Commercial Integrator + Security Sales Nov/Dec 2023 - 84

SSI AWARDS: SECURITY SOLUTIONS
" We all know that security- and safetyrelated
deployments are often a matter of
life and death, which means the stakes for
those in our industry couldn't be higher, "
Dan Ferrisi, group editor, commercial and
security, Emerald, says.
" SSI founded the Security Solutions
Awards to give industry stakeholders objective
guidance on the products they can lean
on to serve customer needs and the broader
imperative to bring about a safer, more
secure world, " Ferrisi adds. " I commend
each and every award winner for showcasing
not only exceptional technology but
also real-world-tested project solutions. "
An Experienced, Trusted Panel
Our panel of experienced securityindustry
professionals judged each entrant
based on the technical merits and ease of
installation of the product or technology
solution, in addition to its ability to help
installing security contractors meet project
bid, specification or design parameters;
satisfy regulatory, compliance or code
requirements; and deliver the highest level
of system capabilities, features, functionality,
user-friendliness, results and client satisfaction
across the full range of general,
niche and vertical-market applications.
All submitted project applications had
to be installed or deployed within the
past 18 months to be considered for this
awards program.
So, if you're losing sleep over a business
that's a little too welcoming to " customers "
who come when the shop is supposed
to be closed, or if you're looking for a way
to ensure that your company's employees
are as safe as they can possibly be from
unwanted visitors, we invite you to check
out the 2023 Security Solutions Awards
winners. This is a perfect opportunity to
learn from them.
If you didn't make this year's list of
honorees, we welcome you to try again
next year. Here's hoping your solution
will be one that customers will be raving
about and that our judges will be excited
to vote for!
Editor's Note: These write-ups of the 2023
Security Solutions Awards winners are edited
versions of the winners' submitted descriptions
that our panel of judges evaluated.
ACCESS CONTROL
CellGate Eliminates Access-Control
Problems at Vanguard Crossing
The Vanguard Crossing Apartments in St. Louis, Mo., are a 202-unit, Class A-rated
apartment community with 250 to 290 residents. There are two resident four-story
buildings at Vanguard Crossing - one " B " -shaped (Building 1) and the other " L " shaped
(Building 2), with a four-story parking garage in between them.
Building residents park on the same floor of the parking garage that their
apartment is located on. Then, they walk directly from the parking garage floor to the
floor of their apartment. A shared indoor hallway in each of the two resident buildings
leads to residents' front doors.
In the summer of 2022,
the access-control system
in use at Vanguard Crossing
was a self-contained keypad
with strike lock that was
utilized at eight groundlevel
building entrances,
two gates at the community
fenced pool and 12 residentbuilding
entrances from the
parking garage.
None of the 22 entrances
was connected to a central
access-control system for
the assignment of unique credentials per resident and/or for centralized monitoring,
which the client wanted. This meant that one primary code was utilized for all
residents, and that code was regularly shared with non-residents.
In addition, because each entry was not wired to a centralized access-control box,
property management had no historical records/logs that would detail activity at
each entrance, nor by whom. This was also something they wanted.
There was no telephone entry or visitor-management system being utilized at the
property at the time. If a visitor came to see a resident, the resident either (a) had to
provide the shared code to the visitor in advance so they could gain access to the
apartment buildings by entering the code at one of the secure doors or (b) contact
the resident upon arrival via cell phone or text message so that the resident could
then retrieve the guest at the entrance where they were waiting.
A CellGate OmniPoint wireless access-control system was recommended for all
but two entry points. The two entrances not being secured with OmniPoint would
now be utilized as the two new property-visitor entry points. Two Watchman WXL
visitor-management access-control systems, also from CellGate, would be installed
for those.
The equipment included one Cellular OmniPoint Gateway mounted on an elevator
" doghouse " in the parking garage; 20 OmniPoint Entry Point Modules (EPMs), one
at each entry point, including parking garage doors, ground-level entry doors and
pool gates; and dual keypad/readers attached to the EPMs to be used with key fob
credentials.
The entrances already had power and strike locks. Thus, installation of the
OmniPoint system was extremely simple and cost-effective. OmniPoint utilizes
LoRa technology to communicate from a Gateway to each EPM. LoRa transmissions
can penetrate glass, metal and concrete, which is one of its key differentiators as
compared to other wireless data-transmission options.
84 Commercial Integrator+Security Sales & Integration | Nov/Dec 2023
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Commercial Integrator + Security Sales Nov/Dec 2023

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