Scotland's newest international sporting facility, the Tollcross International Swimming Center in Glasgow, has installed Salto RFID electronic locks to provide a state-of-the-art access control solution as part of its overall security package.
The center has just re-opened its doors to the public after a US$20.7 million (￡13.8million) refurbishment to make it ready to host the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. The 2015 IPC World Swimming Championships have also been awarded to the venue and it is also at the heart of the city's bid to host the 2018 Youth Olympic Games.
As well as the pool improvements, Tollcross will also be a community facility. The fitness suite has been doubled in size to become one of the biggest and best equipped gyms in the city with 85 cardiovascular and strength conditioning stations, and a range of equipment is available for people with disabilities, including three hand cycles and six fixed resistance machines.
To handle security into and within the facility, Tollcross International Swimming Center has deployed a contactless RFID access control solution from Salto Systems and fitted it to a variety of internal room and storeroom doors.
David Brown from Scotdor, Salto's local partner that won the contract and carried out the installation, comments “We fitted a range of standalone battery powered RFID products from Salto'sproduct including 79 handle sets in a smart and practical stainless steel finish, 2 double sided locker units, 3 online doors and 3 electronic cylinder controlled doors.
For the online doors, we were required to install a separate network from the main system to comply with the client's requirements and the Data Protection Act not to transfer data for these doors across from the main network. This was no problem, and we were able to install and set up the controlling software for these doors completely to the client's satisfaction.”
Brown continues “The centre has been very impressed with the technical ability of the products, in particular the ability to control access via the Mifare smart ID cards. Since most access related information is kept encrypted on these cards, the locks are able to update and receive information from the cards at any time. So not only is the system easy to use, but its functionality has practically all the benefits of a fully on line access control system at the cost of a standalone system.
The ‘smart' access cards build up 'on-card' audit trails through normal use giving the centre complete control over access and enabling the movement of staff to be controlled and tracked if and as required. This enables a complete access profile of each individual to be established and updated as necessary as well as having the ability to see who accessed what door, where and when.
Cards can be programmed to allow access to specific rooms or areas within the centre for selected periods only, with the doors auto locking at pre-specified times as required. And if card security is breached due to the loss or theft of a card, it can be instantly deleted without the need or cost of rekeying or changing locks – saving the centre time and money.”