CAMPBELLWRIGHT.COM

Don't let this happen to your Security Camera System

Campbell Wright — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 20:04:10 GMT

Thieves in $1 million heist circumvent video surveillance system

An unfortunate occurence for a local Southern California business located in El Monte California as reported in the July 9th edition of the Los Angeles Times. The complete article and a link to the online version is posted below.

What is particularly troubling is that this could have been prevented. Most businesses fail to plan for these types of intrusions sometimes due to budgets, and sometimes due to an attitude of "it won't happen to me". In these cases, they can plan to fail as this company did. This is especially heinous given the type of business and the value of assets on hand. Proper measures could have been taken to preserve video images and/ or to properly secure the recording device(s) in order to aid authorities in identifying the perpretrators.

Here's the article:

The robbers who broke through the roof and stole perhaps more than $1 million from an armored car business in South El Monte managed to avoid being videotaped during the heist, law enforcement sources say.

Lt. Kent Wegener of the County Sheriff's Major Crimes Bureau said the company had security cameras inside. But sources familiar with the investigation said the robbers may have accessed the equipment and removed any record of their presence.

"At this point, we don't have any description," Wegener said.

Officials are still trying to tabulate the losses and determine exactly how much cash -- likely small bills destine for ATMS, was taken.

About 7:30 p.m. Thursday, three robbers peeled back the roof of the Commonwealth International building in the 12300 block of Barringer Street. The company, owned and operated by current and former law enforcement officers, handles cash for hundreds of automated teller machines across the L.A. region.

Wegener said they dropped down a rope and wove their way through a complex of vaults and safe rooms inside the building. They first jumped a manager, blindfolding him and binding his hands, Wegener said. They forced the manager to summon two other employees, who were also blindfolded and bound. The robbers took about 20 minutes dragging cash from the main vault out a side exit to a car, Wegener said.

Richard Winton LA Times July 9, 2011

Thieves in $1-million heist circumvented video surveillance system

Campbell Wright, CPP is the owner and operator of SoCal Access and Video

www.socalaccessandvideo.com and aplusid.com. SoCal Access and Video provides system design, installation and business security consultation services for the implementation of card access control systems and digital video surveillance systems. The website www.aplusid.com provides a complete shopping cart catalogue for photo ID system supplies such as ID card printers, photo ID systems, ID ribbons, plastic cards, access cards, lanyards, badge holders and badge reels that can also be customized to include your company logo or information. For more information please visit these websites or call (888) 762-2509.

What is the CPP Designation?

Campbell Wright — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 19:03:00 GMT

What is the CPP Designation?

Saturday mornings in late February and early spring mean two things for me. Little League Baseball and the Certified Protection Professional (CPP) Review Course. For the last three years, I have found it a challenge to manage both commitments, but find both interesting, fun and rewarding.

There are eight domains covered by the CPP exam encompassing the areas of knowledge and expertise necessary for security professionals to master the security function in todays complex business environment. The CPP exam is an intensive 225 question exercise that can only be taken after an extensive qualification and background screening for security professionals with more than five years of security management experience. The CPP

designation is therefore awarded to a relatively small group of professionals who have demonstrated their competency in the areas of security solutions and best-business practices. Out of 37,000 members in the American Industrial Security Society (ASIS) only 10% hold the CPP designation. These men and women are recognized as proven leaders in their profession.

The most rewarding aspect of becoming a CPP has been the continued education I have been able to partake in after passing the certification exam. For the last two years, I have been a mentor for the regional CPP Review Course. This experience has been invaluable to me by reinforcing the concepts of security management, building mutually beneficial relationships and friendships with other CPP's, and with those seeking to become CPP's and finally, the internal reward of teaching and helping others prepare for and achieve CPP status.

The eight domains and the specific areas they cover are as follows:

DOMAIN ONE - Security Principles and Practices

Plan, organize, direct and manage the organization’s security program to avoid/control losses and apply the processes to provide a secure work environment.

Develop, manage, or conduct threat/vulnerability analyses to determine the probable frequency and severity of natural and man-made disasters and criminal activity on the organization’s profitability and/or ability to deliver products/services.

Evaluate methods to improve security and loss prevention systems on a continuous basis through auditing, review, and assessment.

Develop and manage external relations programs with public sector law enforcement or other external organizations to assist in achievement of loss prevention objectives.

Develop and present employee security awareness programs to achieve organizational goals and objectives.

DOMAIN TWO -Business Principles and Practices

Develop and manage budgets and financial controls to achieve fiscal responsibility.

Develop, implement, and manage policies, procedures, plans, and directives to achieve organizational

objectives.

Develop procedures/techniques to measure and improve organizational productivity.

Develop, implement, and manage staffing, leadership, training, and management programs in order to achieve organizational objectives.

Monitor and ensure a sound ethical climate in accordance with the laws and the organization’s directives and standards to support and promote proper business practices.

DOMAIN THREE - Legal Aspects

Develop and maintain security policies, procedures, and practices which comply with relevant elements of criminal, civil, administrative, and regulatory law to minimize adverse legal consequences.

Provide coordination, assistance, and evidence such as documentation and testimony to support legal counsel in actual or potential criminal and/or civil proceedings.

Provide advice and assistance to management and others in developing performance requirements and contractual terms for security vendors/suppliers and establish effective monitoring processes to ensure that

organizational needs and contractual requirements are being met.

Provide assistance to management, legal counsel, and human resources in developing strategic and tactical plans for responding to labor disputes, including strikes.

Develop and maintain security policies, procedures, and practices that comply with relevant laws regarding investigations.

Develop and maintain security policies, procedures, and practices that comply with relevant laws regarding personnel security.

Develop and maintain security policies, procedures, and practices that comply with relevant laws regarding information security.

DOMAIN FOUR - Personnel Security

Develop, implement, and manage background investigations to validate individuals for hiring, promotion, or retention.

Develop, implement, manage and evaluate policies, procedures, programs and methods to protect individuals in the workplace against harassment, threats and violence.

Develop, implement, and manage executive protection programs.

DOMAIN FIVE - Physical Security

Survey facilities in order to manage and/or evaluate the current status of physical security, emergency and/or restoration capabilities.

Select, implement, and manage security processes to reduce the risk

of loss.

