Gallagher Access Controllers

The experience of the COVID-19 pandemic has made us all more conscious of who is coming and going from our property. Whether it is a family home, business premises or public building, property owners want full control over access for protection and peace of mind. As a provider of access control technologies, we are seeing a growing demand for automated gates with a variety of access control systems. There are a number of considerations that buyers need to make when investing. And as an installer, there is advice that you can offer to help your clients make the right choice for their property. Here are some of the key considerations you’ll need to make and discuss with your client. Whomever you buy from, you should be offered more than a simple instruction manual. Electronic locks, magnetic locks and code security In the first instance, you’ll need to advise on the type of lock and access control available. Electronic locks release on the operation of the automation system to allow the gates to open. Locks are required for all non-locking (also known as reversible) operators and are recommended for any gate on a multi-user site or any gate over 2.5m. Apply the same logic to an automated gate as you would to a domestic door – for example, you wouldn’t fit your front door with a lock on the same side as the hinges or a drop bolt at the hinge end of a manual gate so why dispense with this logic when the gate is automated? Electronic locks release on the operation of the automation system to allow the gates to open There are a number of locks on the market including magnetic locks, drop locks that “shoot” a bolt into the ground and side latching locks. These are all designed for external use. While the gate itself will provide physical security, the customer will want to feel in control of who enters their property, when and for what purpose. Consider access for mail and deliveries, waste disposal and visitors arriving on foot etc. There is a range of options available. Intercom systems will allow the user to vet visitors, keypad entry can allow remote access for visitors with a specific code, remote controls allow an oncoming driver to open the gates without getting out of the vehicle, and a timer control can be used to open or close the gates at certain times of the day. Vehicle detection loops can be installed discreetly under the tarmac allowing the presence of vehicles to exit the gates and prevent closing while obstructed. Sliding gates versus swinging gates There are a number of locks on the market including magnetic locks, drop locks that “shoot” a bolt into the ground and side latching locks Gates can be automated to either swing or to slide open and in the case of swinging gates, the opener may be concealed underground or gate mounted. The most suitable opener for your installation will depend on the space available and the type of gate selected. Concealed underground automation is ideal for highly ornate gates. However, where gates are fully infilled (typical of many timber designs), gate mounted openers are concealed from the front of the gate by the gate leaf and present a cost-effective option. The choice between slide and swing is largely down to space - swing gates require a clear space for their opening arc while sliding gates require space to one or both sides of the gate. Sliding gates are perhaps the best choice where the drive slopes or when drive space is limited, as they use the least space when opening. Voltage Most swing gate and sliding systems are available in 24v or 230v. The 24v systems still need 230v mains power – there is a transformer built into the 24v control panels. Deciding which voltage to use can include a combination of factors such as the material of the gates, the location of the system and the safety features you want. Concealed underground automation is ideal for highly ornate gates With wrought iron gates, the wind can pass through them whereas with fully boarded wooden gates (popular because they give full privacy) the wind has nowhere to go, so they act like sails. For commercial or industrial applications with larger entrances and a heavy gate, you may need 3 Phase 400v power (sliding gates only). Installing gate motors in confined spaces The environment in which you are fitting may well influence which gate and motor you recommend. Will it be in an exposed area which is subject to the elements? Will it be positioned on a slope? Sliding gates are perhaps the best choice where the drive slopes or when drive space is limited Installers have always faced the challenge of installing gate motors in confined spaces. When fitting a pedestrian gate, there is often limited space in which to work – potentially making an installation time consuming and technically demanding. If this is the case for you, consider a gate operator which is designed specifically for installations with limited space for maneuver. An example of this is the E5 compact gate operator. The operator is not only small but has an optional slide lever attachment designed for installations where there is extremely limited space, meaning that just 8cm of the pillar is needed for installation. What’s more, improved fixing points and a simple ‘hook and fasten’ process means assembly is safe, quick and straight forward. Ultimately, you’ll be looking for a good quality, reliable product with good service. Work with a supplier that offers more than just a manual. If they are happy to offer training, their time and advice when you buy, the chances are you’ll get their support long term.

