Ten-year-old Garrett Grommesh is a huge fan of secret agents, espionage movies and the FBI. So when ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition built his family a new home, commercial access control provider Matrix Systems came to the rescue with James Bond-style security equipment.
Ten-year-old Garrett Grommesh is a huge fan of secret agents, espionage movies and the FBI. So when ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition built his family a new home, commercial access control provider Matrix Systems came to the rescue with James Bond-style security equipment.
Grommesh's secret security control room, which is accessible only with a biometric fingerprint access control reader, was one of the highlights of the Jan. 2 prime-time episode viewed by millions. The room features a wall of five security monitors wired to PTZ video surveillance cameras throughout the house to help Grommesh watch over the household. Miamisburg, Ohio-based Matrix Systems donated access control equipment and installation services for the project's episode.
“Our security business is solely in commercial markets such as government, transportation, healthcare, education, commercial and industrial facilities, but we were honored to provide the Grommesh family a residential adaptation of our services,” said James Young, President, Matrix Systems.
On the TV reality show, now in its eighth season, contractors renovate and replace homes of deserving families. Typically the new or remodeled house includes a themed play area devoted to a child's hobby or passion. In Grommesh 's case, design team and costar, Paul DiMeo came up with the idea of creating the vault-like room complete with video surveillance equipment to accommodate a passion for spies and secret agents.
The hour-long episode featured the construction of the new two-story, 5,200-square-foot house built by hundreds of volunteers and vendors. The Grommesh family's previous residence, which was difficult for the wheelchair-bound Grommesh to navigate, was moved and donated to another family featured in the episode. The Grommesh family was selected partly for the on-going community efforts of their non-profit foundation, Hope, to provide mobility, recreational and educational opportunities to children with physical and cognitive challenges. The new residence is handicap accessible with an elevator, lower profile kitchen counters, a therapy pool lift and other features.
Grommesh received private instruction in how to operate the commercial security equipment from Matrix Systems' Project Manager, John Birdwell. He installed most of the equipment with Jim Russell, Matrix Systems' VP of Sales, and Kevin Kosch, Project Engineer, K.N.S. Services, a Plain City, Ohio-based video integration and card access installation company. "We treated this like all of our projects, which includes 24/7 customer support and on-site training," said Birdwell, who has managed large commercial security projects for Matrix Systems clients, such as Kodak, Rochester, New York; The State of Mississippi; and international steel producer ArcelorMittal Steel, East Chicago, Ind.
Both Grommesh's parents, Adair and Bill Grommesh, were also trained to use the equipment. They even learned about registering guest fingerprint signatures to operate the home's two stand-alone biometric readers by L-1 Identity Solutions. The play area's biometric reader also has a PIN pad, a small video monitor screen featuring Grommesh 's secret "Agent G" logo, and the ability to operate an automatic door donated by Stanley Access Technologies,. The control station has four 15-inch monitors by Dynex Products, with live video feeds from four minidome cameras by Bosch Security Systems. The cameras are stationed throughout the house. Matrix Systems and K.N.S. Services provided a Bosch video software for managing video surveillance.