The SALTO Virtual Network

Violence on school campuses around the nation has created an urgent need to find the best solution for protecting students and faculty. Because campuses have a constantly changing population of students, faculty and visitors, adequate access control—controlling who has access to building entrances and interior doors—becomes the linchpin of school safety. Access control systems can provide the structure and security to deter problems before they occur.

However, traditional hard-keyed locks are inefficient and costly, requiring complicated systems of multiple locks and keys for different levels of access, as well as requiring the expensive and time-consuming re-keying of locks when a key is lost or stolen. In addition, it’s almost impossible to track who has accessed any door at any given time.

Electronic locks have addressed many of the problems of hard-keyed systems, but they present their own set of challenges: hard-wiring each door is often prohibitively expensive, and they still require door-to-door visits to re-program each door’s lock or to pull data on access. As a result, standard electronic locks are typically found only in corporate settings.

In response to the shortcomings of both systems, educational facilities across the globe, as well as security-conscious facilities such as Heathrow Airport in London, have turned to SALTO Systems for their unique solution to security needs. The SALTO Virtual Network offers all of the advantages of standard electronic locks, with increased efficiency and much lower overall costs. Users’ Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) cards, which communicate data over a series of online “hotspot” locks and offline electronic locks, link the network and transmit data back to the central terminal that maintains the network. This immediate communication means that lost or stolen cards can be deactivated and new cards activated instantaneously, doors can be locked or unlocked with the click of a button at the terminal, and audits of door access can be run in real time. If a visitor needs access to only certain doors, their card can be restricted to open only those doors. Access can even be restricted to a certain time limit, after which the card automatically becomes deactivated.

Because the interior door locks communicate wirelessly over the network, interior door locks do not require hard-wiring, which makes installation quick and inexpensive. Whereas a hard-wired electronic lock can cost between $3000 and $4000, the SALTO system costs approximately $750 per interior door. Because cards can be deleted from the system immediately, there is no need to re-key locks when a card is lost or stolen, or when a faculty member leaves, which saves schools’ money in the long term. The wireless nature of the system also allows enormous flexibility in coverage. A series of data relayers, in addition to the RFID cards, makes it possible to control access for any number of doors over any area of campus, no matter how large the size.

Kevin Shupenia, Chief Operating Officer of Logical Choice Technologies, explained why working with SALTO was such a natural fit. “With our teams installing equipment in schools on a regular basis, we’re well-versed in the challenges that schools face with security. I knew that the SALTO Virtual Network was something that schools would be enthusiastic about.”

For more information, visit www.logicalchoice.com.

- Brian B.