We currently use a very old “Proprietary Control Systems” access control system (http://www.pcscsecurity.com/) which is failing on us.
We strongly dislike how it is proprietary (yeah, I know, but the person who purchased it has been gone for 10+ years) so we worked with a local integrator to find a more open system that we could use our existing cards with and buy a new set of cards for it.
After getting the new system installed in one area, we’ve had tons of issues and it wound up not being flexible enough to let us integrate existing hardware into it nor use our existing badges.
I want to say someone recommended RS2 (https://rs2tech.com) but I can’t remember.
I really want something robust with multiple-campus support, the ability to withstand network outages, and a very user-friendly interface for scheduling, access control, etc.
Also, when looking, do you guys look for systems you can install/maintain or only work with local vendors? Our local vendors don’t seem to be as reliable as I’d like.
We just had our first system put in. It’s Tyco’s C-Cure 9000. We literally just activated it, so we’re getting people used to using it. It’s a bit hard to evaluate right now because of that.
I can get you more details, but we worked with a vendor because that wasn’t something I wanted to put in or maintain.
For projects like that, it’s always my preference to have an “expert” we can turn to.
It has been a while since I worked integrating access control, but RS2 was always what my company used at the time. People were pleased. If I remember correctly, you can make it externally accessible using port forwarding no problem.
Northview uses Logistics and TruPortal which we configure all our campus’ doors and access from Central over ENS (MPLS).
We just swapped to Paxton (http://paxton-access.com)… They have several different versions of the system, but the benefits to it were that it can virtually read any card type, and use almost any reader available. They are great to work with and will even come do a site evaluation for not charge.
The website doesn’t have info about all the versions of Paxton so you’d want to get ahold of Rob for that. Let me know if you want his contact info.
We use Entrapass’s Kantech System. We’ve been happy with it, it has done what we needed. I haven’t worked closely with the project so I can’t give you too much more information. Based on our experience here, we would stay away from any Tyco products – not a fan of that company at all and the company that they bought Simplex-Grinnell. I have heard really good things about Paxton from people I trust, however we are sticking with Kantech.
We currently have an old GE / Lenel system that we are replacing with a new IP based POE system made my Brivo. We are doing the on prem version with a controller rather than a hefty monthly fee of around $500/mo for 31 doors for cloud based. Looking to use Protection One to do it, they are a national company.
We used Tyco to setup our system. The back end software is Kantech. Our complaint is we can’t do complex schedules for the doors. Also, Tyco service isn’t great when we have an issue. Also, the Kantech software requires Kantech controllers and isn’t flexible on the access cards it can use.
We are currently looking at building out a new facility and are planning to use Salto Systems. They offer wireless and wire-free doors (as well as wired), the wireless/wire-free doors are significantly less expensive (~$1.5k) than traditional wired doors (~$2.5k - $5k). I’m quite impressed with what I’ve seen thus far. Princeton University is one of their customers as are a number of other “not operating out of the basement” shops.
Dave
P.S. While it operates over wireless, the units keep all necessary info. locally, thus are able to continue operating without wireless. Also, they use a separate spectrum (encrypted) for the communications, nothing is running over the main IT network.
We use S2 and I absolutely hate it. The UI is awful. I still haven’t found a way to easily schedule one time events. I wish we could replace it, but we’re too invested in it to replace it right now.
We share our campus with a School (separate organization) and they have S2. We have tied several doors to it and I’m happy enough, but the School’S IT oversees it. Our tech team wanted some security for sound systems and we just installed a system from Isonas that I really like. Great UI, we went with their Cloud based system and am very happy with it. It was perfect for our Tech systems, I could see with a large install it’d get pricey fast. But maybe you’d make up for it with how easy it is to manage.