West Midlands-based security experts, Cougar Monitoring, have ensured the security of their own state-of-the-art Monitoring Centre with biometric fingerprint readers from ievo ltd.
Cougar Monitoring’s alarm and CCTV operation Centre in Cradley Heath, near Birmingham, is fully staffed on a 24/7 basis by highly trained and experienced staff who provide live security surveillance and rapid deployment of mobile response units and notification to emergency services to ensure the safety of people and property nationwide including any Smart Card Store.
The security system specified by Securenett for the Centre also required different levels of access due to the confidential nature of several of their clients’ business so that only authorised personnel with appropriate permissions could access the different areas and equipment.
Cougar Monitoring also stipulated an alternative system to traditional card and fob entry control, due to concerns that secondary credentials can be lost, stolen or shared and required a system that would be able to prove to clients that their systems and facilities operate at the highest security standards.
The solution combined ievo fingerprint readers for with the Paxton Net2 access control system to provide full biometric access control. CPNI approvedievo ultimate™ readers are used at external access points due to the robustness to safeguard entrances/exits, whilst ievo micro™ units provide internal access control points throughout the centre.
Operational areas of the facility were given different access zones, and employees working in different areas were all assigned the required access permissions applicable to the different zones controlled by ievo fingerprint reader identification points. ievo desktop registration units are kept onsite to allow for new registrations to be made.
Eric Roberts, CEO of Cougar Monitoring, commented, “Any security system is only as strong as its weakest link so it was imperative that we could demonstrate an infallible system at the Control Centre to potential clients. We are an NSI category 2 ARC/RVRC company so our security policy and regulations require the most secure solutions. The ievo biometric readers enable us to restrict access in the right areas and lock down access to unauthorised areas.”
Craig Gwilliams, Operations Manager at Securenett, added, “We chose a biometric solution to remove the reliance on identification credential that can be easily lost, stolen or shared, and can cause a drain on costs and resources. Also, the benefits of a biometric solution are that only those who have registered can gain access, and there is a considerable convenience to the user in that they (or their fingerprint) is the authorisation tool, not a card or PIN, which also reinforces the security of the facility.”
“Since the installation of security access control system was complete and all staff trained on the correct use and functionality of the system, including how ievo systems process and store biometric data for data protection (to ease concerns on staff provided a fingerprint), the system has been praised for its simplicity, effectiveness and security improvements to the facility and has proven to be very efficient and also cost-effective.”