Assess the effectiveness of security measures by testing and monitoring.

DOMAIN SIX - Information Security

Survey information facilities, processes, and systems to evaluate current status of: physical security, procedural security, information systems security, employee awareness, and information destruction and recovery capabilities.

Develop and implement policies and standards to ensure information is evaluated and protected against all forms of unauthorized/inadvertent access, use, disclosure, modification, destruction, or denial.

Develop and manage a program of integrated security controls and

safeguards to ensure confidentiality, integrity, availability, authentication,

non-repudiation, accountability, recoverability, and audit ability of sensitive information and associated information technology resources, assets and investigations.

Evaluate the effectiveness of the information security program’s integrated security controls, to include related policies, procedures and plans, to ensure consistency with organization strategy, goals and objectives.

DOMAIN SEVEN - Crisis Management

Assess and prioritize risks to mitigate potential consequences of incidents.

Prepare and plan how the organization will respond to incidents.

Respond to and manage an incident.

Recover from incidents by managing the recovery and resumption of operations.

DOMAIN EIGHT - Investigations

Develop and manage investigation programs.

Manage or conduct the collection and preservation of evidence to support post-investigation actions (employee discipline, criminal or civil proceedings,arbitration).

Manage or conduct surveillance processes.

Manage and conduct specialized investigations.

Manage or conduct investigative interviews.

Coaching my son Sean's little league team is equally, if not more, rewarding for some of the same reasons. The main focus of my coaching efforts is to engage the kids on the team, get to know them and their family on a personal level and foster a spirit for learning the rules and fundamentals of the game of baseball, but mostly to have fun! Who knows maybe some of my players will be future CPP candidates.

Campbell Wright, CPP is the owner and operator of SoCal Access and Video

www.socalaccessandvideo.com and aplusid.com. SoCal Access and Video provides system design, installation and business security consultation services for the implementation of card access control systems and digital video surveillance systems. The website www.aplusid.com provides a complete shopping cart catalogue for photo ID system supplies such as ID card printers, photo ID systems, ID ribbons, plastic cards, access cards, lanyards, badge holders and badge reels that can also be customized to include your company logo or information. For more information please visit these websites or call (888) 762-2509.

Visitor Lobby Management Systems

Campbell Wright — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 16:20:00 GMT

Why does my lobby need a Visitor Management System?

There are a several Visitor Lobby Management Systems on the market today from which to choose, but how do you know which one is right for your organization and whether or not you need one?

Many organizations, large and small, still utilize the old black book sign-in log. It’s a staple at many a front desk lobby and it amazes me sometimes why these organizations even bother to have a sign-in procedure when they only see several visitors in a week, and obviously don’t use the records generated for any follow-up or real purpose.

Regardless of the number of visitors an organization experiences, employing a Visitor Lobby Management System accomplishes several objectives.

A Visitor Lobby System creates added protection through an increased accountability for non-employees who enter your facility and are exposed to your operations. This results in heightened awareness for staff to be vigilant in protecting the organizations people, assets and resources.

Visitors understand that their presence at the facility is a privilege.

A Visitor Lobby System creates a permanent, easy to audit electronic record of who is coming in and out of your facility, when these visits are taking place, as well as who within the organization is being visited.

The lobby is your first line of defense. It is the single most important security point in any building or facility where protection of personnel and property is required.  Security for your business begins in your lobby and sets the tone for the entire organization.

A Visitor Lobby Management System is the most secure process for a lobby guard or receptionist to authorize a visit. An automated system, used properly and effectively by lobby personnel, will significantly heighten facility security and process visitors quickly.

In addition to strengthening facility security, visitor management systems also:

• Improve productivity — Visitors are pre-registered electronically and multiple visitors can be processed simultaneously. The system can be integrated with the facility’s existing email system, as well as other business and security systems. It also can be used to set up meetings and attendee lists.

• Enhance your image — Badges are professionally done and visitors are processed efficiently and professionally, eliminating large waiting lines in the lobby.

• Improve visitor service — Because they are pre-registered or can be registered quickly, visitors are made to feel expected and welcome.

• Control resources — The system can track assets and deliveries and provide traffic reports for resource planning.

• Enhance emergency response — If the building must be evacuated, the system can be used to determine the presence and location of visitors within the facility.

Design of a Visitor Lobby Management System

Check-in of visitors should be quick and simple for the visitor(s), the employee hosting the visitor(s) and the front desk personnel facilitating the process. How you accomplish this is ultimately a policy decision. We generally like to work directly with management or an executive management committee to best arrive at this decision. There are several options to consider when crafting your visitor management policies.

Initially, one can still utilize a sign-in sheet to allow the visitor to fill-in the necessary information. Once this is complete the receptionist can manually enter the information into a basic visitor management software program. If desired a nondisclosure agreement could be signed by the visitor at this time as well. This initial “upgrade” is probably the least expensive and most closely represents the little black book sign in system while adding a permanent, searchable electronic record of visitors and who is they are visiting. This option also represents the least costly solution to implement and provides a relatively easy transition with staff.

The most popular system we implement incorporates a drivers license/business card scanner. This scanner is connected to a PC and communicates with the visitor management software. As the visitor’s license or card is scanned, the necessary information is extracted from the card and populates the corresponding fields in the software. The visitors drivers license photo can also be captured at this time. The photo can be printed on a visitor badge or retained in the database to provide a photo record for future use. Using a scanner in this manner is the most efficient process to quickly process visitors entering into the lobby who have not been pre-registered.

For larger organizations, a Visitor Pre-Registration System allows for visitors to be pre-registered through an internal intranet website. This is set-up on a company network and accessed by all employees via a web browser. Visitors can be registered in advance of their visit and most software will also generate an email confirmation which is sent to the visitor providing them confirmation of the meeting and directions to the facility they are visiting. If a large meeting with a group of people is taking place, one can quickly pre-register multiple people without key stroking everyone in one by one by simply importing a CSV or Microsoft Excel file.

