Case studies
ASSA CLIQ adapts to hospital's changing requirements
ASSA ABLOY Door Solutions has created a security system for a UK hospital’s new mental health wing. The system, installed at Harperbury Hospital, incorporates ASSA CLIQ programmable cylinders and keys and provides access-control functionality.
It was also specifically designed for retrofit applications to keep installation disruption and costs to a minimum.
The hospital’s new mental health unit treats patients in a medium-secure setting within an open public building. The main challenges were to reallocate existing buildings to the new unit, use existing security measures wherever possible, and maintain the patients’ security and privacy. There was also a need to ensure staff access in an emergency.
The new system integrates with existing security methods and uses ASSA CLIQ electromechanical cylinders and programmable keys, which restrict access and require no wiring. ASSA Evolution locks were chosen, as they required no additional door preparation, and BS8300-compliant Distinction door furniture was used to meet the client’s obligations under the Disability Discrimination Act. Clutch thumb turns were used to ensure patient privacy yet allow access for staff.
Harperbury Hospital is an established medical facility caring for a variety of patients in the Watford and St. Albans area in Hertfordshire, north of London.
BACK TO TOP ^Check-in one SMS away
VingCard’s newest electronic-locking solution, Signature RFID, means your mobile phone is not just for talking, its also your hotel room key.
Through a joint collaboration with NXP (formerly Philips semiconductors) hotels equipped with VingCard RFID will now be able to offer remote check in. Guests will receive their booking confirmation number, room number and an encrypted room key access code via SMS before arriving at their hotel. Avoiding long lines at check-in they can then go straight to their room and use their NFC mobile phone to enter.
All this is made possible through a new, short-range wireless technology, Near Field Communications (NFC), that combines the functionality of a reader and a card into one device. NFC is being implemented in a new generation of mobile phones this year.
“We’re very pleased with the number of hotel companies and hotel chains calling us to inquire about the release of Signature RFID,” says Pascal Metivier, president of ASSA ABLOY Hospitality EMEA and Latin America.
Part of Signature RFID’s appeal stems from its open-platform architecture. Earlier systems, and those offered by other hospitality security vendors, are not compliant with all the leading RFID standards, secure transaction protocols, or compatible with other RFID devices.
“Hotels won’t invest in RFID if they are limited to one standard,” Pascal says. “We designed Signature RFID to support all the leading standards for maximum flexibility. Now the customer can choose what is best for their application. With Signature RFID, you avoid the risk of making the wrong choice on what RFID standard to follow. It is the same scenario as in the past with the VHS and BETA standards for video tapes.”
BACK TO TOP ^Security liberating for Quinnipiac University
The ideal campus for students and administrators is one that offers easy access to school facilities while maintaining security and accountability. This delicate balance requires a locking solution that can adapt to any situation.
Freedom and responsibility
Quinnipiac University, located in the northeastern US, houses about 3,000 of its nearly 8,000 students in campus residence halls. In an effort to simplify life for students and facility administrators, the university decided in 2002 to change to a card-locking system in its residence halls.
Quinnipiac University began researching its options by reviewing products from a number of lock manufacturers After a series of rigorous tests, the university decided to replace all the room locks in 22 residence halls with a stand alone card locking system supplied by Group company PERSONA.
Vigorous tests
Crime is not a major problem on the Quinnipiac campus but the university wanted to take steps to protect its students. It also wanted to make students more accountable by logging data that identified who had entered a room and whether or not a door had been propped open.
The PERSONA lockset first needed to prove its durability in a series of vigorous tests performed by the university. The locking system also needed to be compatible with the existing Q-Card system – a network of services accessed and operated using a multi-purpose ID card.
Accountability
One major reason Quinnipiac University chose the ASSA ABLOY solution was the audit-trail feature on the PERSONA lockset. No other stand-alone lock has the ability to record if a door has been propped open. This feature encourages students to take greater responsibility for their room security and reduces school liability.
Simple integration also meant the PERSONA lockset was a natural fit for the Q-Card system. In addition to opening doors, the cards can be used for meals, laundry, vending machines, copy machines, checking out books and equipment and accessing the fitness center.
Products:
- Electronic card-locking system – PERSONA
Besam solution for state-of-the-art Diagnostic Center
A solution from Group company, Besam, provides convenient passage for the over 200,000 doctors, patients, students and visitors that pass in and out of Malmö‘s new diagnostic center every year.
New efficient facilities
In 2001, the City of Malmö began building a new center for diagnostics. The five-floor, 20,000 sq. meter complex includes facilities for diagnostics, clinical physiology as well as research and lecturing programs that are connected to the city’s new university.
