Page 94 - Security Today, April 2018

CLOUD ACCESS
then just deal with those instead of walking around the entire campus,” Rutledge said. “It has really simplified their end-of-day routine.”
CONVENIENCE IS THE KEY
It’s not just the administrators who appreciate the new system. So do the teachers. “They love not having to fumble for their keys. For them, the level of convenience has gone way up,” Rutledge said.
The system is also beneficial to the larger community, which some- times uses the school’s facilities during evenings or weekends for spe- cial events. Administrators can provide a temporary fob to whoever might need to access buildings and the fob will only work for the des- ignated time. Afterward, Rutledge or the school principals can check their phone app to make sure that all the doors have been locked up and that everything is secure.
The system has simplified other processes as well. For example, some doors now automatically unlock at 7 a.m., allowing early arriving students to enter and proceed to the cafeteria, where there is supervi- sion until school starts.
In an emergency, such as an active shooter, the administrator can use the phone app to lock down doors throughout the entire campus. Or unlock all the doors, in cases such as a fire.
“That’s a huge safety feature for us,” Rutledge said. “Our campus is located just off the interstate, so people are passing by here all the time. It’s very important for us to have that capability.”
AN EYE ON THE FUTURE
The installation of a wireless, cloud-based access control system at Riv- erview School District has been a game changer not only for the dis- trict itself, but for Blue Sky Technologies.
“Riverview was our first experience with this technology and, since then, we’ve already done a few more school systems with it and have many more proposed,” said Jason Harrison, security practice manager at Blue Sky. “Especially in the K-12 environment, it makes so much sense, based on the way their campuses are set up, the ease of implementation and lower cost due to no cabling. In addition, the cloud-based applica- tion is very user-friendly to set up and administer. You can pretty much program the entire system on the fly from a cell phone.”
Rutledge shares enthusiasm with Duckworth and Harrison for the system, and is equally pleased with Blue Sky’s support and guidance on the project. On the horizon, he envisions the possibility of leveraging the system to simplify non-security operations, like tracking teacher attendance. He also knows, with certainty, that as the district expands further, it will be easy and affordable to add doors to
the system, thanks to the wireless connectivity. “This has been a big step in a new direction for us, and being able to implement technology like this on
such a large scale has been truly impressive.”
Jeff Perri is the president and COO at ProdataKey.
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