PlateSmart’s Access Control Technology Highlighted by Security Magazine
Unique Use of License Plate Recognition
In another example, Florida Hospital, Orlando, a member of the Adventist Health System, has 1,528 beds and treats more patients in a given year than any other hospital in the U.S.
The hospital’s security staff, although well trained and conscientious, could not be everywhere at once. This was especially true in cases where the local Sheriff’s Office had to be involved; for example, when a sick or injured person was hastily dropped off at the emergency room by a driver who then sped away before anyone could stop him or her. The incident had to be thoroughly documented and the driver identified, neither of which the hospital’s staff could do reliably. There was also a need for real-time analysis of traffic entering and leaving the hospital; this would show how much parking was used by staff and patients and at what times of the day. Finally, Florida Hospital needed a secure automatic access control system for its staff garage. Existing methods required too much human intervention and did not reliably prevent non-staff from parking in the garage.
Fender saw value in a video analytics solution (ARES from PlateSmart Technologies), not only to monitor and record traffic activity in parking areas and other exterior zones but also to capture the license plate of each vehicle entering and leaving the property along with the location, date, time and a full-color image.
There is 30 fixed-location license plate recognition (LPR) cameras in the hospital’s parking garages and at key entrances and exits. Additionally, select security vehicles are outfitted with a mobile LPR unit that interfaces with the system. Uniquely and relative to card access control, 26 of the cameras also integrate with card access to perform automatic access control for the garages, allowing staff to enter and exit based on their databased license plates without having to use an ID badge, points out Fender.
O’Neill, the St. Eugene School building supervisor, also has a diverse set of assignments, helping to protect 200 students from preschool through eighth grade, instructors, administrators, and workers. It shares building space with a Catholic parish and a funeral home. With multiple activities taking place each day, the school now relies on a Web-based access control system (Honeywell’s NetAXS-123) to provide comprehensive security, enabling personnel to maintain a macro view of building security or drill down to individual doors. And, with the addition of Ethernet virtual loop (EVL) technology to the system, the school access control also benefits.