Other considerations in designing and employing a Visitor Lobby System include, but are not limited to:

Is a non-disclosure or safety policy acceptance disclarimer required to be signed?
Are there multiple entrances and/or exits the visitor can travel through, or is each visitor to be funneled in and out of one location. Should multiple locations be the case, an enterprise level system which tracks visitors through multiple areas may be needed.
Is the visitor required to check out of the facility for confirm present visitors on properlty, and for head count auditing in the case of an emergency.
Badge design, placing a barcode on the badge allows for quick scan at exit to check out the visitor from the facility. Will a photo be included on the badge? What type of visitor badge material will be used? Choices range from a simple Avery label to self expiring visitor ID badges that change color or allow for a red "expired" to bleed through the front of the badge. How do we handle visitors who are onsite who require an access badge? Software plug-ins for most systems include the ability to interface with the company access control software so an access card badge for longer term visitors can be produced at the check-in station.
Watch Lists: A watch list can serve a variety of purposes. Past employees who are no longer allowed on the premises can be listed. In a school environment parents who may have issues with custody or restraining orders can be listed. On a positive note, the watch list can be used as a red star file to alert the receptionist of any special visitors or VIP's. In government facilities the visitor management software can easily be linked the the latest FBI watch list or other databases maintained with non-desireables or known threats to a facility.

For your consideration:

• An armed suspect walked into Washington, D.C., police headquarters and shot and killed three people, including two FBI agents. A jury awarded $1.7 million to the husband of one of the slain agents. The reason? They determined that the facility should have had a better visitor sign-in system and other safeguards in place.

• Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma Federal Building terrorist bomber, reportedly conducted preliminary walkthroughs of the Murrah Building’s ground floor before perpetrating his attack. Other would-be terrorists are likely to attempt to case buildings before attack. Effective lobby security can prevent this.

• A jury awarded $10 million against a security firm that supplied a guard for a building lobby. The guard did nothing while three loiterers in the lobby harassed a tenant and then shot him six times, leaving him paralyzed. 　

A properly designed and managed Visitor Lobby Management System must be in place that supports security physically, electronically and procedurally. Visitor Lobby Management Systems are an integral element of the total security for a building and for an organization. To best determine what level and function is best for your company, the development of registration policies and procedures for visitors is the first step to arrive at the most efficient and professional process to fit your organization. Visitor management is about controlling access, knowing who’s in the building, and making employees accountable for their visitors. A visitor management system that utilizes software tools and ID validation, combined with physical barriers and a well-designed lobby, will aid in keeping the wrong people out, while letting the right people in, quickly and efficiently.

Campbell Wright, CPP is the owner and operator of SoCal Access and Video

New California State Driver's License

Campbell Wright — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 05:53:00 GMT

New California driver's licenses so complex, manufacturer has struggled to get them right

Up to 80% of some batches have had errors, forcing tens of thousands of motorists to wait as long as six weeks, rather than a few days, to get their cards. The DMV says the turnaround time has been steadily improving.

When the California Department of Motor Vehicles unveiled a newly designed driver's license last fall -- the first major revision in a decade -- officials touted sophisticated security features that promised to make the cards easier to use and harder to fake.

The cardholder's signature and birth date would be raised, so they could be felt. Hidden images would be revealed only by ultraviolet light, and a perforated outline of the California brown bear would be visible when a flashlight was pressed against the back of the card.

As it turned out, the enhancements also made the licenses harder to produce. As a result, tens of thousands of motorists have had to wait as long as six weeks, rather than a few days, to receive their cards.

DMV Director George Valverde said the vendor, L-1 Identity Solutions, has struggled with color accuracy, the raised lettering and the positioning of images of California icons, including El Capitan in Yosemite and the Golden Gate Bridge. L-1 was the only bidder on the five-year, $63-million job, Valverde said.

The DMV issues more than 8.25 million driver's licenses and ID cards annually. Some days the agency strives to distribute as many as 40,000 cards.

But when production on the new cards began, 80% of the cards in some daily batches contained errors. In such cases, Valverde said, the agency would return the entire batch to the vendor. Complicating matters, some days the vendor delivered no cards, and the agency quickly fell behind its usual pace.

"Our expectation is that our vendor will issue us a driver's license 48 hours after an application is received; that's the requirement in our contract," Valverde said. "Needless to say, today we far exceed that time frame."

The state-of-the-art features have raised the cost of producing each card to $1.31 from 64 cents. "Color seems to be the biggest challenge," Valverde said.

L-1 Identity Solutions is based in Stamford, Conn. Its secure credentialing division, which holds the contract with California, is in Billerica, Mass. Lisa Cradit, a spokeswoman for L-1, said the company's policy was not to comment on issues related to customers.

Valverde said turnaround time has been steadily improving. He expects that by the end of the month, applicants will begin receiving cards within two weeks -- more acceptable but still not meeting the contractual requirement.

The good news, Valverde said, is that tampering with or counterfeiting the cards should prove much tougher.

"What I've been told by law enforcement is you can determine the value of a driver's license by what it costs to counterfeit it," he said. "The cost to counterfeit the old California driver's license was $100 to $200. We think the cost to produce a new one by counterfeit is going to be astronomical because it's so difficult to do."

Customers who have renewed their licenses online or by mail but have not yet received a card may request a temporary document by calling the DMV at (800) 777-0133. For more information, visit www.dmv.ca.gov.

Courtesy of martha.groves
latimes.com
January 9, 2011

Self-Expiring ID Cards for Temporary Employees

Campbell Wright — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 17:12:00 GMT

The brief article below regarding contractor ID cards not being turned in is a good illustration of why it is advisable to enable an automatic expiration date on temporary workers such as contractors. Doing so would either require the contractor to periodically renew their badges should the project take longer and/or eliminate the seriousness of having them turned in as they would expire automatically and no longer allow access through any doors or gates previously used during the project.

Article was originally published on May 21, 2010 by Alice Lipowicz in the Washington Weekly

Feds warn contractors to turn in IDs or lose cash

Contracting officer might delay final payment unless requirements met

The federal acquisition councils are preparing to tighten rules on return of federal contractor employees’ government-issued identification cards once the job is done.

The councils today released a proposed rule that would amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation to strengthen requirements about collecting the ID cards from contractors once the cards are no longer needed for work-site access.

Under the rule, the cards must be returned at the earliest of the following events: when no longer needed for contract performance, on completion of employment, or on completion or termination of a contract.

A contracting officer might delay final payment if those requirements are not met, the proposed rule states.

