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Security for Higher Education: Access Control on the College Campus

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An Open Options and Young Harris College Success Story

Young Harris College is a private, baccalaureate degree-granting college located in the beautiful mountains of North Georgia. Founded in 1886 and historically affiliated with The United Methodist Church, Young Harris College educates, inspires, and empowers students through the highest quality liberal arts education.

The college currently has more than 1,100 students across multiple divisions — Education, Fine Arts, Humanities, Mathematics and Science, and Social and Behavioral Sciences — and employs nearly 250 faculty and staff. YHC was named to the 2017-2018 list of Colleges of Distinction and listed as a "Best National Liberal Arts College" by U.S. News & World Report.

The Challenge

Young Harris College has recently completed major campus improvements to accommodate its growth. These LEED-certified improvements include the 121,000-square-foot Rollins Campus Center, new residence facilities, and a 57,000-square-foot recreation and fitness center. Hollis Townsend, Director of Technology Support & Operations for YHC, saw this expansion as the perfect opportunity to implement a state-of-the-art access control solution in the new buildings and upgrade the existing access control system in other areas of the campus.

YHC's previous access control provider posed numerous issues that threatened the overall safety and security of the campus, including licensing, annual maintenance contracts, and technical support, to name a few. "Integrations we needed were stalled because we weren't able to upgrade the software every release due to costs, and calling in a problem was never a quick process," said Townsend.

When searching for a new access control provider, Townsend cited the security of students and protection of facilities as two of the biggest challenges the new system needed to manage. "We also wanted a system that worked seamlessly with our existing Schlage locks, so Allegion provided us with about six manufacturers for consideration," said Townsend. "After review, we had three of those companies come to campus for presentations."

Guess which provider received an A+ on their presentation? 

The Solution

 In addition to their partnership with Allegion and compatibility with Schlage locks, Open Options was awarded the project because, according to Townsend, "their product had the most integration options available, and they showed they were in a position to continuously offer more."

A huge factor in the selection of Open Options as the college's access control provider was the company's extensive portfolio of technology partners and integrated solutions. In addition to integrating Schlage AD and NDE locks with DNA Fusion, YHC also deploys Milestone Systems' XProtect software for their video management needs.

The integration between DNA Fusion and XProtect enables complete control of live and recorded video from XProtect through the DNA Fusion client. DNA Fusion software manages the entire access control system, including door controllers and door hardware, users, cards, and access levels. The highly customizable DNA Fusion client is used to configure, maintain and monitor the access control system, including viewing live and recorded video integrated from XProtect software.

In addition to a well-rounded security solution, YHC has numerous efforts in place to streamline and control access, which increases students' safety on campus. Students are assigned credentials that are used to gain entry to facilities campus-wide, including residence halls, common student areas, and more. YHC also requires students to present their access badge at elevators, where the students can choose from set floors depending on their access level.

Though Townsend and his team are happy with the college's current security solution, he wants to stress this isn't the end of the road for system expansion. "Future plans include implementing emergency procedures and tying them into our existing systems to keep our students safe," said Townsend. "Open Options is the standard for our access control, and we look forward to working with them, our other product vendors, and our integrator, GC&E Systems Group, to continue upgrading our security."

Hiking, Biking, and Access Control

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An Open Options and Specialized Bicycle Components Success Story

Located just south of San Jose, California, in Morgan Hill, Specialized Bicycle Components has grown into one of the most successful bicycle manufacturers in the world. For more than 40 years, their business has operated from the ground up on a campus that includes three facilities totaling 250,000 square feet. Visitors and more than 400 employees regularly traverse the dynamic complex, which hosts a variety of unique and wonderfully eccentric facilities.

Specialized Bicycle is an American brand of bicycles and related products that has always maintained a sharp focus on providing a better biking experience for all riders. Specialized's success lies in their ability to expertly design and develop road, mountain, fitness, utility, and BMX bicycles as well as equipment and gear while working hard to protect trade secrets in this highly competitive market.

The Challenge

Upon entering the impressive lobby of Specialized headquarters, visitors can instantly access the history of this exceptional company in the Specialized museum that showcases the 40-plus year history of the brand and includes race-winning bicycles, original production pieces, and even extreme sports legend Shaun Palmer's downhill race bike. Visitors find themselves on a quiet street facing a real-life example of a storefront that was expertly recreated to illustrate how these top-of-the-line products should be showcased. With state-of-the-art facilities comes an imperative need for reliable and cutting-edge security. 

There are many challenges associated with securing Specialized, including theft protection and loss prevention, general security for employees, and protecting the company's highly confidential trade secrets, which are safeguarded at headquarters. Although they had an access control solution in place for nearly a decade, Head of Security, Alfredo Echauri, put the brakes on the previous provider and sought out a better solution. "The access control provider in place at the time required an expert level of access control user knowledge, which made it extremely difficult to use and therefore ineffective," says Echauri. 

So, Specialized Bicycle Components explored replacement options while keeping expense in mind, as they did not want to lose their initial hardware investment by converting to a new system. 

That's when they discovered Open Options.

The Solution 

Open Options provided Specialized with a complete security solution along with the added benefits of ease of use and the customer-centric nature of DNA Fusion that was exactly what Specialized was seeking. Because Specialized had Mercury Security hardware control panels installed, the conversion from their existing access control solution to DNA Fusion was seamless. The panels, readers, locks, and all other hardware infrastructure were able to stay in place while their existing database was converted to use the DNA Fusion access control software. 

