The Antioch Fire Department and First Protection District protects roughly 26,000 residents in the Lake County Illinois area, and recently replaced its on-premise physical access control system at all three of its fire stations with the
Brivo OnAir and Eagle Eye Security Camera VMS solution.
Why did Antioch Fire Department seek out a cloud-based security solution?
Blue Lion Security Systems introduced the unified security solution to Antioch Fire Department for a number of reasons, including:
Increased safety
“We saw upgrading the access control system as a way to help the department be more aware of what’s happening at each station, and to keep our employees safe. This was very important to our community. After looking into different options and hearing all that cloud-based solutions could do for us, we knew we were making the right choice,” said Chris Lienhardt, Deputy Fire Chief of Antioch Fire Department.
“A feature that we find very helpful is the history tracking capability because as a volunteer fire department, different people are in and out of the station each day. At any given time our officers can look back and ensure the status of each of our vehicles after each call,” said Deputy Chief Lienhardt.
Cost savings
“Brivo offers future-proof functionality with automatic updates at a fraction of the cost of on-premise solutions,” said Deputy Chief Lienhardt. With Antioch’s on-premise solution the cameras were antiquated, unreliable and produced unclear pictures, but with Eagle Eye Security Camera VMS, administrators have a clear view of every activity at all locations.
Help reduce the risk of data loss
Another reason why cloud-based access control and video surveillance solutions were the right fit for Antioch is that it helps to reduce the risk of data loss because all information is stored off-site and cannot be damaged during adverse events.
Monitor expensive equipment
Antioch helps to manage and track what equipment is used during each emergency response using the integrated cloud-based solution. If an item is missing or damaged, Fire Department staff can quickly look back at video footage and identify where it was last used.
“Our overhead doors protect valuable equipment areas, and sometimes during emergency calls can be left open for long periods of time. Our sensitive equipment, such as our ambulances, need to be under observation at all times due to the controlled substances aboard that need to be accounted for, and handled by authorized personnel only. Before installing Brivo OnAir, our administrator assistant or station officer had to physically walk down to monitor and secure the doors. Now we are able to remotely secure doors while keeping an eye on all our equipment,” said Deputy Chief Lienhardt.
Verify volunteers’ presence to confirm attendance
Employees sometimes forget to sign into the time clock, but now with Brivo OnAir’s history tracking we can look back at the exact time an individual arrived to verify their presence. Brivo OnAir and Eagle Eye Security Camera VMS help to keep Antioch’s volunteer firefighters, equipment, and station safe at all times.