For more than three decades, Erlich Protection Systems, Inc. has provided a variety of loss prevention and life safety systems for customers in the greater Detroit metropolitan area. When the company wanted to upgrade the security system at its own 8,000-square-foot facility, it turned to Bosch.
Erlich needed updated security, access control, and video surveillance capabilities to protect its assets, employees, and the facility itself. With an integrated system, Erlich could also demonstrate its ability to create customised systems for customers (including commercial and industrial facilities, government agencies, healthcare campuses, and schools and universities).
Bosch's Building Integration System (BIS) was the ideal solution - it's a flexible building management system that can be configured to suit users' specific needs. For Erlich, this means one user interface can monitor and operate its facility's access control, video, and security systems. BIS allows operators to log in to the system to control the doors and security system as needed. For example, if the building is locked, but a shipment is scheduled to arrive, the office manager can unlock the shipping and receiving door directly from the BIS user interface.
In addition to BIS, Erlich chose to incorporate the following Bosch products:
- D9412GV2 Control Panel for intrusion detection - this panel secures three areas of the building.
- Access Engine software and the Access Modular Controller hardware-these protect nine doors at the facility where employees must present their access credentials in order to enter and exit.
- AutoDome cameras with AutoTrack are positioned in the company's demo room and at the shipping and receiving door.
- A Dinion camera at the front door allows executive assistants to see visitors before granting them access to the facility.
- Additional cameras also provide surveillance for the sales and engineering departments as well as the warehouse.
BIS integrates all the systems together with graphical colour maps (created from AutoCAD drawings) that indicate the different areas of the building. If an alarm is raised, BIS zooms automatically to the assigned area in the map and animates the detector icon that sent the alarm.
As a result of the installation, BIS gives Erlich a state-of-the-art security system and it has proven to be a useful sales tool for the company. While at prospective customer locations, Erlich representatives can log in to BIS using their laptops and demonstrate the capabilities of an integrated system - complete with action plans for responding to alarms that indicate security concerns. Employees can also show customers the benefits of an integrated system that operates as a central alarm and management system. This live demonstration helps to assure customers that the system is tested and its value is proven.