The rule was prompted by an audit of Defense Department Common Access Cards granted to contractors that showed that the cards were not adequately accounted for once the contract was finished, the notice states.

The rule will be published in the Federal Register on May 24, and comments are due within 60 days of publication.

The rule would apply to all forms of government identification cards given to contractor employees.

About the auhor:

Campbell Wright, CPP is the owner and operator of SoCal Access and Video www.socalaccessandvideo.com and aplusid.com. SoCal Access and Video provides system design, installation and business security consultation services for the implementation of card access control systems and digital video surveillance systems. The website www.aplusid.com provides a complete shopping cart catalogue for photo ID system supplies such as ID card printers, photo ID systems, ID ribbons, plastic cards, access cards, lanyards, badge holders and badge reels that can also be customized to include your company logo or information. For more information please visit these websites or call (888) 762-2509.

Video Surveillance Glossary

Campbell Wright — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 18:17:00 GMT

AGC

Automatic Gain Control is an electronic circuit that amplifies the video signal when the strength of the signal falls below a certain value.

Angle of View

May be expressed in Diagonal, Horizontal or Vertical. Smaller focal lengths give a wider angle of view.

Aperture

The opening of the lens that controls the amount of light reaching the surface of the pickup device. The size of the aperture is controlled by the iris adjustment.

Aspect Ratio

The ratio of width to height for the frame of the televised picture. 4:3 for standard systems

Auto Balance

A system for detecting errors in color balance in white and black areas of the picture and automatically adjusting the white and black levels of both the red and blue signals as needed for correction.

Auto Iris Lens

A lens with an electronically controlled iris, allowing the lens to maintain one light level throughout varying light conditions.

Back Focus

A mechanical adjustment in a camera that moves the imaging device relative to the lens to compensate for different back focal lengths of lenses. An important adjustment when a zoom lens is fitted.

Balun

A transformer that levels out impedance differences, so that a signal generated on to a coaxial cable can be transferred on to a twisted pair cable.

Black Level

The dark parts of a video signal corresponding to approximately 0.3 volts.

Back Light Compensation - BLC

A feature of modern CCD cameras, which electronically compensates for high background lighting, to give details that would normally be silhouetted.

BNC

Video connector used in CCTV installations.

Camera Format

The approximate size of a camera image pickup device. This measurement is derived from the diagonal line of a chip. Common formats are 1/6”, 1/4”, 1/3”, 2/3” and 1". The size of the sensor directly affects the field of view obtained. When using the same size lens on different format sensors, different viewing areas are obtained. For example, using a 6mm lens on a 1/3” sensor will give you a 37º field of view. Using the same lens on a 1/2” sensor will increase the field of view to 56º and 74º on a 2/3” sensor. It is important to make sure you have a lens that was designed for your camera’s format. The lens must be designed for at least the size of your sensor. For instance, you can use a 1” format lens on a 1/3” camera, but you cannot use a 1/3” lens on a 1” camera. If you use a lens designed for a smaller format camera, the image will be vignetted. Also, by using a lens designed for a larger format sensor, the field of view you get will be greater than what is specified.

CCD

Charge coupled device, a flat thin wafer that is light sensitive and forms the imaging device of most modern cameras. Size is measured diagonally and can be 1/3"-1/2" or 2/3". There are two types, frame transfer and interline transfer.

CCIR

The European 625 line standard for the video signal.

C-Mount

An industry standard for mounting a lens to a camera with a 1" x 32 thread and a distance from the image plane of 17.52mm from the shoulder of the lens. A C-mount lens may be used with a CS-mount camera with a 5mm-adapter ring.

Coaxial Cable

A type of cable capable of passing a wide range of frequencies with very low signal loss.

Composite

A single video signal that contains luminance, color, and synchronization information. The American standard NTSC (525 lines, 30 frames per second) and European standard PAL (625 lines, 25 frames per second) are examples of composite video.

Compression

The reduction in gain at one level of a picture signal with respect to the gain at another level of the same signal.

CS-Mount

An industry standard for mounting a lens to a camera with a 1" x 32 thread and a distance from the image plane of 12.52mm from the shoulder of the lens. A CS-mount lens may not be used on a C-mount camera.

Depth of Field

The in-focus range of a lens or optical system. It is measured from the distance behind an object to the distance in front of the object when the viewing lens shows the object to be in focus.

Depth of Focus

The range of sensor-to-lens distance for which the image formed by the lens is clearly focused. Depth of field increases with smaller lens aperture (higher f-numbers), shorter focal lengths, and greater distances from the lens

Digital Recording

One of the newest forms of video archiving and reviewing, Digital video recorders take advantage of the speed and reliability of PC hard drives and other computer storage devices such as high speed DAT media, CD-ROM and even compact flash media. Storage using these devices virtually eliminates video degradation and tape wear. Digital recording also creates a variety of remote viewing possibilities using standard transmission modes such as LAN, WAN, ISDN, and the Internet. Ensuring file security also helps to eliminate the possibility of image manipulation to ensure video authentication.

Digital Signal Processing

An algorithm within the camera that digitizes data (the image). Examples include automatic compensate for backlight interference, color balance variations and corrections related to aging of electrical components or lighting. Functions such as electronic pan and zoom, image annotation, compression of the video for network transmission, feature extraction and motion compensation can be easily and inexpensively added to the camera feature set.

Distortion

The deviation of the received signal waveform from that of the original transmitted waveform.

EIA Electronic Industries Alliance

Monochrome video signal standard used in North America and Japan: 525 lines 60Hz

Equalizer

An electronic circuit that introduces compensation for frequency discriminative effects of elements within the television system, particularly long coaxial transmission systems.

Ethernet

The most widely used LAN transmission network. Based on a bus network topology, it runs at a maximum speed over 100 meters of 10Mbit/s. It operates over conventional co-axial cable, thin wire co-axial cable and unshielded twisted pair cabling. This has several implementations - 10Base5 for use over conventional co-axial cable, 10BaseF for use over optic fibre, and 10BaseT for use over Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) cabling.

Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
An independent US government agency established in 1934 and charged with regulating interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable. Any wireless equipment must be approved by the FCC in order to be used without licensing. To receive licensing information, contact the FCC by phone at 888-225-5322 or on the internet at http://www.fcc.gov/services/amateur/about

Field
One of the two equal parts into which a television frame is divided in an interlaced system of scanning. There are 60 fields per second in the NTSC system. The NTSC field contains 262 1/2 horizontal lines. Adjacent lines in a TV picture (525 Lines total) are located in alternate fields.

