Increased site security for Cougar Monitoring with integrated biometric access control

In Security Editor Industry News

Cougar Monitoring operates a state-of-the-art alarm receiving and monitoring centre based in Birmingham, UK, providing a wide range of monitoring and response services, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The highly trained team provide round the clock surveillance, as well as rapid deployment of mobile response units and notification to emergency services to ensure the safety of both people and property on behalf of their clients, ensuring fast and secure management of all security systems.

Requirements

Due to the nature of Cougar Monitoring’s services, they required a solution that would offer a high-level of security, reflecting the level of seriousness with which they take the protection of their own premises and those of their clients. Eric Roberts, CEO of Cougar Monitoring said: “As an NSI Gold Approved Alarm Receiving Centre (ARC) and Remote Video Response Centre (RVRC) our security policy and regulations require the most secure solutions to restrict access in the right areas. The new integrated biometric access control solution, with Net2 and ievo, enables us to secure our facility and prevent access to unauthorised areas.”

The site operates with assigned and restricted areas, therefore Cougar Monitoring required access control over each area to ensure only those with the authorisation could gain access.

Securenett Security Systems, specialists in IP security and fire system installation, were approached to provide a solution that would both improve the management of access to the monitoring centre and offer a convenient and reliable system for the management and staff on site.

An additional requirement for the improved system was to provide an extra layer of security with biometric authentication.

Solution

Securenett recommended Paxton’s Net2 access control solution, integrated with ievo readers for biometric identification. Net2 is a flexible networked access control system with a user-friendly interface, designed to make the management of any site straightforward.

The integration with the ievo ultimate™ biometric readers, installed on all external access points, offered an increased level of security as every user on the Net2 system is now required to provide a fingerprint which is used to determine whether access is authorised, in place of a physical token.

Operational areas of the facility were classed as different access zones within the Net2 software and employees working in each area were assigned only the access permissions applicable to their zone. Access to each zone is controlled by ievo micro™ fingerprint reader identification points.

The biometric solution has eliminated the reliance on physical tokens that are at risk of being lost, stolen or shared, which can cause a drain on costs and resources. By integrating biometric readers with networked access control, Cougar Monitoring’s specific requirements were met, and the use of fingerprint authentication has reinforced the level of site security, as well as increasing the convenience for users.

Result

Following the installation of the integrated Net2 solution, the staff were trained on the use and functionality of the ievo biometric readers. The new system has since been highly praised by Cougar Monitoring for its simplicity, effectiveness and security improvements to the facility.

Cougar Monitoring – Case Study