The challenge
For more than 50 years, the Harris Center for Mental Health and IDD (formerly known as MHMRA) has served the mental health needs of Harris County. It is the largest center of its kind in Texas, serving one of the fastest-growing counties in Texas.
Security is especially key for the public health organization because it works with a large and vulnerable population of people with mental disabilities such as mental illness, substance use disorders and intellectual or developmental disabilities. In addition, roughly one-quarter of those people are children.
The security challenges are complicated by three other facts. First, The Harris Center receives thousands of visitors per month. Second, it operates multiple locations across the greater Houston area, several of which are fully occupied and operational 24/7. All of the locations were using an access system that was well past its end-of-life, not fully functional and not repairable. A potential system wide failure would have created unnecessary risk.
The solution
The Harris Center needed a unified, yet flexible solution built on state-of-the-art technology, a strong roadmap and robust support to carry it securely into the future. The Center turned to Knight Security Systems for a complete security assessment and a custom solution designed to meet its current organizational objectives, with the flexibility and scalability to address future needs. Knight and
S2 Security have worked together for over 10 years to provide many significant, long-term solutions.
It’s all backed by the comprehensive SecurePlan24, a subscription-based program with 24/7 remote monitoring and technical support, for the Center’s most sensitive areas, and complemented with robust and cost-effective SecurePlan coverage across the rest of its facilities.
Benefits
- Unified and fully integrated solution that leverages the Center’s existing security investments and IT infrastructure to control costs, yet offers plenty of scalability for future needs
- Efficient, centralized access control across all locations with an intuitive, user-friendly interface
- Improved visitor management via dedicated visitor access badges with programmed expiration times
- Customizable controls that save time and money by allowing staff to set profile and time parameters for individual locations (For example, setting time parameters to secure a specific door only after office hours, or using profiles to allow web-based access control for a specific remote gate.)
- Flexible SLAs (Service Level Agreements) providing just the right level of coverage needed at various locations, ensuring security while keeping costs affordable
- Knight’s highly responsive customer service and support
The right level of coverage for the right location
Knight worked with The Harris Center to deliver the highest level of operational security, while keeping costs under control. Knight’s solution covers all the Center’s concerns with round-the-clock monitoring via SecurePlan24, which provides 24-hour service and a four-hour response window for service calls. All other areas are covered under SecurePlan, Knight’s flagship customer service plan.