Field of View

The horizontal or vertical scene size at a given length from the camera to the subject. It is determined by the lens focal length, imaging sensor size, and the distance to the subject being monitored. Usually expressed in degrees horizontal or vertical.

F-Number

Indicates the brightness of the image formed by the lens, controlled by the iris. The smaller the F-number the brighter the image.

Focal Length

The distance from the center of the lens to a plane at which point a sharp image of an object viewed at an infinite position. The focal length determines the size of the image and angle of field of view seen by the camera through the lens. This is the center of the lens to the image pickup device.

Framerate

The number of frames per second that the camera produces.

F-Stop

A term used to indicate the speed of a lens. The smaller the F-number the greater amount of light passes through the lens. Gain An increase in voltage or power, usually expressed in dB.

Gain

A measure of the ability of a circuit to increase the power or amplitude of a signal. It is usually defined as the mean ratio of the signal output of a system to the signal input of the same system. It may also be defined as the decimal logarithm of the same ratio.

Galvanometric

This is one method used on Auto Iris and Direct Drive lenses to move the iris vanes, open and closed using a coil operation.

Gamma Correction

An electronic correction carried out by the camera circuitry to balance the brightness seen by the camera to that of the monitor.

Gateway

A node that allows connection to another network using another protocol.

Ground Loop

An alternating current (AC) that can be produced in a cable. This is usually caused by parts of the system being fed from different electrical sources resulting in different earth potentials at each end of the signal path. This results in interference of the video pictures in the form of a black shadow bar across the screen or as a tearing effect in the top comer of a picture.

Ground Loop Transformer

An isolation transformer. There is no direct connection between input and output.

Hole-Accumulation Diode (HAD)

EXview HAD CCD is a trademark of Sony Corporation. The HAD CCD dramatically improves light efficiency by including near infrared light as a basic structure of the sensor. Conventional CCD sensors are sensitive to infrared light but are unable to efficiently gather the charge. Because of this greater efficiency, HAD CCD sensors achieve sensitivities approximately 4 times that of a conventional CCD.

HERTZ (Hz)

The number of variations per second (e.g. picture frames, alternating of the current, etc).

Hyper text transfer protocol - HTTP

HTTP port 80 normally this is the HTTP port address that cameras can communicate over.

Impedance (input or output)

The input or output characteristic of a system component that determines the type of transmission cable to be used. Expressed in ohms.

Infrared Lighting (IR)

Infrared - The area below the visible spectrum. Black and White cameras are very sensitive to infrared light and allow the use of infrared illuminators to enhance poorly lit locations without alerting subjects during surveillance. Color cameras are also sensitive to infrared light, but require an infrared filter to filter out the red light to keep the image colors looking natural.

IP Address

The network location of an IP camera, which can be located using a Web browser on a PC. (example – 192.168.1.100)

Iris

Mechanism within a lens to regulate the amount of light that passes through, and falls upon, the image sensor. It can be controlled manually or automatically.

Jitter

Small, rapid variations in a waveform due to mechanical disturbances or to changes in the characteristic of components. Supply voltages, imperfect synchronizing signals, circuits, etc.

LCD - Liquid Crystal Display

LCD displays/monitors are a constantly operating display (as of the time in a digital watch) that consists of segments of a liquid crystal whose reflectivity varies according to the voltage applied to them.

Lens

A transparent optical component consisting of one or more pieces of optical glass with surfaces curved (usually spherical), so that they converge or diverge the transmitted rays of an object, forming a real or virtual image of that object.

Lens Format

The approximate size of a lens-projected image. In most cases the lens will project an image slightly greater than the designated image size to insure the pickup device is completely covered. It is recommended that camera and lenses are the same format size. A lens larger format size can be used on a smaller format camera, however a smaller format lens should never be used with a larger format camera.

Lens Speed

Refers to the lens aperture or its ability to transmit light. This is measured in F-stops.

Line Locked

A camera that is synchronized to the frequency of its AC power supply.

Lumen/FT2

A unit of incident light. It is the illumination on a surface one square foot in area on which a flux of one lumen is uniformly distributed, or the illumination at a surface all points of which are at a distance of one foot from a uniform source of one candela.

Luminance

Luminous intensity (photometric brightness) of any surface in a given direction per unit of projected area of the surface as viewed from that direction, measured in footlamberts (fl).

Lux

International System (Sl) unit of illumination in which the meter is the unit of length. One lux equals one lumen per square meter. Full moon light is about 0.1 lux whereas full daylight is about 10,000 lux. Most color cameras can produce decent images during deep twilight. Most black and white cameras need about as much light as produced by a full moon. With an HAD and Super HAD CCD cameras, the only light needed is starlight on a dark night. (about 0.0003 lux)

Manual Iris Lens

A lens with a manual adjustment to set the iris opening (aperture) to a fixed position. This type lens is generally used in fixed lighting conditions.

Matrix Switcher

A combination of electromechanical or electronic switches which route a number of signal sources to one or more designations. Monochrome Black and white with all shades of gray.

Microwave

The portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that falls within the range of 300 MHz to 3 GHz. A very efficient transmission band for sending video signals wirelessly. Typical microwave video links use the following frequencies: 434 MHz, 900 MHz, 1.2 GHz, and 2.4 GHz.

Monochrome

Black and white and all shades of grey. In a monochrome video signal, this is what controls the brightness of each pixel. Since there is no color, the brightness determines what shade of gray the pixel needs to be. In a color signal, this also has control over the brightness of the pixel, whether color or not.

MPEG4

Moving picture experts group, version 4. A form of compression that makes transmission and storage of images easier.

Multiplexer with Multi-record Capability

Using a multiplexer (as opposed to a quad processor), it is possible to record multiple cameras full screen Since every video signal is comprised of 30 frames per second, you can divide these frames among each camera. A multiplexer will send a camera’s video signal a consistent rate. For example, eight cameras connected to a multiplexer with each camera recording evenly between 30 frames. In other words, each camera is recording for a single frame every 8 frames or every 0.266 seconds. When the video is played, each camera appears as though it was recorded on it’s own time lapse recorder at 3.75 frames per second.

