To ensure the security and safety of students, faculty, staff and visitors, physical security systems play a key role and are much needed by higher education institutions. This note takes a closer look.
Higher education is an important part in one’s education journey. To ensure the security and safety of students, faculty, staff and visitors, physical security systems play a key role and are much needed by higher education institutions. This note takes a closer look, based on a webinar held in June by Virtual Security Showcase.
Video and analytics
Needless to say, video and analytics are central to colleges and universities’ security. Hundreds if not thousands of cameras are deployed throughout a campus for various tasks, including entrance/exit management, vehicle entrance/exit management, perimeter protection and general surveillance.
AI is also increasingly used to make operators’ job more efficient. An effective video management system that integrates various types of AI, then, is key. AxxonSoft has much to offer in this regard.
“Axxon One offers a wide variety of AI analytics well-suited to perform this task. One of these is perimeter detection. Intruders can be detected early on using human detection analytics. Active shooter events can also be prevented using this particular detection,” said David Trujillo, Sales Engineer for U.S. at AxxonSoft.
Access control
Access control is also needed by colleges/universities for security as well as operational efficiency. Karen Evans, President and CEO of Sielox, points out an effective access control system can effectively address three common pain points facing universities/colleges: database management, where various data including admissions, HR and access control can be well managed; door status monitoring, where a door status switch can provide critical information and instant alerts; and utility monitoring, where monitoring other systems such as power distribution, temperature and water level can be achieved.
“Use your access control system not only to monitor and management your access control doors, but use it to manage all your event exceptions, your event management, your alarms. Be proactive, and save time as well as money, using your access control system to reduce your pain points,” Evans said.
Identity management
Closely related to access control is the concept of physical identity and access management (PIAM), which can help colleges/universities manage the hybrid campus workplace, optimize campus use processes and remove delays and bottlenecks.
It’s important to point out a good PIAM solution should cover the user’s entire identity journey, not just a part of it. “The goal is to utilize data and automation to make for an amazing experience for students, faculty and staff, and that’s from the day I’m getting ready to get on campus for my first day as freshman to my last day graduating and moving on off campus,” said Kyle Elliott, VP of Sales at Vector Flow.
Key control
Key control, meanwhile, is another important aspect in higher education access control. It’s common for a medium-sized higher education facility to have over 50,000 doors and over 500,000 keys, spread over different departments, health facilities, dorms and athletic facilities. Effective key control is therefore needed to ensure keys can be properly located and used by students, operators, and more importantly, first responders should something happen.
“Key control ensures deployment of keys based on permission, limits permissions based on shifts, time and job function. And it provides a complete audit trail of keys. Key control equals security, safety and accountability,” said Tim Purpura, VP of Global Sales and Market Morse at Watchmans.
Power supply
It's important to point out that while video surveillance and access control devices are critical in keeping campuses safe, how they get their power in the most effective and space-saving way is also key. In this regard, Altronix has the Trove Series solution combining power distribution with controllers from leading access brands. For areas where power supply is not readily available, Altronix also has the solution.
“With the Altronix NetWay Spectrum hardened PoE switches, you can utilize fiber for long distance applications. The all-in-one power supply with battery charger, PoE switch with SFP powers and outdoor-rated enclosure will allow you to deploy it anywhere, whether you have local power or not,” said Ronnie Pennington, Director for the Americas at Altronix.
Cybersecurity
Meanwhile, aside from physical security, the cybersecurity of security devices deployed throughout college campuses is also critical. This is especially true in the age of IoT, where university security teams have to deal with not just security equipment like cameras and access control readers but also intercoms, visitor kiosks and other connected devices, which are all targets for attacks in the forms of ransomware, DDoS and others. Protecting higher education institutes with “cyber hygiene” and service assurance, then, is crucial.
“There are three key things that service assurance provides a physical security team: Eliminating missing video evidence, continuous monitoring and diagnostics, and enabling remote alerting and problem resolution. Cyber hygiene deals with camera firmware updating, password management and certificate deployment,” said John Gallagher, VP of Viakoo Labs. “By deploying automation around cyber hygiene and service assurance you gain a lot of benefits such as cost reduction and compliance.”