The unprecedented global impact of COVID-19 has taken its toll on all of us, but as cases of the virus thankfully recede, employers are now forced to confront how they can enable a safe return to work for employees. For many employers, this means they will have to carry out a COVID-19 risk assessment, redesign workspaces to maintain social distances, carry out more frequent cleaning, manage the transmission risk and find alternatives to touch-based security devices. Protecting workplace occupants in any emergency requires preparation and clear communication. This is especially critical in a health crisis involving an infectious disease. These are some of the essential best practices that could help organizations reduce the impact on their employees and operations during this pandemic. 1. Use a visitor management system With a visitor management system, organizations have a single source of real-time and historical insights into who is, or was recently, in the workplace. This is especially important because of the need to perform contact tracing should anyone in the organization show symptoms of COVID-19, meaning everyone they have been in contact with needs to be contacted and asked to isolate. Yet still, first impressions are made at the front desk or lobby, where the visitor experience needs to be a positive one. At the same time, though, any emergency event requires that there be strict control over who is entering the workplace. This policy also needs to be clearly communicated to visitors. Doing this minimizes risk to visitors as well as the workforce. In addition to delivering a high-quality visitor experience, the ideal visitor management system must: Enable organizations to meet regulatory compliance mandates and facilitate check-in at a self-service kiosk to minimize wait times. Customize the visitor experience to support specific security needs, such as accelerating and simplifying check-in or requiring additional security pre-checks. Automate compliance as it relates to visitor access rules with historical visit reports. 2. Pre-check questions at visitor registration kiosks Organizations can strengthen security at the registration kiosk using a flexible, enterprise-grade visitor management system to add visitor sign-in steps. This has proven successful in the past when used to control the spread of infectious disease during an outbreak. An example of this is a U.S. children's hospital which managed to reduce facility infection rates by 25 percent over a two-year period using a commercial, off-the-shelf physical identity and access management (PIAM) solution from HID Global. The solution provides two particularly important capabilities that can be used by organizations to protect their workplace from the uncontrolled spread of an infectious disease: Enhance visitor registration policy with additional mandatory questions to help identify any visitors who may need other screenings. Extend the visitor registration kiosk with a mandatory pop-up asking further questions during visitor check-in. 3. Understand who has visited your workplace Successful controlling the spread of infection throughout a facility requires the ability to automatically maintain an auditable trail of activity. This can be done using an enterprise-grade visitor management system that makes it easy to retrieve historical visit reports. This provides a timeline of who was in the workplace, and when they were there. Key features include: A single dashboard providing useful visitor insights at your fingertips. Historical reports that provide visitor details including location and contact information, all in compliance with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and other privacy regulations. 4. Clearly communicate how infection risks can be reduced Global organizations must actively communicate with visitors and employees on the outbreak of infectious diseases and follow best practices outlined by the World Health Organization (WHO). Here are several things organizations can do in this area to help maintain a safe and healthy workplace: Re-enforce and communicate WHO best practices with guideline posters in the front lobby and throughout the workplace. Add posters that also encourage regular and thorough washing of hands. Encourage everyone to cough or sneese into their shirt sleeve in their flexed elbow or cover their mouth and nose with a tissue. Encourage everyone to keep a relatively safe distance from each other and use alternatives to handshakes when saying hello. Organizations must contend with a variety of workplace challenges during the outbreak of an infectious disease. These challenges can be solved with best practices that include a comprehensive visitor management system that automates critical check-in policies and maintains an auditable trail of visitor activity.  

Protecting against fire and security risks is an essential aspect of life for people and across all sectors. However, there is an increasing expectation and demand on fire and security providers, in areas such as education. The securitisation of our world paired with the rapid speed of communication and news updates means that young people especially have the potential to be more aware of potential dangers and threats to their own safety and the safety of those around them. Education institutions are large and sometimes sprawling sites that present considerable fire and security challenges. From Kindergartens to Colleges Each education site brings distinct challenges, with differing facilities and specialties, as well as the need to maintain the capacity of students, teachers and lecturers to study, learn and teach at the high level expected.Each education site brings distinct challenges, with differing facilities and specialties While some schools and universities are based in urban areas with a mix of heritage and high rise buildings, others are sprawled across green open spaces. Some of these sites have specialised sporting facilities, while others may be focused on engineering or scientific study, with costly technical equipment. Kindergartens and primary schools have their own unique requirements. Parents expect the highest safety standards, while schools require safety in addition to efficient facilities management. The demographic of these institutions is predominantly young children, who are often unaware of or only just learning about fire safety and personal safety. This creates a huge vulnerability and an added onus on teachers to keep their students safe. Facial recognition at West Academy of Beijing In response to this need, Chubb China upgraded the closed-circuit television (CCTV) system for Western Academy of Beijing (WAB) focusing on elevating video content analytic features, including maximised CCTV monitoring, automatic police calling, and a smart search solution. Complementing