ND Filter

A filter that attenuates light evenly over the visible light spectrum. It reduces the light entering a lens, thus forcing the iris to open to its maximum. Noise The word "noise" originated in audio practice and refers to random spurts of electrical energy or interference. In some cases, it will produce a "salt-and-pepper" pattern over the televised picture. Heavy noise is sometimes referred to as "snow".

Network time protocol - NTP

NTP Server - A central source that can set the time of all network devices.

NTSC National Television Standards Committee

Color Video Signal standard used in North American and Japanese: 525 Lines, 60Hz.

Output

The signal level at the output of an amplifier or other device.

Pan and Tilt

A device that can be remotely controlled to provide both vertical and horizontal movement for a camera.

Peak to Peak

The measurement of a video signal from the base of the sync pulse to the top of the white level. For a full video signal this should be one volt.

Phase Adjustable

The ability to delay the line locking process so as to align cameras fed from AC voltages of different phases.

Photo Detector

A device at the receiving end of an optical fibre link that converts light to electrical power.

Photocell

A device that automatically switches on the infra-red lights when light levels fall to a pre-set level.

Pic in Pic

An electronic device that superimposes the view from one camera over that of another.

Quad Splitter

A product that can display the views from 4 cameras simultaneously on one monitor. It is also possible to select any individual camera for full-screen display on real time monitoring, dependent on model.

Random Interlace

A method of combining two fields to make one frame where strict timing is not a requirement.

Reflectance

The ratio of light returned from a surface expressed as a percentage.

Reflected Light

Scene illumination multiplied by reflectance. This is the amount of light returned to the camera and determines the quality of picture.

Refracted Index Profile

A description shown in the form of a diagram illustrating how the optical density of an optical fibre alters across its diameter.

Regenerators

Devices placed at regular intervals along a transmission line to detect weak signals and re-transmit them. These are seldom required in fibre optic systems. (Often incorrectly referred to as 'repeaters').

Remote Switcher

A video switcher to which the cables from the cameras are connected and which contains the switching electronics. This unit may be remotely located and connected to a desktop controller by a single cable for each monitor.

Resolution

The amount of resolvable detail in a picture, or the maximum number of pixels that can be distinguished either horizontally or vertically. Horizontal resolution is expressed as the number of distinct vertical lines that can be seen at a distance equal to the picture height. Vertical resolution is expressed as the number of horizontal lines that can be seen in the picture.

Sensitivity

Specified in lux to provide indication of light level required to gain a full video signal from the camera.

Shutter

Ability to control the integration (of light) time to the sensor to less than 1/60 second.

Signal-to-Noise Ratio

A measurement of the noise level in a signal expressed in dB (decibels). In a video signal values from 45dB to 60dB produce an acceptable picture. Less than 40dB is likely to produce a “noisy” picture. Spot Filter A neutral density filter placed at the center of one of the elements (or on an iris blade) to increase the high end of the F-stop range of the lens.

Super HAD

The Super HAD CCD is a version of Sony’s high performance HAD with improved sensitivity from the use of more efficient on-chip microlenses. The Super HAD optimizes the shape of the on-chip lenses in order to minimize the ineffective area between the lenses on each pixel thereby minimizing lost light and improving the overall sensitivity per pixel.

Super Dynamic II

This technology lets you capture richly detailed video in scenes with extremely bright and dark areas. This is accomplished with the double speed CCD that actually captures two images at different exposures. It then combines the two into one video signal that shows detail in both bright and dark areas. Compared to a regular CCD, a Super Dynamic II chip gives you 64 times the dynamic range.

Telemetry

The system by which a signal is transmitted to a remote location in order to control the operation of equipment. In CCTV systems this may include controlling pan, tilt and zoom functions, switch on lights, move to pre-set positions etc. The controller at the operating position is the transmitter and there is a receiver at the remote location. The signal can be transmitted along a simple twisted pair cable or along the same coaxial cable that carries the video signal.

Telemetry Transmitter

The unit that is at the control position of a CCTV system and contains the keys, joysticks etc. for the remote control of pan/tilt/zoom cameras.

Termination

The video cable requires an impedance of 75 ohms at normal video signal bandwidth. This is often called 'low Z'. There is a switch on the back of the monitors to select either 75 ohm or 'high Z' (sometimes 'high/low'). If a signal is looped through more than one monitor all should be set to 'high' except at last, which should be to 'low' or 75 ohm.

Tight Buffered

A type of cable in which the optical fibres are tightly bound.

Time Lapse VCR

A type of industrial video recorder that can be set to record continuously over long periods. Typically, this can be from three hours to 480 hours, achieved by the tape mechanism moving in steps and recording one frame at a time. This means that if set to record over long periods much information can be lost. For instance, in the 72-hour mode, only 3 frames/second will be recorded instead of 25 frames/second in the real time mode. On receipt of an alarm signal these machines can be automatically switched to real time mode. With rapid advances in digital storage and retrieval techniques the mechanical video recorder is now nearing the end of its life in industrial security systems.

Unbalanced Signal

A composite video signal, transmitted along a coaxial cable, is an example of an unbalanced signal. (See balanced signal).

Unterminated

Video input of a piece of equipment, wired so as to allow the video signal to be fed to further equipment. Does not necessarily include extra sockets for the extra cables.

UPS - Uninterruptible Power Supply

A battery, attached to a piece of hardware, for example a server, that provides back up power for conducting an orderly shutdown if the server's normal power supply fails.

UTP - Unshielded Twisted Pair

The standard cabling used for telephone lines. The standard IEEE 802.3, 10BaseT, defines use of Ethernet over UTP for rates up to 10Mbit/s. The general LAN medium of choice for the 1990s.

Vertical Resolution

The number of horizontal lines that can be seen in the reproduced image of a television pattern.

Video Amplifier

A wideband amplifier used for passing picture signals.

Video Band

The frequency band width utilized to transmit a composite video signal.

Video Signal - Non-Composite

The picture signal. A signal containing visual information and horizontal and vertical blanking (see also Composite Video Signal) but not sync.

