Professional Services in the Thick of a Conversion to DNA Fusion

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If you have ever wondered when is a good time to call the Professional Services team at Open Options, consider the scenario one customer had: Conversion from a Vanderbilt Control System to DNA Fusion. Change out controllers to talk to the existing system’s sub-controllers. No experience with Vanderbilt hardware or Mercury hardware. Only scattered reports to work from, rather than a full copy of the database. Deadline to complete the conversion was in one week. It was time to call Open Options Professional Services for onsite help.

“We needed to convert the existing system database into a DNA Fusion database, but all we had to work from were scattered reports from the old access control software,” said John Hubbard, National Sales Engineer, Open Options. “Our Professional Services team was able to take the information from the reports and build a workable DNA Fusion database that we were able to use to make converting the hardware much faster and easier.” 

Once the database was done, the Professional Services representative had to go to the customer’s site and help convert the hardware over to use in DNA Fusion. He worked with the dealer onsite through changing the controllers and bringing them online in DNA Fusion. Together, the dealer and the Open Options Professional Services specialist converted the hardware for several buildings.

After getting all the doors online and working in DNA Fusion within the week, Open Options still had to work with the dealer and the end-user over the next few weeks to tweak all the lockdowns, access levels, buttons to open doors, and any other tweaks to the software the organization required so they could get back to business as usual.

“Because of our onsite support, the customer was able to overcome several hardware-related issues in much less time that if they had to work with someone over the phone,” added Hubbard. “The dealer let me know that if Open Options had not been there during the cutover, they would not have met the deadline to get the hardware and software online and working within the one week timeframe they had. At the end of the day, Professional Services was there in the thick of things.”

Access Control in the COVID-19 Age: Changes You Weren’t Expecting. Here’s How to Navigate

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By Chuck O’Leary, President of Open Options

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the security industry has changed dramatically in just a few short months. Integrators and security directors are faced with new challenges since the coronavirus has hit which requires them to think beyond just physical access security. They are beginning to break new ground by incorporating medical safety technologies into existing security systems. 

Protecting people’s physical safety and health is the highest priority going forward. How do we reopen businesses while helping to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus? What is the “new normal” and how do we implement it into everyday best practices?

The purpose of this article is to provide guidance in navigating through new expectations and to provide thoughtful insights and helpful advice on how to deal with the changes that are shaping a new normal for access control.

As the world prepares to normalize again, and companies of all sizes and all industries are able to reopen their doors to the public, organizations need to be ready for a shift in what will be expected as acceptable when it comes to safety and security. Health and hygiene, as you would expect in the age of COVID-19, are of prime importance.

How can you best prepare? How do we continue to secure the physical safety of people while incorporating new medical safety requirements, and still maintain strong cybersecurity rules?

1. Learning from Each Other

2. New Collaboration of Technologies & Requirements

3. Setting the Right Expectations

4. Frictionless is in Question

5. Changing Perceptions of the Door Reader

6. The Mask of Cybersecurity

7. The Role of an Open Platform

Rethinking access control is not a luxury in the age of COVID-19. It’s a necessity. Open Options is here to help bridge the gaps and bring all the pieces together. We believe the access control industry can come out of this pandemic stronger than ever.

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Training Was Never Like This

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As the COVID-19 pandemic continues and our customers look for ways to reopen their facilities safely Open Options training sessions have looked at a variety of new challenges and solutions. The ongoing training events, both online and in-person, have seen questions shift from normal installation and operating questions to the integration of medical devices, sanitization of facilities and mask requirement solutions. The Open Options training team shares snapshots of real-world, “new normal” scenarios and practical advice that have come out of these training sessions in this article.  

A recent Regional Essentials training class held by Open Options in Seattle (with appropriate social distancing and health protocols) highlighted a variety of options to meet the various needs of the customer. In one example, personnel are not allowed to enter an area of the building until the sanitization crew has thoroughly cleaned and sanitized that area. The class came up with the option to disable the general personnel time schedules until the sanitization lead had presented their badge at a specific reader. This would activate the time schedules associated with the organization’s other employees and permitted them to enter the area. The resolution required some additional programming in the DNA Fusion system but provided the customer with the peace of mind that their employees were accessing clean, sanitized areas.

One customer needed to suspend all personnel access to their facilities, except for critical staff. The solution came in the form of configuring the Override feature on doors and flagging the staff‘s card that required access to the buildings. Once the doors were placed in the Locked mode, only personnel with designated cards could obtain access to the facilities. This solution saved the customer numerous hours of cardholder configuration to limit access to the numerous buildings on campus.

The Open Options class also discussed the new integrated options from Splan (cloud-based visitor management software) to Wavelynx (card and reader solutions), as the Open Options training team looked for various options to accommodate the touchless access that so many customers are requesting.

“We implemented a number of these scenarios in class so that the students could plan out the solutions and configure their demo system to accomplish the task,” said Sherinda Barrow, Director of Education Services for Open Options. “The class enjoyed looking at the many options they could utilize to satisfy their customers’ needs.”

