Recently, a client came to us with a fascinating problem.
How do you secure a beautifully designed space built for a single tenant when you decide to subdivide, but you don’t want to diminish the aesthetic of the open stairwells, modern catwalk, and spacious atrium?
Brainstorming with the tenant, Nexus Technology Partners embarked on a quest for a solution.
First, we established a list of concerns:
- The passage between private spaces and common open spaces needs to be controlled and monitored.
- The open and airy aesthetic of the common space needs to be maintained.
- The atmosphere and decorum of the shared spaces should not be interrupted by an obnoxious alarm signal, but an audible alert should sound when thresholds are violated.
The client needed a secure solution without physical barriers to entry.
We thought of ideas on how to execute security checkpoints between common and private spaces. First, we considered glass cages and glass doors at the entry points, but available materials clashed with the surrounding décor and reduced the open feel the client wanted to preserve. Turnstiles were also considered but dismissed, as they were expensive and cumbersome to use, and they diminished the atmosphere of the space. Our next thought was glass gates. The fire department then expressed concerns about an emergency evacuation, so that idea was dismissed.
Despite the competing requirements, our team persisted. With the imagination of science fiction fans, the solution hit us. Perhaps we could simulate an invisible force field. How else could you seamlessly combine a secure checkpoint with an aesthetically pleasing space?
With this germ of an idea, we mocked up the system in our facility so that we could not only test and refine our system without disrupting our client’s operations, but could also enable the client to see, hear, and interact with the solution before committing to buy.
Combining high-tech cameras, state-of-the-art curtain-wall infrared sensors, digital audio annunciators, a customizable microcontroller, and a traditional card access system, we developed a custom solution that met all of our client’s requirements.
After a few weeks of design, implementation, and testing, the fully customized solution came to fruition. The client visited our facility to try out our solution. They walked through the infrared barrier when a pleasant verbal announcement sounded, gently warning that the threshold had been violated. The security camera instantly indexed the video report for later review. They walked through again, but this time, they scanned a badge at the card access reader. The annunciator did not repeat its message.
The client enjoyed our demonstration and approved our prototype for permanent installation in their space. So, we installed the system in the client’s space, monitoring and fine-tuning to ensure the system functioned as intended. Now that the system is fully installed at their location, they can generate reports from the camera, coach new users on the security process, and provide outside entities with the confidence that both spaces are secure despite the lack of obvious hard barriers.
This system was truly the first of its kind!
The doorless card access can detect, alert, and record all trespassers, so the client has proper security measures in place and serves as a great example of the kind of care and ingenuity that Nexus brings to its customers.
For this project, we offered same-day technical support for 90 days following the installation. As the client began to interact with the system in their own space, we fine-tuned the system to make it work perfectly within their environment. We also provided data conversion and importation to transfer all the employees from their current card access system to the new one.