As a mutual insurance company, Employers Mutual Casualty Company (EMC) serves policyholders and independent insurance agents and prides itself on comprehensive protection, superior service and financial stability.
As a mutual insurance company, Employers Mutual Casualty Company (EMC) serves policyholders and independent insurance agents and prides itself on comprehensive protection, superior service and financial stability.
In 1995, EMC built a 20-story corporate office building in Des Moines, Iowa. EMC worked with Johnson Controls, a security systems integrator, to design, install and service their building equipment and security. At that time, they installed a Westinghouse system for access control, an IFC fire alarm system, and a building automation system.
Fifteen years later, the security system was basically the same as when it was first installed, it was in dire need of an upgrade in order to perform the functions EMC needed.
As an established leader in the insurance industry, EMC has the responsibility to have a secure access control system twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. As a standard aspect of its business, the company has files containing personal and confidential information. The office building also houses a law firm, so EMC is obliged to keep this tenant's confidential client files secure as well. To help maintain its leadership position, EMC needed to update its security with the latest technology and resources.
"Our security system was definitely the weakest link of our systems," said Scott Gooch, Control Center Supervisor at EMC. "The highest-risk system was the card access and security."
Upgrading the Westinghouse system was not an option. Support was almost extinct because Westinghouse had moved on to newer systems. In addition, Westinghouse stopped making the older system's field devices, so if EMC added any buildings, the Westinghouse system would not support it. As the Westinghouse security system became obsolete, EMC feared that it may become vulnerable to security risks.
EMC needed an access control security system that could eliminate security risks and serve the company well into the future. The company started searching for a security system that would support its whole corporate campus: six buildings, two parking lots and one parking structure in Des Moines, and an additional building in Ames, Iowa.
EMC naturally turned to their systems integrator of more than 30 years, Johnson Controls, for expertise. Johnson Controls worked with HID Global to create a solution for EMC.
"HID was a natural choice," said Troy Marshall, of Johnson Controls. "HID products have a widespread reputation throughout the industry for high quality and flexibility."
By contrast, an issue with the previous system was that only proprietary Westinghouse cards and products could be used. The interoperability of HID's products allows EMC to use a variety of card technologies and not be tied to one supplier.
And while the Westinghouse system could provide location-based authentication, it required the addition of multiple readers, one for entering and another for exiting, it was cost prohibitive to do this with the existing system.
Johnson Controls recommended solutions that would alleviate the limitations of EMC's previous system: The security management system integrated with combination cards with HID readers buildings and long-range readers for parking garages.
"The HID solution is exactly what we need," Gooch said. "It's flexible and adaptable for the future, and most importantly, provides security where the Westinghouse system was vulnerable."
To make sure the entire campus is secure at all times, the joint Johnson Controls and HID solution was installed in phases over eight weeks.
Johnson Controls installed an access control system that encompasses the entire campus. 160 of the readers have 64-bit authentication keys, and require matching keys to function. All data transmission between the card and reader is encrypted using a secure algorithm. These readers also have custom keys that provide the highest level of security, with cards and readers that are matched to individual sites or customers.
To keep the two parking structures secure, EMC went with 12 of the readers from HID. These readers combine the longer read-range of contactless technology with the power and heightened security of smart-card technology.
While the new readers were being installed, EMC simultaneously took photos and made badges for 1,800 employees. For less than four weeks, some employees had to carry both their old and new badge, but otherwise day-to-day operations were barely disrupted during the installation. The 1,800 photo badges were printed over one weekend using two printers on site and distributed to employees over the following two weeks.
These photo badge cards recommended by Johnson Controls for EMC are HID contactless smart cards. Optimized to make physical access control more robust, EMC's 32-bit photo badge cards provide high-speed, reliable communications with high data-integrity to further secure the company's campus.
With field programming, it's easy to add or subtract employees, or change their access. This way, someone in corporate security in Des Moines can program a card for someone in Ames, or anywhere else within the system. EMC also has the ability to add applications to the cards, including cashless vending, time/attendance and logical access.
The entire installation of the integrated security system was completed within eight weeks.
With the Johnson Controls access control system in place, the security of EMC staff, buildings and everything they contain has improved. All of the system's information is centralized in an environment that uses current technology.
"The significant return on our investment is the cost-avoidance strategy," Gooch said. "We wanted to proactively replace the security system rather than wait for a catastrophe."
The Johnson Controls and HID solution also integrated securely with the IT backbone already in place at EMC. Since the field network controllers are IP addressable, EMC can easily add controllers wherever the security system network expands.
"Because of this integration, lots of hours of labor are no longer necessary," Gooch said.
Employees are also seeing a benefit from this new technology, making the elevators faster. Upon entering the elevators, the photo badge is automatically read and gives secure access to the floor they need. With the old Westinghouse technology, employees had to wait for the reader to verify the cardholder and then grant employees access to a specific floor.
"It's unusual for employees to experience the benefits of a new security system," Gooch said.