In another example, the customer needed to verify that all employees, contractors, and visitors had a mask on before entering the facility. They had posted a security employee at the entrance to temporarily unlock the door if the person was in compliance with the mandate. The challenge was determining the individuals that had access to the site from the visitors who did not have open access to the building. After some discussion, the resolution came in the form of a simple red and green LED that would notify the security staff of the person’s access. Once the cardholder presented their badge, the LED would turn green to signify the valid access request. If the LED turned red, the door was not released until confirmation of their visit had been established. This required some additional wiring however it was a quick solution for a real world issue.

Each of these unique scenarios demanded a different solution to accommodate the customers’ requirements during this critical time. One student remarked, “The Open Options platform is so robust I can meet my customer’s needs through the application.” The Open Options training team is committed to formatting the training classes to meet the audience's needs, even if that means stretching the class syllabus to accommodate all the topics.

If you would like to schedule a training session that focuses on your needs, please contact the Open Options training team.

Open Options’ Tech Support Team is Always Ready to “Engage”

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A customer wanted to use one of Open Options newer integrations of the Engage IP doors but soon “hit a wall” when they were unable to add any additional gateways beyond 255. The fact that this is a common hard stop in technology didn’t make the customer feel better, as the project came to a complete halt. The customer picked up the phone and called Tech Support at Open Options. The flexibility and the streamlined response of Open Options made the difference.

After verifying the issue, Support Technician Jose Charco was able to get this issue over to the Development team, which created a fix that was quickly sent out to the dealer to implement on the customer site. The project was back in action. However, soon afterward, the installation hit another wall at 316 Engage gateways. The dealer called Open Options Tech Support again.

The Development team identified the new issue and again quickly released an updated driver to handle the higher gateway requirement. Yet, once the dealer had all the Engage gateways added, the dealer hit yet another issue: not being able to link all the doors in DNA Fusion. In response, the Tech Support team at Open Options took charge to solve the issue once and for all.

“Our Support team and Dev team were already concentrated on this site, so we quickly attacked the issue, as the whole team focused on getting them a resolution,” said Nicholas Robran, Vice President, Customer Support at Open Options. “This one took a bit longer to resolve, but it was eventually discovered that there was an issue with specific gateway models. Once Dev found that problem, we once again got out an additional updated driver to solve it.” 

Tech Support verified that they were able to add all the Engage gateways and link all the corresponding doors. The dealer was able to complete the project and get all the Engage Gateways online and the doors linked properly. The site was fully operational with the Engage IP Solution.

A key to the successful resolution for the customer was the excellent communication between the Support team and the Development team within Open Options – the same level of service that every customer receives from the maker of DNA Fusion. The final resolution in this case involved a few driver updates to handle the increased capacity on that feature. To ensure resolution, Tech Support followed up with the dealer multiple times after the last driver update was put in place. Once again, Open Options provided access that connects.

Training on How to Combine Access Control and Health Checks for the COVID-19 Era

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Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies are instituting a new policy requiring that all employees, contractors, and visitors pass through a temperature checkpoint prior to granting them access into a building.  Training on how to link access control with medical technology, such as thermal scanners to take people’s temperature, is available from Open Options.

Adapting access control to protect people’s health is a novel challenge for security and IT personnel who manage access to buildings and campuses. Each health check needs to be directly linked to the access control system to activate the right card at the right time for the right person who does not have COVID-19 symptoms, such as a fever.

For integrators and end-users who need training on how to design and manage this type of new set-up, Open Options’ Training department is now offering custom training sessions specifically to help customers adapt to coronavirus-related public health measures. Open Options provides best practices, insights, tips, and lessons learned.

At a recent Regional training class in Denver, CO, there were several discussions and scenarios centered around reopening schools and office buildings during this unprecedented time. Granting access to individuals that have successfully passed thermal scanners and temperature checks as well as wearing a mask, while denying access to those that fail to meet criteria were some of the main topics.  Several solutions including utilizing existing hardware and integrating new technologies such as medical devices with DNA Fusion were also discussed. The class was very interested in ways to secure the building while providing solutions to keep their customer’s healthy.

“Because the web-based trainings Open Options offers can often be broken into two sessions, we are able to make one of the sessions a situation based training, and we go through the numerous possibilities regarding various trigger and macro combinations that could be used for a temperature checkpoint, among other things,” said Brittany Tate, Technical Trainer at Open Options. “DNA Fusion is able to accommodate the changing needs of customers, given the major adjustments that are needed in order to open safely back up in a COVID-19 world.”

The training department recently conducted a training session on new coronavirus-related protocols for accessing a building, such as conducting a temperature check and verifying that the person is wearing a mask. After the session, one customer provided positive feedback about how the training enabled him to immediately implement what he had learned, boosting his confidence that the organization would be ready to re-open and follow appropriate guidelines to protect people’s health within buildings.

“The participant was so impressed that they added email notifications to inform managers when their employees didn't pass a temperature checkpoint, so they could follow up promptly,” added Tate. “The checkpoints were properly in place via DNA Fusion. The ease of the application and the fact that they had so many options regarding card-holders were huge high points. The customer also reported that the knowledge he got from the Open Options training was passed down to managers so that they could customize their stations using buttons to make DNA Fusion work at its best for them, too.” 

Contact the Training department at Open Options to inquire about the specialized training on COVID-19 and access control. We’ll get through this together.