this, a facial recognition system capable of finding the exact location of a student on campus within 30 seconds was added, aided by real-time remote gate operation. This integrated and advanced system resulted won the "High Quality Educational Technology Suppliers for School" award for the WAB project at the 2019 BEED Asia Future Oriented Construction of Universities and Schools Seminar. This award recognizes outstanding solution design and project execution. Parents expect the highest safety standards, while schools require safety in addition to efficient facilities management Awareness remains important at university As students graduate from kindergarten, primary school, junior and senior school, they become more aware of fire safety, relevant dangers and how to protect themselves. Unfortunately, external dangers remain. There are particularly high stakes for university campus facilities managers The safety of students in a university environment is also critical. It is often the first time young people live away from their family home and have the independence of adulthood. For this reason, there are particularly high stakes for university campus facilities managers. In the eventuality of a fire, students could be at great risk and, beyond the immediacy of physical harm, this can have serious ramifications for the reputation of an educational institution. Integrated solutions Integrated solutions must be nimble and adapted to a range of site types including campus residences, recreational areas, open spaces and lecture theatres. Chubb Sicli recently identified and overcame these challenges through the installation of a full suite of fire safety and security equipment and services at Webster University Geneva. Established in Switzerland in 1978, Webster University Geneva is an accredited American university campus that offers programs in English to students interested in undergraduate or graduate-level education.  Located in the Commune of Bellevue, just a few kilometres from Geneva's central station, the campus of Webster University Geneva includes five buildings in a park-style atmosphere. Full fire and security audit Chubb Sicli provided Webster’s fire extinguisher maintenance for over 25 years. This business relationship led to a full fire and security audit that identified the need for updates to the university’s security installation. The initial audit showed several improvements to the university’s security profile were needed.The challenge was to create and provide an effective and interconnected fire and security solution The challenge was to create and provide an effective and interconnected fire and security solution, enhancing the security of the student population and its ever-evolving needs. This included complete fire detection and intruder alarms for all five buildings, upgrades to existing CCTV systems, new video surveillance equipment and an automated fire extinguishing system in the kitchen areas. In addition to this integrated system solution, Webster University required access control for all main entrances, with the requirement that all documentation to be made available in English, because Webster is an American company. Customized solution Chubb Sicli’s quality, capability, and security expertise provided a customized solution for the unique educational establishment. Not only was the solution both tailored and integrated, the approach and planning were based on audit, fire extinguisher and emergency light maintenance, fire detection, intrusion detection, access control, video surveillance and Fire Detection. Through dedicated and integrated fire safety support, Chubb provides students and families peace of mind and security. From the moment a young child enters the education system, Chubb’s diligent and effective surveillance and fire safety systems work to prevent and protect, offering a new kind of ‘end-to-end’ service for education systems around the world.

There was a time when men dominated the physical security industry. On second thought, that time is today. Even with increasing numbers of women entering our community, it’s an industry that is still mostly populated by men. But change is coming, and the industry as a whole is benefiting greatly from a surge in female voices. We asked this week’s Expert Panel Roundtable: What is the changing role of women in security?

A security system upgrade at one of Australia’s most prestigious universities has seen Gallagher’s solutions installed at campuses across Melbourne. According to the University of Melbourne, Gallagher was selected for the upgrade due to their strong integration capability, commitment to supporting the university’s long-term site plan, and investment in development. Gallagher worked in partnership with the university and Gallagher Channel Partner MGA Electronic Security to roll out the upgrade in over 150 buildings across seven campuses. The partnerships were integral to the success of the rollout, ensuring the system was configured to best meet the university’s needs. System flexibility “We’re impressed with not only the flexibility of the system, but the support from Gallagher,” says Adam Leach, Security Systems Coordinator at the University of Melbourne. Project Leads from the university visited Gallagher’s head office in Hamilton, New Zealand, prior to the project beginning. The upgrade included access control for over 3,000 doors, over 177,000 cardholders, and thousands of inputs “The opportunity to visit Gallagher and see their investment in R&D showed us that they are committed to growth and future developments. We were looking for a long-term business relationship, and we are definitely confident we have chosen the right solution.” Complete site control The upgrade included access control for over 3,000 doors, over 177,000 cardholders, and thousands of inputs. Gallagher Command Center software, a powerful solution offering complete site control from one central platform, runs at the heart of the university’s security system. “The integration capabilities of Gallagher’s Command Center are second to none,” says Leach. The university has integrations with Active Directory, Unicard, Syllabus Plus, IndigoVision and Schindler. People safety One of the key decisions in choosing the Gallagher system for their upgrade was its flexibility to grow with the university. “Our security solutions are designed to protect sites now and into the future,” says Scott Johnstone, Gallagher’s National Sales Manager, Australia and Papua New Guinea. “We’re pleased to be able to support the University of Melbourne with their long-term plans, all while ensuring the safety of their people, assets and information.” MGA Electronic Security completed the upgrade project quicker than expected and on budget, undertaking the entire system changeover in under 18 months.

