Partners in Education
Florida higher education turns to complete security installation
- By Brent Doherty
- May 01, 2014
Valencia College serves 71,000 students across 60 buildings on campuses
located in Orlando, Winter Park, Kissimmee and Lake Nona,
Florida. Named the top U.S. community college in the nation in
2011, Valencia College was the first recipient of the prestigious
Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence. Valencia College
ranks first among two-year colleges in the United States for the total associate’s
degrees it awards, and has a graduation rate triple that of comparable schools.
The University of Central Florida (UCF) is the second largest public university
campus in the United States, serving more than 60,000 students and 8,000
full-time employees. The school encompasses 180 buildings across a 1,415-acre
main campus and nine regional campuses. Called a “top up-and-coming” national
university by U.S. News & World Report, a “best-value university” by The Princeton
Review and Kiplinger’s and one of the nation’s most “affordable colleges”
by Forbes, UCF offers 212 degree programs and has become an academic and
research leader in numerous fields.
Synonymous with excellence in providing higher education in central Florida
for five decades as separate institutions, Valencia College and the University of
Central Florida have worked together as a team for years to ensure that those who
earn an associate’s degree at Valencia have a seamless transition to continue on to
earn a bachelor’s degree from UCF—a program referred to as “DirectConnect to
UCF.” Student success, however, hasn’t been the only priority that Valencia College
and UCF have shared.
Seeking Systematic Access Control and Video Management
Administrators at Valencia College and UCF understood that their campuses,
along with others across the nation, faced continued and increasing threats of
violent acts and crisis situations. Each institution wanted a comprehensive and
cohesive security system that could control everyday entry and lockdown access to
doors, as well as access live and recorded video that was easy to manage and simple
to use. Their desire to provide the safest environment possible for students, staff
and property led to another strong partnership: Open Options’ access control and
Milestone Systems’ video management software (VMS).
In 2004, Valencia College initially sought a systematic access control solution
to secure 50 doors around campus, primarily data closets. It was during this
time that the forward-thinking administration began to deploy smart classrooms
with expensive resources—projectors, document readers and laptops—that aided
teaching and further engaged students in learning. Network video cameras began
to proliferate over the aging analog solution, and Valencia College sought to
deploy IP video surveillance along with access control as part of their widening
security solution to protect growing assets and enrollments.
Orlando-based system integrator Phil Lutes, president and owner of Signature
Systems of Fla., won the ensuing Valencia College security bid with a powerful
suggestion: Deploy Open Options’ DNA Fusion Access Control software along
with HID Global iCLASS readers and cards to secure doors, and Milestone Systems’
open platform XProtect VMS to manage live and recorded video. This open
platform’s ability to integrate and provide one efficient solution with a single interface
has laid the groundwork for a seamless user experience while future-proofing
to remain capable of incorporating ever-changing security technology innovations.
When UCF began planning an upgrade to their security solution—standalone,
battery-operated access control that did not provide the level of security
needed and a variety of small, analog video systems dispersed throughout multiple
campuses—Lutes and Signature Systems of Fla. again answered the request for
proposal with the same winning combination.
A Solution for Both
DNA Fusion provides a complete access control solution including door control,
visitor management and photo ID management in an open platform that
interfaces seamlessly with other systems such as video, biometrics and intercoms.
This software can be managed via a regular client, the web or Apple and Android
smartphones.
HID Global iCLASS readers and cards offer enhanced security through encryption
and mutual authentication. Both are reliable and affordable, too, making
them ideal for campuses of all sizes. Plus, the readers and cards have the versatility
to support specified capabilities, such as controlled access to buildings, with the
option to be upgraded later to allow for additional applications.
Milestone XProtect VMS is an open platform, easy-to-use yet powerful software
for controlling video surveillance. XProtect enables users to access live and
recorded video to gain real-time situational awareness and investigate incidents
while controlling PTZ cameras to investigate suspicious activity and export recordings
as evidence.
The integration of Open Options with HID Global and Milestone XProtect
allows the systems to work together to provide comprehensive security through
the value-adding combination of access control with video. Live or recorded video
can be accessed from within the DNA Fusion event manager using a camera tree
or facility maps. Users can display the XProtect multiple camera views and simultaneous
playback using built-in controls.
With Open Options DNA Fusion, HID iCLASS readers and doors, and Milestone
XProtect installed throughout both college systems, Valencia College and UCF
have an all-encompassing security solution that they can each continue to build upon.
Security Specific to
Valencia College
At Valencia College, Open Options
manages access control with 1,200 HID
iCLASS card readers across all buildings.
“Our construction standard and
remodeling standard is that every exterior
door will have electronic access,”
said Tom Lopez, assistant vice
president of safety and security risk
management. “In the building interiors,
we base access control on how it
is equipped. If it is a smart classroom
with an abundance of expensive equipment,
then access control protection is
their standard there, as well. Our instructors
are reassured by the fact that
we can secure and lockdown doors and
buildings if we have that need during a
crisis situation.”
Milestone Systems XProtect Enterprise
open platform video management
software controls 336 Axis and IQinVision
video surveillance cameras throughout
the Valencia College locations.
“When an incident occurs on our
property, it’s very easy to export video
and watermark it for timestamp and evidentiary
purposes,” Lopez said. “Our
investigations have been aided by the
use of video which has been met very
positively by our administration and
law enforcement officials.”
UCF’s Security Solution
At neighboring UCF, their door protection
began as stand-alone, battery-operated
access control that did not provide
the level of security needed for such a
large and rapidly growing institution.
The solution has now evolved into Open
Options DNA Fusion software operating
700 HID iCLASS card readers.
“UCF has been an innovator in their
approach to access control as they use
virtualization,” Lutes said. “UCF was
one of the early users of Open Options
to virtualize the software and organize
their distribution by splitting it into
‘tenants.’ Taking the concept of tenants
in one building with different people on
different floors, UCF created one database
for all cardholders and allowed
each department to manage its own users.
They accomplished this inside of a
virtual machine. Now they deploy the
clients as virtual machines so they don’t
have to install the client software at different
locations. It’s an efficient way of
running and managing the software
and users.”
“This software integrated with our
current system, and with the ability
to work with Active Directory, we can
easily populate the database as new employees
come into the system, a frequent
occurrence in higher education and with
UCF in particular,” said Bob Yankello,
UCF chief information officer.
Video management at UCF was not
standardized as they had a variety of
small, analog video systems dispersed
throughout the university. Lutes began
video surveillance management with
Milestone Systems XProtect Enterprise,
and some departments are transitioning
to XProtect Expert to take
advantage of the additional features
of centralization and edge storage. The
VMS now manages live and recorded
video from nearly 1,500 Axis, IQinVision
and Panasonic video surveillance
cameras throughout UCF—with more
being added on a regular basis.
Officials from Valencia College and
UCF agree that the powerful combination
of access control and video management
has provided a cost-effective
and efficient security solution that has
made their campuses safer. Charles
Johnson, Open Options’ southeast regional
sales manager, said that other
institutions should follow the successful
model created by Valencia College,
UCF and Signature Systems of Fla.
“Security has become a campus-wide
issue that garners input from all stakeholders,
so it’s very much a matter of
teamwork as it relates to the administration,
software developers, hardware
manufacturers and integrators,” Johnson
said. “It’s encouraging to see Valencia
College, the University of Central
Florida and Signature Systems of Florida
collaborating to replicate a successful
security integration that offers protection
for 130,000 students and hundreds
of facilities across central
Florida.”
This article originally appeared in the May 2014 issue of Security Today.