WAN - Wide Area Network

A network that covers a larger geographical area as opposed to a LAN and where telecommunications links are implemented, normally leased from the appropriate PTO(s). Examples of WANs include packet switched networks, public data networks and Value Added Networks.

Wavelength

The length of an electromagnetic energy wave as measured from one point on the wave to the next corresponding point on the wave. Usually measured from peak to peak. The wavelength determines the characteristics of the wave and determines the color of light if it is within the visible spectrum. The most common units for measuring wavelengths is the nanometer (one billionth of a micron), micron, millimeter, and angstrom.

Wavelet

Compression that is optimized for images containing low amounts of data. The relatively inferior image quality is offset against the low bandwidth demands on transmission mediums.

White Balance

Color cameras only. Different lighting sources provide different color temperatures. The white balance helps correct these differences by adjusting the color processing to bring the color temperature to a fixed level. Without this balancing feature, due to the CCD’s poor adaptability, some colors would appear different (green instead of white in sunlight).

White Level

The brightest part of a video signal corresponding to approximately 1.0 volt (0.7 volts above the black level).

Workstation

Term used freely to mean a PC, node, terminal or high-end desktop processor (for CAD/CAM and similar intensive applications) - in short, a device that has data input and output and operated by a user.

Zoom

To enlarge or reduce, on a continuously variable basis, the size of a televised image primarily by varying lens focal length.

Zoom Lens

An optical system of continuously variable focal length, the focal plane remaining in a fixed position.

Card Access Control System Basics

Campbell Wright — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 17:58:00 GMT

Overview

Access control is vital to providing a safe, secure business environment. Restricting access at specific entry points to authorized people is the basic definition of access control. The process of designing an access control system that meets your needs involves mixing appropriate technology with facilities management and existing construction environments.

Implementing an access control system where none currently exists will definitely force change on the users of the facility. Before one begins to develop an access control strategy, one must make sure to understand general employee traffic patterns as well as client expectations. Although it would be seem obvious that no one would invest in an access control system that did not limit access, the degree of access limitation you want, or can apply to your facility will be extremely important. Design for access control is based on specific functions of the facility.

This section is designed to help you understand an electronic access control system. This has sometimes been considered a minefield in the past by companies mostly familiar with intruder alarms and CCTV. SoCal Access and Video as well as A Plus ID, supplies "usable" technically advanced products that require minimal training.

Why Electronic Access Control?

Old-fashioned locks, keys and key pads leave much to be desired in anything other than a domestic environment, because:

Keys are easily copied.
Each person may require several keys.
Lost and stolen keys represent a major security risk, requiring time and money to securely and adequately inventory, issue and replace.
Key pad codes are often forgotten.
Key pad codes are often shared with others.
Traditional locks and stand alone key pads neither tracks entry, exit or maintains an event log

With a modern electronic system these problems are a thing of the past.

Electronic systems can provide additional security by enforcing time rules, by raising an alarm in the event of an unauthorized attempt to gain access, and by recording all access movements, in and out, for analysis in the event of a security breach or facility emergency.

Is a card access control system difficult to specify and install?

SoCal Access and Video in cooperation with their client conducts a fifty point security survey which determines the basic facility requirements, selecting system components can be quickly narrowed down. Basic questions regarding the number of doors and people will usually indicate a specific operating parameter and system component types.

Security Survey and site and assessment risks

Total security is something to aspire to, however, most commercial organizations – as opposed to the government and military evaluate how much security is appropriate to the risk, and this will inevitably involve budget considerations. The best security systems reduce the immediate risk while allowing for non-redundant expansion as needs grow. This does not necessarily mean the addition of more doors and more people but also the need for better security practices incorporated into daily management and business flow. Unfortunately, we live in a time when each year, risk increases. In developing an access control system proposal, SoCal Access and Video will provide a comprehensive fifty point site survey. This site survey will involve assessing where and what are the highest risks, while also establishing how risk may be reduced. For example, a high risk may be where there is a combination of the following factors: an un-secured door, with no people about on either side of the door, leading to an area where vandalism, theft or abduction may occur. Once determined which security measures should be implemented, a proposed list of access points to control and programming parameters for each door. SoCal Access and Video will work with management to establish how much control to apply. This is rarely a case of "all-or-nothing" – where any person with a card can gain access wherever and whenever they want – and so it’s necessary to look at various enhancements to establish which ones can be applied:

Feature	How it works	Where it is of benefit
Access Levels	Each person can only go through certain doors.	If some areas in the organization are felt to need higher protection than others, for reasons of, for example, theft or confidentiality. This is probably true for most organizations.
Time Zones	Each person can only go through certain doors at certain times.	If there are times of day or days of the week when certain people should not be present – for example, a business whose normal office hours are 9-to-5 might wish to allow access only during the hours of 8 a.m. until 6 p.m.
Card+PIN	After using a card, a person must type in a PIN before the door will open	If there is a risk of lost or stolen cards being used. This risk may be at its highest when the number of people in the area is at its lowest – in which case this feature can be scheduled automatically.
Anti pass-back	After a card has been used to gain access to an area, it cannot be used again for a given time ("timed anti pass-back") or until the card has been used to leave the area.	Where there is a risk of one person inside an area handing a card to someone outside the area. The risk is higher where turnstiles are installed, because ordinary doors allow "tail-gating" anyway.
Man traps	A door will not open unless another door is closed.	Where there is an "air-lock" situation – e.g. dust-free zones – or where tailgating can be prevented by two doors close together with room for only one person in between them.
Alarms	Any "unexpected" event or "abnormal behavior" can be notified to a supervisor, who can then establish what happened and decide how to respond.	This can benefit every installation. For example, if a door is left open too long, or a person tries to gain access where they are not allowed, then these represent risks that can and should be eliminated. There are many different types of events that can be detected and dealt with – too many to list here.
Point-monitoring	"Spare" inputs on the access control system can be used to monitor windows, fire exits and the like.	If there is a risk that open windows and fire exits could allow people to by-pass the access control system.

A few words about identification

All electronic access control systems work on the basis of identifying a person before deciding whether to unlock the door. The means of identification fall into three categories.

PIN-only entry systems

These are the least secure. Those with a common code – where everyone uses the same number – are the cheapest and least secure.

Slightly better are unique PIN systems, where each person has a different number and these do at least allow you to delete a single code if it has become "compromised". But there is still the risk of deliberate or accidental passing on of a code, and little way of knowing that this has happened.

