SPECIAL FOCUS: WIRELESS
ACCESS CONTROL & IDENTITY
By Karen Keating
Got a Problem?
Schools provide topical lessons on the value of wireless
T
here are many reasons to leverage wireless access control for your next project. The following university scenarios
provide some innovative ideas.
Wireless locks are a natural fit for networked
access control systems and they also make the
most sense for replacement and expansion.
There is an immense cost savings in both labor
and time when you install wireless systems. For
on-campus security personnel, wireless locking
systems also provide an opportunity to solve
problems—widespread, sprawling facilities;
thick walls; new flexibilities; innovative designs;
portability and lockdown considerations—that
might once have been impossible or impractical
to specify with a hardwired system.
In many cases, cost alone is reason enough
to promote wireless access control. For William
Conk, housing manager for the University of
New Hampshire, the decision to go wireless
was quite simple. He looked at the econom36
ics. Conk figures he saves over $50,000 on a
40-door installation versus a wired alternative.
That's one reason why he now looks at wireless on every project.
One state over, wireless is used for a completely different reason. The uptown campus of
the University of Albany is said to be the second
largest concrete structure in the United States,
after the Pentagon. When the university sought
to upgrade and expand its magnetic stripe-based
locking system, its thick concrete walls made it
cost prohibitive to hardwire the campus after the
fact. After investigating many options, the university ultimately chose to go the wireless route.
That's because wireless access control doesn't
need line of sight. As a result, signals are able to
penetrate concrete or cinder block walls, plasterboard walls, brick walls and many other nonmetallic materials for simplified system designs
and specifications. Wireless systems also work on
wood and metal doors, both exterior and interior,
www.SecurityInfoWatch.com | SD&I; | January 2013