Western Michigan University will soon begin the major roll out of a new access control system, reports Security Director News. The university accounts for more than 150,000 cardholders, 600 card readers and 600 surveillance cameras and thousands of alarms, panic buttons and other sensors.
WMU also leverages a one-card approach, enabling students to access residential halls, dining system, the library system, as well as academic buildings and computer labs. To ensure its different technologies are compatible with one another the campus writes its own software, using an open platform and direct access to the manufacturer’s software engineers.
The university’s development team has been working with an access control system by Open Options and tested the system in a number of its buildings. The Open Options system will offer new features that aid campus security better respond to incidents. For example, when an alarm occurs, dispatchers will have access to video cameras nearby, as well as comments or policies on the best course of action.
The new access control system is set to roll out in March, with the university expecting the process to take between four and six weeks to complete.
Read more here. ![[end]](/resources/bullet/cr80news-4.gif)
