Operations and People

Non-profit organization upgrades to unified security platform to keep volunteer operations secure and efficient

• By Andrew Elvish
• May 01, 2017

God’s Love We Deliver (God’s Love) is a non-sectarian non-profit organization in New York City that cooks and home-delivers nutritious meals to people who are too sick to cook or shop for themselves. A dedicated full-time staff and over 10,000 volunteers help prepare and deliver over 1.6 million meals annually. Starting with a $5 million lead donation from fashion designer Michael Kors, and generous support from the City and other donors, the organization recently expanded its operations and rebuilt its headquarters and its security.

In the previous building, the security team relied on a digital video recorder (DVR) and a buzzer entry system to secure the premises. There was no way to secure or control internal doors or do any realtime surveillance, unless someone was sitting at a monitor connected to the DVR.

Moving forward, the God’s Love team wanted a more advanced security solution to keep track of everyone coming though the building. They were looking for intuitive IP video surveillance and access control systems that could help users to easily manage building access, and see what’s happening at a moment’s notice.

Working with a local consultant, the team at God’s Love tested six different systems, comparing costs and features.

“Ultimately, Genetec Security Center stood out as the best. It was a fully unified security solution that came highly recommended,” said Pete Tien, network administrator at God’s Love. TRITECH Communications, a local security solution provider, assisted God’s Love with the installation of Genetec Security Center with the Omnicast video surveillance and Synergis access control systems.

Simplifying Building Access for Staff and Volunteers

Today, the God’s Love team relies on the Security Center unified platform to make sure that operations are running smoothly and that people are safe. At any time, the team can view video of common areas, the new conference floor and rooftop events spaces, volunteer workspace, delivery docks and the building’s perimeter using the Omnicast system.

They use the Synergis system to secure all doors which are set on a schedule to accommodate volunteer and staff hours. This facilitates access for people such as kitchen staff and delivery drivers who need to begin their workday before everyone else at 5 a.m.

Using the Synergis system, the God’s Love team also restricts floor access from the main elevator. Only full-time staff with permission can access the office floors, while volunteers are free to come and go to their working areas.

“Because we have such a huge influx of volunteers, it’s great that we can configure the system in a way where volunteers don’t feel like they are being shuttled or restricted, but still offering security for the rest of the building,” Tien said.

When weddings or corporate events are booked into the conference floor or the rooftop venue space, the team saves time by enabling pre-planned event schedules.

“The events we host vary, so we have created templates. Once we know what’s needed, we can choose a template and tweak it for that event. It makes everything easier for the operator on duty,” Tien said.

Intuitive Platform Helps Staff Keep an Eye on Events

Having all information in one intuitive platform keeps operations fluid at God’s Love. TRITECH Communications also integrated a glass-breaking detection and intercom system to the Security Center Platform. If someone buzzes at the door, tries to force a door open or breaks glass panes on the roof terrace, the receptionist or facility staff are notified immediately.

Users can pull up video and respond from an interactive map of the building using the Plan Manager map-based interface. “The Plan Manager map interface is a really great way for us to handle alarms and manage our events. We have a lot of different levels of users using the platform, and they’ve all found it very intuitive,” Tien said.

Since implementing Security Center, there have been no major incidents at God’s Love. However, the team has retrieved high-resolution video to help local law enforcement solve cases which occurred in the neighborhood.

The organization has also praised the technical support, and Tien said that anytime he needed to speak with a support engineer, they have been very knowledgeable about the system, and the network too. “Overall, I’ve just been very impressed,” he said.

Evolving into Operational Improvements

As God’s Love continues to evolve its platform, the team is looking to improve budget management by using access control cards to track the amount of printing per department. Other system features such as the Security Center Mobile App could make monitoring even more convenient for the team.

“Genetec Security Center is a flexible platform with very granular controls that we can adapt to fit our environment. It’s made it easier for our team to secure our building, so that staff and volunteers can focus on helping the people who need us most,” concluded Tien.

Infrastructure at a Glance

TRITECH Communications installed and programmed Security Center to manage more than 55 doors equipped with HID Global iCLASS R40 readers, and 55 Axis Communications network cameras. All video and data stream over a dedicated security network to Hewlett Packard servers which provide 10TB of storage and up to 60 days of archive retention.

This article originally appeared in the May 2017 issue of Security Today.