The University of Antioquia, the oldest public university and the second largest in Colombia, installed CCTV, fire prevention and access control systems to protect its entry points, classrooms, offices and control lighting using integrated solutions from Tyco Security Products.
The University of Antioquia, also known as U of A, is a regional public university with a research vocation. The university, whose main headquarters are located in the city of Medellín (Colombia), has been offering higher education degrees since 1803.
The educational faculty has several alternate venues in the city of Medellín, apart from its main campus, called Ciudad Universitaria. In total, the university consists of eight campuses, three schools, three institutes and an administrative building. In its facilities there are also the University Museum, the University Theater, the Central Library and the sports facilities. Very close to the main campus is the University Research Headquarters (SIU), where specialized research projects are carried out and where the most advanced technological resources of the UdeA are housed.
On a typical day, about 35,000 people work and study in the University City, including students, professors, employees, contractors and visitors.
The priorities of the U of A security team were to monitor visitor activity and prevent losses on campus. Theft was a considerable problem, costing the university about $150,000 each year in computer equipment. In addition, important updates to the fire prevention and protection systems were required, since the systems that were installed were inadequate and did not comply with the regulations in force in Colombia.
Challenges
The main security challenge for the U of A was the theft of computer equipment from classrooms, offices and warehouses. It was almost impossible to determine who was responsible for the incidents, since the university did not have a system to track the entry or exit of electronic devices from those places to which they had been assigned. Added to this challenge was the fact that the campus was open, which meant that virtually anyone could enter its facilities without having to present identification or access control credentials.
The university had, however, records containing the names of all students, employees and contractors who had been on campus. Unfortunately, this information was stored in at least five separate databases that were not connected to each other. "Despite having a large amount of data on the people who visited the campus, people kept coming in and out of it and its buildings and classrooms when they wanted, through the different entry points, without any control. This became a public safety issue within the university," said Javier Toro, an electronic security consultant and auditor at the University of Antioquia.
The fire protection systems installed on campus were an additional obstacle, as they were not suitable for the facilities and, to make matters worse, the university staff lacked adequate safety training and corresponding protocols. The university also wanted to implement a physical security system that would allow updates and expansion in the future.
SEGURTEC Limitada, the integrator that led the project, recognized that implementing an access control system from Tyco Security Products was fundamental to create a security system that met the current and future needs of the university, among others, a perfect integration with the intrusion detection panels currently installed on campus to protect six entrances as well as gradually incorporate the electro mechanical systems of the different buildings; among them the lighting panels of different manufacturers using standard protocols such as BACnet.
The solution
At the beginning of the project, the first step was to secure critical spaces such as specialized classrooms and offices where expensive computer equipment was stored. This was achieved with the installation of intrusion detection alarm panels and a video surveillance system from Tyco Security Products, integrated into a central command center to allow easy management by university security personnel.
Once the access control system was installed, it was possible to monitor the entire university population — from students, professors and employees to graduates and retirees — using MIFARE cards. The access control system provides coverage for the entire perimeter of the University City, the library, the Extension Building, the specialized classrooms and the offices, including the main entrances to the facilities where there is a significant volume of traffic.
At the same time, IP surveillance cameras were installed across campus, increasing the total number of IP and analog cameras in use to more than 300.
"Our staff and teachers ask us all the time if we can install more cameras. Everyone is very pleased with the addition of dome cameras and with the whole project in general. People feel safer here, which is important," Toro concluded.
With the use of additional bandwidth by the installed IP cameras, the university has added a new specialized fiber optic system with a speed of 10 GB to transmit exclusively electronic security data. The new fiber optic system was installed in all campus buildings and extended to siu's research facilities, located a couple of blocks from the University City, where the monitoring center is located.
The recorded video is managed using network video recorders from Tyco Security Products, with a specialized communications rack that has 10 servers, which provide approximately 70 terabytes of storage capacity and operate all systems (software, applications and database). According to Toro, some of the servers are used to process daily workload data and others are used for redundant storage.
From the university's control center, security personnel can monitor the video across the entire campus. A video wall and smaller screens located throughout the control center allow staff to constantly monitor the campus. Video management integrates with the access control system to get a clearer picture of the various events. Currently, the system has coverage on the main campus and extension building, however, there are plans to extend the video management system to the library and the University Museum.
Additionally, the university has leveraged the features of its access control platform, also from Tyco Security Products, to control doors and access points with turnstiles.
The biggest challenge of the process was replacing the panels and keyboards, as well as upgrading the infrastructure with the right pipes and wiring to ensure maximum system stability. The most delicate thing was the migration of the databases to the access control platform, a process that had to be carried out perfectly. A bug could mean that certain users couldn't get on campus because their access control credentials had become unusable.
Both Toro and the integrator say they are "very satisfied" with the project, largely because it has significantly reduced theft and helped control other illicit activities. It is now necessary to verify the identification of all visitors, which helps to keep track of all people and at all times within the campus. Additionally, the university has saved money on account of the decrease in robberies.
The future
The final phase of the project, which includes fire protection systems, will be completed by mid-2015. According to Toro, this final phase will comply with the Colombian regulation of seismic resistant constructions, which establishes that "all public buildings must have a fire detection and extinguishing system and audio evacuation." In 2015, all 29 campus buildings will have adequate fire protection systems.
Segurtec Limitada explains that each building will have an alarm panel, sirens, strobe lights and emergency levers for manual activation. This platform will be directly connected to the access control platform for the management of the surveillance and alarm system, in case of an event. In addition, messages will be recorded for four different stages of an event, starting from the lowest level, a precautionary alert, to the highest level, a message of total evacuation of the facilities. In the near future it is possible that the university will continue to develop the automation system for lighting, HVAC and elevator management systems in the rest of the buildings.
Case Summary
Location: University of Antioquia, Medellin, Colombia
Central Campus (University City)
Extension Building
University Research Headquarters (SIU)
Installed systems:
Software House
Access Control C•CURE 9000
iSTAR Pro Drivers
Kantech
EntraPass Corporate Edition
DSC
Panel de control PC1864 de PowerSeries
Exacq
exacqVision Professional
American Dynamics
Cameras
SpeedDome Ultra 8E 35X
About the University of Antioquia
The University of Antioquia, known as UdeA, is a public institution of higher education founded in 1803, based in the city of Medellín, capital of the department of Antioquia. Its purpose is to seek, develop and disseminate knowledge in the fields of humanities, science, arts, philosophy and technology, through research, teaching and university extension in undergraduate and postgraduate programs, through methodologies of face-to-face, blended learning, open and distance education.
About Tyco Security Products
Tyco Security Products and its leading brands have business operations in more than 177 countries around the world, in different languages and has more than 2,800 employees, working, among others, in research and development, marketing, production, sales, service and logistics teams throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific. Developed by designers from a variety of related disciplines, our products continuously enable our customers to see more, do more and save more across industries and segments, including healthcare, government, transportation, financial, retail, commercial and residential. In various parts of the world, Tyco Security Products provides protection to 42% of fortune 500 companies, transportation systems on five continents and 37% of the world's top 100 marketers. Security Products also helps protect more than two million commercial enterprises, thousands of students from more than 900 educational institutions, and more than five million private residences.
About SEGURTEC Ltda.
SEGURTEC Ltda. is a security systems integration company that offers a full range of services for commercial and residential installations of intrusion detection, alarm and fire detection systems, surveillance, physical access control and high-range communication. Committed to a high quality technical service, and with highly qualified personnel, the engineering department of SEGURTEC Ltda. provides consulting, training, development of solutions and projects, including technical support in all areas related to the products.
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