In a large commercial space, a card access system ensures the safety and security of all employees and other occupants. It can be challenging for a single tenant to assume the responsibility of maintaining the card access system for all tenants in a large office building.
One tenant, a financial software company, learned this the hard way after agreeing with another tenant to take over the administration of the card access system in a large office building. Here is how our team at Nexus came to the rescue.
A Quick History of the Building
The original user of the office building was the IT division of a national healthcare provider, and they had their own card access system that they managed. Originally, they occupied the entire building, so their single partition card access system was sufficient.
Later on, the healthcare provider downsized and began using only a portion of the building, and a financial software company moved in to fill the unoccupied space. The healthcare provider and the financial software company agreed to share management of the card access system going forward.
The healthcare provider eventually sold the building to an investor who made plans to further divide the building into individual suites. The financial software company was still managing the card access system for the entire building and quickly learned that managing it for multiple tenants was burdensome. They asked the new building owner to assume responsibility for the system, which they did, and had a new system installed that allowed for multi-tenant use instead of single-tenant use. They called us at Nexus to help get it set up in a very short time.
New tenants were moving in very soon, so we had only a few weeks to set up a new card access system. After we installed the new system, a new tenant required renovations. The new building owner called us again to help them keep the system up and running while they were working on demolition.
Problems to be Solved
- The financial software company’s main problem was that they were trying to use a single-tenant system to manage multiple tenants.
- The card access system was also outdated, and its user interface required training to manage. The antiquated card access system left the company’s security manager no time to focus on their regular responsibilities.
- Deciding who is responsible for the system was also key. They finally decided to have the building owner take over the system after new tenants further emphasized the fact that the old card access system was difficult to manage.
Our Course of Action
In a short time frame, we had to visit the location a few counties away, assess the current access system, design a new plan, and install that plan.
Installing the new card access system in a very long building also presented a challenge. Ethernet cables only go so far, but with our broad knowledge of all the most modern technologies, we set up a DSL Ethernet cable that extends connections beyond their original capacities.
When we installed the new card access system, we reused many of the standard components that were already in the building, such as door latches, strike plates, and magnets. The type of door lock did not matter for the system we installed; what mattered was that the door still opens and closes. The new system was compatible with older equipment, so it was not necessary to change doors. We also leveraged the existing power supplies and reused battery backup systems to control costs.
A System Built for Many Tenants
Through the software we installed, it is now possible for a tenant to operate their own card access system, if they so choose. With the old system, all tenants had to use the same system, and there was no mechanism for partitioning. Now, each tenant can access their own private management interface. This was much more convenient for the financial software company and the rest of the tenants because they all had access to what they needed, while still holding high levels of security throughout the building.
To sum up this project, we quickly installed a card access system to make the building more secure and easier to access for all tenants. For this project, we not only designed the building’s card access system, but we also worked to be actively present during tenant demolition and buildout construction.