Resort World Casino New York City, (RWNYC) is the only legalized gaming casino in New York City. Its location near JFK International Airport meets New York State gaming regulations regarding geographical requirements, in order to protect visitors, patrons, and the casino’s assets. With approximately 400 million dollars channeled through its facility each week, the casino’s concerns include security across multiple points of entry, vendor offices, cashier cages, count room areas, and high limit rooms. The casino has an average of 15,000 guests per day, approximately 1,000 employees and 6,500 parking spaces. The requirement to accurately monitor and protect Resort World’s guests, facility, and personnel, demanded a state-of-the-art solution that could meet its complex security needs. Comprehensive security and surveillance program  Gallagher worked closely with Resort World to understand their unique challenges In order to create and maintain a safe and secure environment for all, Gallagher worked closely with Resort World to understand their unique challenges. A comprehensive security and surveillance program were implemented to seamlessly integrate people, processes, and technology. This program included: Integration with iTrak System, providing up-to-date information on personnel and incident reports from all departments. Synectics VMS Integration (with more than 2,000 HD cameras), to control doors, acknowledge alarms, link cameras to alarms, and alter the mood of the monitor room by changing the color of the lighting. If an alarm is activated the monitor room lighting turns red. Open Process Control Integration, to automatically generate VMS alerts. These alerts convert to a WAV (audio) file that announces the location of the alert and then directs cameras to the specific area of interest. Interface and automatic export of the Employee Dining Buffet record to payroll weekly. Scalable security solution Director of Surveillance at Resort World New York City, Jason Arnett, and his team have completed the Gallagher Access Technician Training Course and are qualified as first responders. A+ Technology & Security in Bay Shore, New York is Gallagher’s Certified Channel Partner and service provider for RWNY. “Security of the property is key to the success of our business,” says Jason. “Having a system that is capable of numerous customizations, while being scalable to the constant demand for growth, proves it is an all-around solid security system for our environment.” Customer inspired Resort World Casino New York City identified a need for a solution that would disable employee access cards at the end of their shift. Employees were required to pass through a security checkpoint at the start of their day to reactivate their access card. To streamline this process, Resort World selected Gallagher’s Action on Access integration. Jason explains, “This significantly enhanced the security of the property by taking fear out of the equation.” Gallagher Action on Access integration ID badges are no longer active while off property, activation of the ID is done in the presence of security ID badges are no longer active while off property, activation of the ID is done in the presence of security, meaning unauthorized access to the property due to a lost ID badge is no longer a concern. Additionally, in the event of an emergency, a report can be run producing an accurate account of who is in the building. Lastly, it requires staff to enter and exit the property though one particular entrance, limiting the possibility of internal theft. Ultimately, Action on Access delivers a two-fold protection plan. Cardholder selection is regulated by the state to ensure that no individual has full capability to create a complete cardholder credential or select access for the cardholder. In order to maintain compliance with state regulations, RWNYC utilizes features included with Gallagher Command Centre such as dual access point authorization, interlocks, and security alarms tied-in with output to control lights, as well as additional device notifications. Authorized and secure access control In order to provide enhanced protection and authorized access control, several mantraps were positioned in critical areas of the facility. These mantraps allow RWNYC staff to know who is on duty. This step, in conjunction with Action on Access, provides a significant safety measure as it allows for the enabling and disabling of card access with time restraints, in the event a card is lost or compromised.The Gallagher system is fully customisable to meet and exceed gaming regulations for this property" “With Gallagher’s latest software update, we’ve been creating more customized views for our staff to better monitor particular areas,” says Jason. Email alert notifications are used to inform Player Development that an invited guest is entering the private gaming space, allowing a greeter to welcome them and provide best in class customer service. Gallagher security system Gallagher’s security solution affords RWNYC a reduction of five to eight hours of labor per week by utilizing Command Center’s reporting and auditing capabilities. “The Gallagher system is fully customizable to meet and exceed gaming regulations for this property. It is modular and can be divided into multi-tenant features. Gallagher’s functionality and flexibility are only limited by your imagination,” Jason summarized. Gallagher Command Center is at the center of Resort World Casino New York City’s thorough and complex security program, helping protect their world class entertainment facility by safeguarding physical property, minimizing risk, and reducing operational costs.