“Alliance is a significant breakthrough, using one card to manage both intrusion and access control,” said Kim Loy, Director-Systems Marketing for the Commercial Group.“The card that gets you through the door also turns off the alarm and turns on the lights. In a community hospital, authorized doctors and pharmacists can use their cards to open the drug cabinets without an alarm. If anyone else tries to open them, the alarm activates.

“The unique, combined functionality of intrusion and access control with built-in central station command is a winning combination,” added Loy. “Users, such as light industrial offices, mid-range multi-tenant commercial buildings, shopping malls and community hospitals, can now install just one system for both applications.There is only one platform to learn, manage, maintain and service.

The unique contactless smart card and tag technology features a high-level 4-byte security code and read/write encryption. With it, users can program and reprogram cards on site, creating individual authorizations for doors, areas and time zones. They can also use the smart cards and tags to control functionalities, such as managing locks. For instance, users can present a card once to disarm and unlock a door and three times to re-arm and lock the door.

Using the contactless smart cards, users can additionally administer credit accounts for cardholders, such as deducting credits when the card is used at the company cafeteria or keep a record of time and attendance data. Cards may be printed on-site using any industry standard printer and can feature a programmable magnetic stripe for legacy applications.

In retrofit applications, Alliance also works with existing card technologies, including proximity, magnetic stripe, Wiegand, and bar code cards.

Users and their dealers can help prevent false alarms by tying access control to specific areas for arming and disarming sensors. For example, authorized employees cannot cause a false alarm in a secure area because the system is disarmed when access to the area is granted. To verify an alarm, communication of the alarm can be delayed until a second alarm is activated within a specific time frame.

Installation Easy for Users and Dealers

To facilitate installation, Alliance 8100 Security Management Software contains the entire set of tools a dealer needs to provide a turnkey system for the user. Generating sales estimates and generating as-builts, printing ID badges, and remote downloading of systems for troubleshooting are all included. The graphical interface lets a dealer simply drag-and-drop hardware onto a system bus to auto-configure a system. The dealer can set permissions for Master, Installer, Administrator and Operator levels of access.

Capabilities include adding, addressing, and testing devices; generating wiring diagrams, viewing live systems through a graphical interface, operating the security and building systems; reporting histories and generating custom reports; and handling communications with up to four central monitoring stations. The software is controlled via a PC or remotely via a modem.

Alliance distributed intelligence allows panels to be placed anywhere desired so that only a single wire run to the control panel is required.

GE Interlogix Commercial Group provides security solutions for a wide range of markets, from large corporate facilities and companies to small businesses. Applications range from sophisticated multimedia access control, alarm monitoring, asset tracking, photo badging and video management to key control and entry tracking systems.