The Specialized deployment consisted of access control coverage for more than 50 doors throughout the complex. The supporting hardware for the installation was the existing and new Mercury Security authentic hardware supplied by Open Options, including LP1502 intelligent door controllers, MR52 reader sub-controllers, and RP 405 HID readers.

Echauri says he was surprised at how smooth of a ride it has been from the existing system to Open Options, and is glad Specialized had invested in open architecture hardware from Mercury to help facilitate the transition.

"You don't expect to have to change access control software providers mid-ride, but we are so grateful at the options we had because we wisely chose an open platform hardware solution. As world-renowned winners in bicycle racing, we know that it takes a winning team to deliver an excellent product, and we are extremely pleased with our technology partners," says Echauri.

The Art of Security

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An Open Options and Worcester Art Museum Success Story

Located just an hour west of Boston, the Worcester Art Museum is world-renowned for its 35,000-piece collection of paintings, sculptures, photographic prints, drawings, new media, and more. Spanning more than 5,000 years of art culture, the permanent collection includes paintings by some of the most well-known names in the world of art: Monet, Gauguin, Cassatt, and Whistler. From pieces that span the ancient, like the city of Antioch, to cutting-edge contemporary art, you can find almost every genre represented. And because the collections housed in the Worcester Art Museum are priceless and irreplaceable, utilizing a comprehensive security solution is essential.

The Challenge

With more than 250 employees with varying levels of access, the Worcester Art Museum needed an easy-to-use access control solution that provided the strictest security and integrated with their existing video surveillance software management system. 

“The institution’s most valuable assets are hung on the walls in public spaces,” said Worcester Art Museum Security and Safety Manager, Michael Warren. “This presents especially difficult challenges in protecting the assets from being touched, vandalized, or stolen. Technology can assist in protecting these assets but the bulk of our effort is spent developing people that respond to customer needs as well as the security needs of the collection.”

Warren said the previous security system wasn’t cohesive and included six separate vendors to provide access control, video, and alarm coverage. The alarm system in particular experienced many problems, including multiple false alarms.  Enter Open Options.

The Solution 

At the recommendation of their trusted system integrators, the Worcester Art Museum chose Open Options’ DNA Fusion as the access control management software provider. DNA Fusion provides a unified security platform including access control, video integration, and photo ID management in an open platform and best-of-breed approach by partnering with leading systems manufacturers. With DNA Fusion, the large museum can be easily managed via a standard thick client, a web browser, or Apple and Android smartphones. “DNA Fusion is quicker and more intuitive as if it were designed by a user. The ability to customize toolbars, for example, and to have granular control over user accounts has proved to be very valuable in our operation,” said Worcester Art Museum Director of Operations Fran Pedone. 

The Worcester Art Museum security team has embraced DNA Fusion and this seamless integration with their existing video and intrusion systems. The staff reports ease-of-use as one of the key benefits of DNA Fusion, which Pedone described as very important when training new employees. “Navigating the system proved to be clear, efficient, and useful. Most controls and settings are apparent without the use of the included documentation, which itself is detailed and well-written.” A high priority for the museum was to cover the entire perimeter of the facility with multiple layers of protection including video analytics, door contacts, and motion sensor technologies," said Warren.

“Open Options has allowed our museum to integrate all three technologies, creating a user-friendly interface for monitoring and controlling the various systems.” The museum uses several security workstations distributed throughout the facility which are operated by security guards and managers.

The use of DNA Fusion will grow as the museum continues to refine its Emergency Preparation and Response Plan. The museum has a multi-year plan for expansion of access control throughout the facility and they intend to expand the system every year as more funds become available. Warren said he is confident based on their experience with Open Options and DNA Fusion that they have invested in a solid security provider.

Open Options Partners with Invixium Biometrics

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Open Options is proud to announce a strategic partnership with Invixium that will allow DNA Fusion customers to access Invixium’s biometric solutions.

The foundation of this partnership is the integration of Invixium products with DNA Fusion through Invixium’s software platform, IXM WEB. What makes this integration possible is IXM Link, allowing automatic synchronization of cardholder data between the two software databases. Synchronization of cardholder data grants Open Options customers streamlined installation, setup, and use of Invixium solutions.

In 2020, Invixium pivoted from their core fingerprint technology to focus on touchless biometric solutions aimed at healthy access, prompting their desire to partner with Open Options. The touchless Invixium solution enables organizations to follow evolving health guidelines throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond without compromising speed, accuracy, or security.

“Organizations are aggressively moving toward the idea of the consolidated, secure enterprise to reduce vulnerabilities and ensure safety, and part of this effort is integrating with emerging technologies that can advance security postures,” said Chuck O’Leary, Vice President, Americas Access Control, ACRE. “Open Options integration with Invixium is designed to offer significant value to these entities, allowing them to manage their access control requirements in an integrated fashion that’s easy to manage and is proven to reduce costs.”

Our flagship product, DNA Fusion is intended to revolutionize the access control industry by removing many of the limitations to enterprise deployment inherent in common access control applications. An open architecture platform, DNA Fusion alleviates these issues by making it more intuitive to manage personnel, set use limits, control access privileges, and more. DNA Fusion additionally empowers stakeholders to monitor several systems, including audio and IP video recording, through a common interface, giving users access to the data they need when they need it.

“Our integration with Open Options marks our thirteenth ACM integration,” said Shiraz Kapadia, CEO & President at Invixium. “Extending our ecosystem allows us to offer healthy access to a wider range of businesses. We are proud to partner with organizations with common synergies and shared values such as our mutual commitment to quality and innovation.”

The integration between IXM WEB and DNA Fusion is available for IXM WEB 2.2.65.0 or later and DNA Fusion 8.1.