How the University of Chicago Streamlined its Security Upgrade

8/9/2023

In addition to enhancing the security of the facility, the access control system upgrade created an opportunity to streamline and standardize system operation, maintenance and vendor management, as well as the need to support multiple applications. 

"The project's primary goal was migrating the legacy technology components to a contemporary and centrally managed system that would consolidate the electronic access control, cameras, and alarms inside a unified security platform, significantly improving the overall security posture of the facility,” Kwiatkowski says. “The selected security technology solution provides an improved operational workflow for the university strategic operations center and enhanced situational awareness and functionality for our campus partners.” 

The project focused on three major areas: 

• Access control for over 250 access control locations 
• New locations for cameras and migrating and upgrading existing security cameras 
• Alarm input points, including duress buttons, glass break sensors, and tamper detection switches. 

“It's quite a large facility with several hundred endpoints with either door controls or sensors that need to be integrated, as well as another five or six dozen video units with many of those videos having multi-lens cameras attached to them,” Prudom says. 

The department streamlined the upgrade process by breaking it down to a series of smaller projects. 

"It didn't take an overly long time, and we did it in multiple phases,” he says. “The first thing we did was the access control environment for that building. It was already at capacity, and expanding it and upgrading it and keeping it running was costing quite a bit of money, and there were headaches, as well. 

“The first thing we did was the access control system. That required a rip and replace of all of the head-end equipment and the security panels. We kept all the wiring and all the endpoint devices, but we re-landed them on the new back-end equipment. We did that floor by floor. Once that was fully vetted out and we were happy with that, we moved on to the video management side of things with that building.” 

Despite the major changes to the access control system, the impact on the facility’s door hardware was minimal. 

"The building was already on an access control platform, and the hardware was compatible with what we were putting in,” Prudom says. “We left where possible all those components in place. All the wiring came back to the security closets, so basically we unlanded those wires from the existing head-end equipment, tossed that, put in the new head-end equipment and landed all those wires where they needed to go on the new controllers. We then function-tested everything to make sure everything was working. Anything we found to be inoperable, we then replaced or repaired as necessary.” 

In-house staff also were involved in the system’s installation. 

“We had an integrator that did all of the hardware,” Prudom says. “They were the ones that did the rip and replace of the back-end equipment. My team's role was a lot of the programming of that equipment that was brought in, a lot of the training for the end users, the operators. We run a distributed environment here, so it's not the department of safety and security that is looking up individual card holders and giving card holders permissions doors. 

“The integrator did all the hardware side of things. Facility services helped us with some of the repairs to the endpoints as we found things weren't working. We would swing a door from the old system panel to the new panel once that was installed and function check it. If we found that a hinge wasn't working or an endpoint wasn't working, Facility Services helped with some of those repairs.” 

Finding more benefits 

Careful and thorough planning and performance of an upgrade project can ensure that its benefits go beyond the goals stated at the project’s outset. That was certainly the case for the University of Chicago’s security upgrade, which offered several lessons that will benefit future projects.  

"One lesson learned was the importance of effective communication among team members, especially when updating stakeholders and addressing any unanticipated issues or challenges,” Kwiatkowski says. “A specific example of this is clear communication with our campus partners during routine scheduled maintenance, so there were no misunderstandings regarding when each part of the system would be down for maintenance. 

“Vendor management and partnership are essential to the success of the project. Regular communication and updates from the vendor are required. There were numerous supply chain delays and challenges during the project, and we needed to keep the campus partners, security technology team, and installers apprised of the equipment delivery dates and delays.” 

The communication lessons also include the need to document critical steps in the process. 

“We learned that documenting goals, expectations and timelines at the start of the project can help ensure everyone is on the same page and working towards the same objectives.,” he says. “Additionally, we found that regular check-ins and progress reports can be incredibly helpful in keeping everyone accountable and on task. These items were documented in our project close-out process, allowing us to apply them to our future security technology projects. 

“This also speaks to the importance of record-keeping during the migration process. With so many components being migrated from various systems into a consolidated platform, it was critical to maintain accurate records, which included an inventory of each system, before the migration.” 

The completed project also came with a reminder that effective planning needs to include a look ahead at the likely future of the facility.  

"When planning and performing security upgrades, it is essential to consider the system's or network's immediate needs and potential future threats and vulnerabilities,” Kwiatkowski says. “This means staying up to date on the latest security best practices and technologies and conducting regular assessments to identify gaps or risks.” 

Adds Prudom, “As that platform expands and continues to grow and live for five years, 10 years, 15 years from now, we need to make sure that everything that we're doing day one is something that can be maintained and can be built upon for the lifecycle of this system.” 

Dan Hounsell is senior editor of the facilities market. He has more than 30 years of experience writing about facilities maintenance, engineering and management.