Page 10 - Campus Security & Life Safety, March/April 2020

By Jason Friedberg
Overhauling Access Control
University of Georgia has safety on its mind with transition to adaptable security system
Campus Security
When universities create a safe learning environ- ment, next-generation leaders can thrive. With an enrollment totalling over 36,000 students, the University of Georgia knows this well. This top-rated public university invests in technolo- gies that help its police department secure six campuses while remaining mostly out-of-sight. No matter the incident, officers respond quickly. This reinforces a strong sense of safety and ensures students are focused on what matters — getting good grades and enjoying campus life.
Finding a Solution to Fit Unique Requirements
Keeping hundreds of buildings secure on a 762-acre main campus and five remote campuses isn’t a simple task. It became even more difficult for UGA when an older proprietary access control system began failing. Repairs were getting costly as the solution neared the
end of its lifecycle.
In search for a new solution, UGA wanted more flexibility with
controlling doors. Many of its facilities have different requests and schedules, so each department needed to customize the system to suit their programs and building rules. They also wanted a solution that could easily integrate with many devices and systems, and scale across all campuses. The team considered many options, including Security Center, the unified security platform from Genetec Inc.
“It all started with door security, but as we went further into the selection process, we learned more about how Security Center could unify access control with video and automatic license plate recognition (ALPR) systems,” said Jeffrey Swindle, the lead access control systems administrator at UGA. “We also had the option to adapt the system to our unique environment using some very gran- ular settings.”
Security Center met all of the university’s requirements. Further-
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10 campuslifesecurity.com | MARCH/APRIL 2020