Streamlining Security
Campuses react for enhanced visibility and faster emergency response
- By Dave Fowler
- May 02, 2011
With increasing concern for employee safety,
and for data and asset theft, organizations
recognize the need to develop a more
comprehensive approach to protecting and
managing their resources -- equipment, inventory,
buildings, data and people. Although
a simple concept, the reality of securing an
organization is quite complex. With hundreds,
if not thousands, of video devices, motion
detectors, fire alarms and access control
systems deployed today, often across an
organization’s multiple campuses and facilities,
obtaining a complete view of a potential
physical security incident, coordinating staff
(both inside the organization and with first
responders) and reacting in real time are extremely
difficult.
Additionally, situation responses can be inconsistent,
and information about them is difficult
to gather for analysis, compliance tracking
and further investigative requirements. The
consequences of these inconsistencies can be
substantial, including financial damage, loss of
assets and even the loss of life.
In emergencies, time is critical. Ineffective
or limited communication with first responders
can be the difference between safety and
disaster, life and death. To ensure a quick and
safe response, whether at a company or on a
college campus, responders need more access
to what is happening at the scene before
they arrive. For organizations with multiple
buildings and even multiple campuses,
this complete visibility, and a consistent security
strategy, is vital to ensuring the safest,
most effective emergency response.
Having a streamlined security plan across
the entire organization that considers the
company’s overall risks enables the standardization
and automation of emergency response
and allows operators to track trends
in security breaches to better prepare for and
prevent future situations. But developing an
organization-wide security network for organizations
with multiple campuses is easier
said than done, and obtaining and sharing
situation information to determine the right
course of action in mere seconds can be
overwhelming.
What Technology is Helping?
Organizations today need a solution that
translates the data from any number of
physical security devices and systems into
relevant information that assists in detecting,
analyzing, diagnosing and resolving situations.
A number of global organizations are
now using state-of-the-art technology to do
this for all of their campuses and facilities,
on a single security platform. The software,
called physical security information management
(PSIM), provides a platform and applications
that collect and correlate events
from existing disparate security devices and
information systems -- video, access control,
CAD, sensors, analytics, networks and building
systems -- across multiple agencies and
campuses to identify true situations and then
provide staff with the information and tools
needed to resolve them.
PSIM provides a complete situational
awareness and management solution to manage
any security or emergency situation in real
time efficiently and effectively. It enables organizations
to get the right information to the right people at the right time while leveraging
existing infrastructure investments. For command
center operators, PSIM software eliminates
the need to manually review and correlate
data from multiple systems, including
video, thereby saving time and resources --
which translates to cost savings.
A complete PSIM software system has
five key capabilities:
1. Collection. Device management-independent
software collects data from any number
of disparate security devices or systems.
2. Analysis. The system analyzes and correlates
the data, events and alarms to identify
the real situations and their priority.
3. Verification. PSIM software presents the
relevant situation information in a quick
and easily digestible format for an operator
to verify the situation.
4. Resolution. The system provides standard
operating procedures, step-by-step
instructions based on best practices and
an organization’s policies, and tools to resolve
the situation.
5. Reporting. The PSIM software tracks all
information and steps for compliance reporting,
training and, potentially, in-depth
investigative analysis.
A Platform with a View
Many organizations have facilities in multiple
locations, some spanning different countries,
and it can be a challenge to manage security
and enforce a consistent application of
corporate security procedures and policies at
each location. Especially with the acquisition
of new corporate property, it’s critical to find
a solution that can combine resources and
leverage the existing security infrastructure.
With a single cross-campus security network,
an organization can quickly and cost-effectively
join security operations; they can seamlessly
work together without having to replace
existing systems and security devices.
A Fortune 100 technology company, with
more than 50 buildings around the globe,
recently built a global security operations
center to monitor all security issues including
Intellectual Property protection, personal
property theft, fire and medical emergencies,
access control maintenance and personal
assaults. For this company, it was important
to have one central view of events occurring
across the company at a given time.
The company decided on a “follow the
sun approach” in which the local security
staff would monitor their facilities during
normal business hours, and in the evening
the global operations center would take over
the management of the local center, including
security devices such as cameras and
access control systems. In the event of a
security breach after hours, the company’s
global operations center has immediate access
to all of the campus’ security systems
and devices. In addition, because the whole
system is browser-based, local security staff
can be notified, and they can access the system
on a mobile device to assist in resolving
the situation.
With the PSIM software, this firm can
monitor all security and safety issues with
one platform. Operators no longer have to
manually review and correlate data from
multiple disparate systems but instead have
one common operating picture. The ultimate
result is quicker identification and resolution
of potential situations, minimized theft and
reduced operational costs through more efficient
practices. Additionally, the organization
can respond to a greater number of incidents
with the same staff, which is particularly important
given its global growth. The result:
lower costs, better service and lower risk.
The University of Delaware
School shootings, campus violence and educational
theft are a reality of today’s world.
Learning institutions are committed to creating
a safe living, learning and working environment
for students, faculty and staff, but
the success of this objective is dependent
on effective collaboration and communication
between public safety personnel, emergency
responders and the community. In order
for a school to obtain a complete view of its
campus, it’s important that existing security
systems and devices across all buildings and
facilities are tied together for a campuswide
security network. As new buildings are acquired
or constructed, their technologies --
even existing, legacy systems -- are integrated
into the security network for added visibility.
The University of Delaware strives to keep
its 20,500 students and more than 3,500
staff members safe no matter where they
are on the campus, no matter what time of
day it is. Crime on the campus and people
who are not registered students coming onto
the campus are also of utmost concern. To
tackle these security challenges, the school
invested in a campuswide PSIM solution to
promote a safe and healthy learning environment
by significantly enhancing the visibility
of campus incidents.
The PSIM solution delivers interoperability
and collaboration needed to give the campus
and public safety staff -- the local police
department -- working access to intuitive,
real-time video information for faster and
better outcomes to campus incidents and
crime deterrence. The system offers video
surveillance in high-traffic campus areas,
with coverage expanding to student housing
located on the fringes of UD’s campus, where
it is often difficult to provide a continuous security
presence and crime deterrence.
The university’s system is designed to
incorporate campuswide video surveillance
with its overall security management. The resulting
campuswide command-and-control
center addresses the university’s need for a
comprehensive solution that helps improve
situational awareness, tactical response and
incident management capabilities. After having
the software for just a few weeks, the
system identified a potential armed robbery
on the campus. A camera captured an image
of the license plate, and video surveillance of
the situation was immediately reviewed. The
five suspects and their vehicle was identified.
As a direct result of the PSIM software, four
of the five suspects were charged, and the
video evidence was used during the prosecution
phase of the investigation.
Having a Complete View
Whether at a global enterprise or an academic
institution, it’s important that security
operators have a complete picture of what’s
going on across their organization. Several
unique sets of security devices, security personnel,
and emergency response guidelines
usually exist for an organization with multiple
facilities and campuses, rather than a single,
cohesive security solution. With PSIM tying
all of these disparate technologies and information
together, automating responses and
automatically tracking and reporting emergency
details, organizations can operate in a
more holistic manner, increasing safety and
security and lowering operational costs.
This article originally appeared in the issue of .