An innovative access control system designed and installed by London-based electronic security provider Delta Security is helping protect staff, pupils and visitors at a specialist school in Hackney.
Clissold Park School, which provides full-time education for pupils permanently excluded from secondary schools in the area, wanted a more reliable and flexible way of controlling access through 40 doors across the site. A previous system using keys and codes was proving impractical and could be too easily compromised.
The answer, specified by Delta Security, was a new system centred around state-of-the-art SALTO technology that uses electronic locks activated by key cards that can be programmed to allow or restrict access to different parts of the building.
“Teachers and assistants, for example, have cards that allow them to pass freely about the school, whereas cleaners may only have access to certain parts of the school and at certain times of the day,” explains Dave Mundy, Operations Manager at Delta Security.
Indeed the technology is such that it allows all manner of parameters to be set: “There is an ability to lock down the entire system if required to allow nobody in or out, or to open certain doors automatically in the event of an emergency, such as a fire,” he adds. “Doors to areas such as the toilets, the common room, dining room, admin offices, etc can also be locked/unlocked at specific times.”
Readers on the main entry/exit doors record the time of arrival/departure, providing an additional time and attendance functionality.
Delta Security was chosen by Clissold Park School on competitive tender according to headmaster Shane Foley: “We needed to work with a company we could trust, which was local, and who could provide a workable solution within a tight time-frame,” he says.
The SALTO access control system offers flexible and functional access control with a wide choice of software options. The technology is designed to work in a wire-free environment so there is no need to hardwire the building, allowing the customer to keep the original doors and locks in place if required. The entire system is PC-based for ease of programming, and the information stored in the key card can be transferred to a computer to provide precise audit trail information about where and when each lock has been used including the date, time and whether access was allowed or denied.
In this particular installation, and at the suggestion of the installer, the cards have been personalised with photographs to double as staff ID.
SALTO technology is installed in more than 4,000 sites including some of the world’s top universities, corporate buildings, hotels, and hospitals.
Contact
www.deltasecurity.co.uk/
