Colombian University protects its educational community and its image as a " safe entity" with modern Boon Edam turnstiles.
BY SECURITY SALES
Founded in 1960, Eafit University (Medellín) is one of the most prestigious educational institutions in Colombia, ranking 69th in the QS Top Universities ranking for Latin America.
Currently, this academic entity has more than 10 thousand students in its different undergraduate careers and more than 3,000 in graduate programs.
Protecting your community and your most precious asset
Due to its large flow of visitors, Eafit University required an access control system that would benefit the almost 19,000 pedestrians who daily enter the campus through its different gates, allowing the entry and exit process to be carried out in an agile way.
It should be noted that before starting this modernization project -which began at the end of 2006-, access control was carried out manually, that is, it was a guard who physically reviewed the cards of the staff entering the campus. It was then necessary to have a more effective validation method.
University spokesmen state that the robustness of its technological platform allowed the installation of an automatic access control system by the institution, which began with the process of carding, for which Mifare PVC cards were delivered and then the installation of pedestrian turnstiles and vehicular barriers in the parking lots of the campus was made.
In addition, the project sought to reduce delays in the entry and exit of licensed staff, through online validation of people active in the university. In this way, re-processes and verifications would be avoided that currently, and given the flow of people with a card that circulates through the gates, it would be impossible to carry out manually.
It is also important to mention that the accident rates on campus for 2008 – when the first turnstiles were implemented – were based on comments and referred to the loss of laptops, student suitcases and even a motorcycle; this was impossible to trace because people entered and was not visible to the access control system: you could know that the person had entered, where he had done it and at what time, but you could not identify who committed any improper act within the campus.
In its initial stage, the project consisted of the installation of a Schneider Andover Continuum system. Similarly, in the six pedestrian goals, 22 Boon Edam turnstiles were implemented.
In this regard, Johan Sánchez (Security Coordinator of Eafit) affirms that at the beginning it was not planned to install an access control system, but to install a BMS (Building Management System) and begin its operation with access control.
This is how the Andover system was responsible for managing not only the input but the energy, lighting, alarms and electromechanical systems. Boon Edam turnstiles were chosen, according to Johan, for the quality of their components, aesthetic design and reliability.
Sánchez emphasizes that, given the magnitude of the project and the novelty it represented at the time (being an initiative that started from scratch), the implementation itself was a challenge in which the university and the integrators worked hard.
"The difficulty did not lie in the installation of the turnstiles themselves, but in the set of activities that must be fulfilled so that the equipment receives the opening signals correctly," adds the expert.
To ensure that this equipment operates properly, Eafit has scheduled four preventive maintenances per year for the turnstiles and in case of a technical failure – which is unusual – it is possible that access control continues to be carried out with the equipment that is available, since these have the ability to be bidirectional.
Guaranteed satisfaction
Johan Sánchez assures that in general terms if in an entity there is an accident rate of 100%, after the implementation of the turnstiles it is possible that this factor is reduced by 90%. In the case of the university, one of its most precious assets is its image of being a safe institution, which has allowed parents to prefer it for its safety indexes, which have managed to maintain themselves thanks to measures such as the implementation of Boon Edam turnstiles.
In the same way, the installation of these equipment has made possible the quantification of the people who enter the campus and this information allows to know what is the density of entry to the campus, which is the goal that is most used and which is the least (which facilitates the modification of schedules, surveillance services or increase the staff in the goals where the entrance is more critical), provide statistical data when required to establish an agreement with another institution and know how many people entered a special event at the university.
"Boon Edam turnstiles have shown great quality since their installation. Its operation could define it as stable, durable and compact, "says Sánchez. The expert adds that the after-sales service is excellent from the point of view of the attention of claims, since from the United States they come directly to the campus to analyze the situation.
Sánchez also emphasizes that the damage of parts is very sporadic. In fact, in the three years that this official has been linked to the university, it has only been necessary to replace three pieces of the 22 turnstiles. And that by then, the equipment already had time to use.
Finally, the expert highlights that although these turnstiles have rubber and plastic parts, they are manufactured with specifications of such quality that they have supported the use to which these turnstiles are subjected, which belong to the reference TRILOCK – 75 ES2CA of Boon Edam.
ABOUT:
Royal Boon Edam
With increasingly global and dynamic working environments, the entrance has become the focus of many buildings' activity. As the importance of entry as a point of concentrated mobility increases, the demands we face when it comes to managing the passage of people also increases. Royal Boon Edam is a leader in the global access solutions market.
Based in the Netherlands and with more than 140 years of experience in quality engineering, we have acquired extensive technical knowledge on the management of the movement of people in office buildings, airports, health centres, hotels and many other types of buildings. We focus on offering optimal services for our clients and their clients. Working alongside you, our customer, we will help you determine the exact requirements for the concentrated mobility point in and around the building and develop a solution designed for you according to three key aspects: sustainability, safety and technical service.
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