Entrance system experts, Besam, received the contract to automate the entrance and interior doors between different medical units at the center. The contract included 210 swing-door openers, 20 automatic doors, door openers and a revolving entrance door.
Concentrate resources
To meet the growing demands of public healthcare, the city of Malmö decided to concentrate its diagnostic resources into one newly built facility.
Besam was tasked to create an entrance system that could handle the 230,000 or more patients that would visit the Diagnostic Center each year.
The challenge was to create a comfortable and draft-free working environment for personnel and patients and to simplify movement of both people and medical equipment between departments. All of this was to be done while still maintaining a high level of safety.
Safe and easy passage
Besam was chosen for this project because of its many years of experience with hospital buildings and medical settings as well as for the reputation of its products.
The UniTurn, 2-wing revolving door was recommended for the Diagnostic Center’s entrance. This door would accommodate large numbers of people with varying degrees of mobility while providing a draft-free, escape-safe door.
Besam’s PowerSwing door openers were installed between departments along with a Besam Eye-Tech presence detection unit. In addition, the Besam UniSlide was selected for all 20 doors in the radiology department.
Products
- Revolving door – Besam
- PowerSwing door openers – Besam
- Eyetech presence detection – Besam
- UniSlide automatic doors – Besam
Arctic entrance solutions for ICEHOTEL
Each winter, huge blocks of ice are harvested from Sweden’s Torne River to build ICEHOTEL, one of northern Europe’s top visitor attractions. Entrance specialist Besam, had the unusual task of providing a solution that would be installed into the ice.
Building a hotel of ice and snow
Located about 200 kilometers above the Artic Circle, ICEHOTEL in Jukkasjärvi, Sweden is constructed each year almost entirely of ice and snow. ICEHOTEL has approximately 85 rooms but that varies from year to year depending on design.
Group company Besam, is a leading supplier of customized entrance solutions and service. They were tasked with providing a solution for the hotel’s main entrance. The project was initiated in the spring of 2006 and will be finished in time for the opening of the 2006/2007 season.
Weathering extreme conditions
Due to its unusual environment and construction, ICEHOTEL is constantly exposed to extreme weather and temperature conditions. The door’s components, for example, need to be able to function in temperatures that are regularly between -5 to -10 degrees Celsius. Because the hotel is built differently from year to year, suppliers’ products need to be as flexible as possible to fit into the architect’s design.
Ola Jönsson, Product Manager at Group company Besam, says: “Installing an automated door into a block of ice is a unique experience and will be a testament to the durability of Besam products.”
A testament to durability
ICEHOTEL will feature a special Besam UniSlide solution in its main entrance. This will be one of the most high-profile and challenging installations that the Group company Besam has undertaken.
It is a win-win situation for both partners in which ICEHOTEL can improve their hotel offering and ASSA ABLOY can prove the durability of its products in an exciting environment.
In addition, Group company Besam will provide entrance systems for the growing chain of ABSOLUT ICEBARs around the world, including locations in Stockholm, Tokyo, Milan and London.
Products
- UniSlide – Besam
- Air curtains – Besam (ABSOLUT ICEBAR)
Keeping Britain's water clean and pure
Scottish Water in the UK needed a unified and effective barrier against extreme weather and persistent acts of vandalism. Abloy solutions are used by water companies worldwide to safeguard sites from unauthorized access and more importantly, to protect the public.
Numerous sites
Scottish Water, the UK’s fourth largest water and waste-waterservice provider, is a publicly-owned company answering to the Scottish Parliament. They provide services to 2.2 million private and 130,000 business customers across the UK.
Abloy padlocks were specified at the service provider’s sites shortly after the formation of Scottish Water. In January 2001, the project to upgrade and standardize security across the entire company was initiated.
Extreme conditions
Safeguarding a water utility involves protecting the property and facilities against attempted security breaches and vandalism, often in remote locations which are exposed to extreme weather conditions.
Scottish Water required standardized locks across multiple sites that also could be opened by several individuals with varying access rights. These systems needed to be integrated across different lock types, such as cylinders, padlocks and industrial locks so that authorized personnel could access specific areas without requiring multiple sets of keys.
Water tight solutions
Scottish Water decided to standardize all of its sites on the Abloy master keying system to control access for front line staff, each of whom have different levels of responsibility and security clearance.
The solution included the Abloy PL340 padlock which is constructed to withstand extreme environmental conditions and provide maximum resistance against attack. It also included the Abloy Protec two-way cylinder mechanism whose patented features make it practically pickproof.
Products
- Padlocks – Abloy Security
- Protec cylinder mechanism – Abloy Security