increase of organization, the ability to administer doors and events and the ability to leverage the system,” MacKenzie says. “It has allowed us to track people in labs and how long they are there in order to bill them. It is a great timesaver.”

Cornell University Card Access Administrator Brigittt Schaffner has been working with the system since it was installed. She controls the access levels for campus life buildings, including administration and residence halls. “The control that we have now over who has access, where, when and how, is much better,” she says. “Now a student's ID card will let them into their residence hall. We also use it to check on students' whereabouts when concerns for their welfare arise, which has been very beneficial.”

The campus life department is considering adding digital video cameras to the system.

“We also use the system to allow access to public spaces, such as dining halls in certain dorms, so we are able to open the main door, but not allow public access to the residential areas of the dorm,” Schaffner adds. “We also have a dorm that serves a dual function with management offices, so we are able to control access to these offices and the dorm during certain hours. We can also control access to public events, such as a blood drive.”

Stanley Security Solutions' Regional Project Manager John Cownie says the system offers the university many possibilities for expansion, open architecture and the ability to customize the applications to meet the university's needs.

In the future, the university would like to add digital video to the central system at other points, such as the police station, which will provide other departments the opportunity to see how it would function. The university is considering launching a pilot project this semester to add digital video to campus blue-light boxes from Ramtel, Johnson, R.I. Each box is connected to the university police and calls them when the button is pushed. The video would record who is contacting the police, where they are and what is happening. The video would be launched automatically at the police station to be viewed live, allowing police to respond accordingly. If this pilot project is successful, the university plans to expand the system to the other 400 blue lights on campus. The individual alarm systems throughout the university will also be tied into the access control system, which will allow the alarm event text to be displayed on the monitoring PC located in the dispatch center.

Schaffner says the Campus Life Department plans to add a new software system soon to be integrated with the card access system. The StarRez software package from StarNet Systems, Melbourne, Australia, is set to be installed for the spring lottery process, when students sign up for dorm rooms and roommates. This package will allow the students to register for rooms and agree to housing contracts online.

“Our housing lottery is a huge process, and with the new system, students can register online, causing it to be less stressful for the student and for us,” she says.

ABOUT THE COMPANIES

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

HID Corp.	40
Lenel Systems Intl. Inc.	41
Ramtel	42
Stanley Security Solutions	43
StarNet Systems	44

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