Upgrade Access Status
Georgia airport replaces proprietary system with open solutions
- By Kim Rahfaldt
- Oct 01, 2019
Valdosta Regional Airport in
Valdosta, Georgia offers three
daily commercial flights to and
from Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson
International Airport, along with general
aviation. The airport contains three runways,
two of which are used by commercial aircraft.
The airport offers ground transportation,
free parking, a Subway restaurant and
many other services, such as hanger space
and flight training, to name a few.
Previously, Valdosta Regional Airport
operated a legacy access control system. The
proprietary system, including the readers,
panels and software, was outdated, making it
difficult and expensive to obtain replacement
parts. Looking for an open solution, Valdosta
Regional Airport turned to Allcom Global
Services for their expertise and upgraded to
AMAG Technology’s Symmetry SR Retrofit
Access Control system with HID readers.
“Symmetry integrates into various video,
intrusion and building automation systems,”
said Kevin Cioffi, the vice president of business
development in the physical security
division of Allcom Global Services. “By
choosing an open system, Valdosta has more
freedom to research competitive pricing and
alternative options. We are thrilled they have
chosen Allcom.”
“We gutted all the circuit boards and
changed to Symmetry panels,” said Tim Register,
the operations manager and airport
security coordinator at Valdosta Regional
Airport. “We kept the antennas and how the
data was transmitted. All the mounts stayed
the same; we just swapped in Symmetry, and
it worked.”
The system controls access to the perimeter
of the airport, including the vehicle access
gates and all outside doors facing the Security
Identification Display Area (SIDA). The
SIDA includes all areas that have access to
the commercial apron and tarmac. The SIDA
also requires a reader with a PIN-plus-card
swipe to open, which make up 75 percent of
the airport’s readers.
The remaining Airport Operations Areas
(AOA), which are mostly internal doors and
the main entrance, requires only a proximity
card swipe to open. Thirty-two new HID
proximity card readers were installed in total.
To get the open system the airport required,
Valdosta Regional Airport replaced
older panels. As the system changes and expands,
integrating different technologies or
adding more readers will be easy and cost
efficient.
The security operators found the Symmetry
solution much easier to learn and
use, saving money and hours in training
time. The simple job of creating a badge for
a user was cumbersome and time consuming
with their old system. Badges are now
created on demand and onsite, with no hassle
or extra charge.
“This Symmetry solution provided us a
more economical approach to facilitate the
same thing we used to do with a more expensive
proprietary system,” Register said.
Airport authority employees, TSA, airline
employees, fixed based operators, life flight
helicopter and fixed wing aircraft are all protected
by Symmetry. In addition to the perimeter,
the solution controls access to all work
areas within the airport and to the hangers
located inside the perimeter fence.
This article originally appeared in the October 2019 issue of Security Today.
About the Author
Kim Rahfaldt is Director of Media Relations at AMAG Technology, Inc., based in Torrance, Calif.