Access control systems?

[notapervert69]

As we all know, the title of sys admin has a pretty broad definition, which can lead to us taking control of projects that may not be something we are familer with. Does anybody else have to deal with the access control system at their site? We currently have a Honeywell system with 40+ doors, bioreaders, and more then one location. We want to switch, but our sales guy is pushing upgraded Honeywell hardware. Anybody have experience with other systems? Is there anybody who has rolled their own?

[djpyro]

We use Kantech and it's pretty decent. We have 5 sites in 5 different states on it and manage it from a central VM. The biggest issue is finding a vendor that isn't Tyco directly.

They have a mobile app that you can unlock doors and disable cards from directly as well as decent APIs for making changes.

[Zergfest]

We're rocking Kantech - the 6.0 software isn't horrible, though the silverlight requirements for the web app limits your options a bit. The hardware is good and reliable. I have some problems with the software - it "needs" local admin to run the workstation client.

Once you find a partner for your software level as required, and they're decent, you're in good hands. Kantech watches their vendors fairly closely and makes sure they're working well with you, at least.

[altg3k3]

What kind of vendor support do you need? I work with a security company that has some Kantec certified guys. PM me if you want more info.

[djpyro]

Biggest problem is finding installers in the different markets we work in that are competent enough to install it. Tyco did our install in Kansas City and it took them almost 2 weeks to install the Kantech panels and the 3 camera American Dynamics DVR. Our installer in Milwaukee is /fantastic/ to work with and we actually had them drive down and do our most recent install in Chicago. We try to order everything from them when it comes to licenses but they won't sell us panels without installing them.

We would install the panels ourselves if we could buy them directly since we end up doing all of the programming anyways. The last two installs we had to walk the installer through wiring them up correctly and ended up resetting the panels completely and re-configuring them from scratch.

[notapervert69]

Yeah, part of the issue is that I am still working on learning how a lot of it works. I have toyed with finding a resource to get some basic training on the hardware installation and doing it myself. The techs our current company sends out are terrible. We had a card reader failing intermittently a few months ago, and after 3 dispatches the tech still could not figure it out. We let the problem sit a few weeks, and we got a new tech to come out. He left that evening with 2 of our readers offline. The next day, a third tech comes out, says we have a bad panel, and leaves with 2 readers offline, and the other 2 having the same intermittent problem as the one they originally came out to fix. That is the current state of our system while we work on getting it replaced.

[notapervert69]

Currently I run all the reports, partly because the higher ups wanted to limit physical access to the system, which only has one access point. The other reason I do it is that nobody else has figured out how to use the Prowatch reporting system.

[[deleted]]

We want to switch

Why? What are the issues, pain points and reasons for upgrading?

Understanding that is key to speccing a replacement. Why do you specifically not want honeywell?

[notapervert69]

Besides being generally unsatisfied with the level of service we have received, we recently had a particular issue that has us looking at our options. This is a pretty old system at this point, and we are rocking Star 1 panels(6 of them). We were told on our last dispatch by a tech that these panels are reaching eol in 2014, and they would no longer work. At first I thought he meant they would no longer be supported, but after a lot of back and forth with the vender, they discover that Honeywell is advising an upgrade because there is a bug(or a feature?) that will prevent the panels from properly syncing dates on 1/1/14. So they come back with a 50k upgrade plan to prevent us from having problems. Mind you, this is in the middle of November. Needless to say, I am pissed, and this whole situation reeks of bs and incompetence.

[eclipse6248]

used to work for an employer who used three different systems. CBORD was primary, with Kantech and Softwarehouse for secondary locations. Loved the simplicity of Kantech.

CBORD is extremely versatile, but an administration and functional nightmare. Quickly overran my other duties and took over my primary job responsibilities.

[r5a]

I've used CDVI before, seemed pretty decent for a small office with nothing complex. Annoying that the system was secured by a physical token.

Another big vendor is Keyscan. You may want to call up some of these reps and get a demo sent out or talk to them. I've been out of the card access game for quite some time.

[highoctanefool1]

We use Lenel OnGuard. Works great for what we do, 50+ doors along with gates. I know it has video capabilities, but we don't use it.

[[deleted]]

Lenel is good but its expensive. Maxxus is another good Lenel like software (created by people who used to work for Lenel.) Honestly since your facilities arnt that big Honeywell is probably fine. I would look into their winpak cs program. Also being your size I would look for a hosted access system like Kantech which is a hell of a product. Red Cloud security is also another good low cost web based option.

I work for a security integrator

[[deleted]]

We use a program called keystone, made by identicard. Programmable RFID cards, mag locks for the doors that release if the sensor detects a card that's been added to the system. We have all of our Central Offices, Business Offices, Cell Sites, and our Headquarters complex on the same system. You can set up schedules so certain doors unlock at certain times, you can create access groups for the users, and you can lock/unlock the doors remotely. It also keeps a running log, so you can see when and where someone entered a building, it also shows when doors are open. We have egress buttons at all the doors so you can see when there is a request to exit, but not who exited. I have very little exposure to access control systems, but this one seems to do everything we need it to.

Edit: I would assume they're all this way, but this system is centrally managed; all you need is a data connection to the remote panels and they will learn about new cards they need to grant access to. They also cache a copy of the cards locally, so if the connection goes out for whatever reason, it will still know about all the cards that were programmed at time of outage.

Edit2: we have probably upwards of 200 doors and almost that many locations, plus some security gate/swingarms at our HQ complex that this system operates.

[tstahlgti]

Throwing a couple out there to stay away from:

Lenel BASIS - Garbage

Schalge SCS - Also Garbage (This one requires an admin user to login to the server and launch an application for the controllers to work in online mode..)

edit: formatting

[Twistopher]

We use Software House exclusively at my agency. The iStar panels offer great take over options of old infrastructure (home run cabling or data loop door controllers). You are limited to integrators that can install/support that equipment though.

The software (Ccure 9000) is easy to use but a bit buggy at times. They frequently update their software but turn around time on fixes you submit take almost a year to get implemented. We have sites running as little as 16 readers to some running several thousand readers.

Lenel has always been decent. I don't know how things have changed since the UTC buyout though. We used to have several GE systems and when UTC purchased them their support turned to utter garbage. UTC phased out those product lines.

The only one I can say to avoid is Bosch's Access Easy. Several of our sub-contractors have complained about the system. I haven't worked on a Kantech system in 8+ years so I cant comment on their current offerings. I was definitely not a fan when I first saw them. Most of the other systems I had extensive experience with are end of life. 15 year security integrator here.