Token-based systems

This type of system is the most popular, and the type that the remainder of this section will focus.

Token based systems, using cards, tags etc., provide much better security. Each token is usually unique – or as near to unique as makes no matter – and if you are concerned about stolen tokens you can require a PIN number in the way that cash machines do.

The choice of card technology can seem bewildering at first, but each technology has its own set of unique characteristics and pricing structure. Fundamentally, there are two types – those that you have to insert or swipe, and those where the card is read at a distance. The latter kind is mostly short range (i.e. proximity) working from 2" up to 6".

Biometric systems

After several years in existence, biometric systems are only now starting to find acceptance in the general, as opposed to specialized, security market. Fingerprint recognition seems to be the most popular at the moment in terms of cost, accuracy and acceptability. Facial recognition is a technique that has been proven and the price/performance ratio is no longer cost prohibitive.

Components in a token-based system

ID Card

This is what the person carries in order to identify himself or herself to the system. It may be credit-card-sized, or it may be more like a fob on a key-ring. It may have to be "swiped" through a slot in the reader or merely brought to within a few inches ("proximity").

If there is no pre-existing reason for choosing one technology over another (e.g. if the cards have to also be used in another system such as a time-and-attendance recorder) then the choice of technology will be based on cost of readers, cost of cards, level of security offered and personal preference:

Technology	Reader cost	Card Cost	Security*	Other issues
Mag-stripe	Low	Low	Low	Mis-reads are common. Readers are usually not weatherproof. Cards are easily damaged through accidentally erasure of the coding.
Wiegand	Medium	Medium	Medium	Old technology; often site-specific so long lead-times at manufacture
Infra-red (Microcard)	Medium	Medium	Medium	Small readers, mis-reads are rare. Cards are more secure and more robust than mag-stripe.
Proximity	High	Medium to High	High	Easy to use and cost effective. Most cards are "passive" (i.e. contain no battery) and therefore have an unlimited life.
Hands-free	High	High	High	Can read when you don't want them to; e.g. walking down corridors past doors. Most cards are "active" (i.e. contain a battery) and therefore have a limited life.
Smart Card (e.g. Mifare)	High	High	High	Can be useful where several different systems are installed and only one card per person is wanted.

* Card security – the risk of copying - is not a single issue. It relates to the need for time, equipment, money, and special material. It also relates to the risk of the copying being detected.

ID Card Reader

This is what identifies the person to the controller, by reading the card and sending its unique identity.

Some readers are more prone to vandalism than others, so risk-assessment needs to be carried out. If a reader is attacked, it may result in unauthorized access (see "intelligent readers") but usually will result in authorized people being denied access. Some proximity readers can be hidden behind panels so that being invisible better protects them.

Two readers may be required on some installations – either to enforce anti pass-back rules or to monitor everyone’s whereabouts. But this only works if turnstiles are used.

Access Control Locks

The choice of lock depends firstly on the door – electric strikes or bolts, magnetic locks, turnstiles or barriers are all options depending firstly on the architecture – and secondly on the required resistance to attack.

As the "lock" is normally located on the edge of the door furthest from the hinge, double-doors represent a particular problem unless one door is fixed closed during normal operation (i.e. it is normally opened only for emergencies or to allow large objects to pass through).

Another problem situation is a door that "swings" – i.e. opens both inwards and outwards so it can be pushed open from either side. Frameless glass doors also require special solutions.

All lock types have their advantages and disadvantages – if you are unsure which type to choose then gather as much information as possible about the door and we will suggest an appropriate solution.

Magnetic access control locks have become very popular as they provide rapid solutions in a wide variety of circumstances – often without the need for major surgery to the door, frame or pre-existing "furniture".

There are two types: face-to-face for outward opening doors and shear locks for inward opening and swing doors. These locks are available in a range of strengths and designs. Note that some designs will reduce "headroom" and may have health-and-safety implications if there is a risk of injury from the metal edges of the mechanism.

Door sensor

The door sensor is an optional piece of equipment, which serves two purposes:

For access control, the door sensor provides an extra level of security. If the lock release time is set to 10 seconds, it is quite possible for someone to get through the door in only two or three seconds after using their card. This leaves seven or eight seconds of 'un–expired' time, during which (if no door sensor was fitted) the door could still be opened. However, if a door sensor is fitted, then as soon as the door opens the lock release is de–energized. The door re–locks as it closes.

For access monitoring, having a door sensor fitted means that all occurrences of the door opening and closing can be monitored from the security server.. Also, relays can be set to operate – and thereby sound an alarm – if a door opens when it shouldn't (i.e. the access control system had not released the lock), or if the door stays open for too long.

Egress

This is an optional piece of equipment, which allows people through a door – from the secure area to a less secure area – without the use of a card or PIN. Pushing a button causes the lock to be released, just as if a card had been entered (i.e. for the pre–programmed 'lock release time').

This is sometimes used as a 'reception' button, where someone inside the building can let someone else in.

More commonly, the egress button permits a person to exit the building or room. Although certain types of door lock mechanisms permit egress by turning the handle on the inside, this may be detected by the security server as a 'door forced' situation. In other words, the door has opened but no card or PIN was used. Installing an egress button eliminates this issue.

Note that fire regulations require people to be able to exit an area without depending in any way on electrical systems.

Door Ajar Sounder

An access control system is useless if the door is propped open. If a door sensor is fitted, then a sounder can be used to alert anyone in the vicinity that this has happened. Loud buzzers are very effective at persuading people not to do this in the first place!

Controller

Separate door controllers control one door or several. All authorization and event logs are contained within a door controller. This means that if the security server were to fail the authorizations would continue through the door controller and the facility would remain secure.

Software

Software provides a means of programming cards and setting the rules for the system – normally this information is sent to the controllers so that it is the controller(s) that make the decisions. These rules are also stored in a database on the computer so that (a) you can see what you have programmed and (b) if a failed controller has to be replaced then it can be re-loaded with the necessary information.

Software will normally also monitor the system, recording events (e.g. who has gone through which door and when) and saving the information to disk so that reports can be printed. Normally, you will be able to view these events in "real-time" so that you can watch as people move around.

Special Situations

Car Parks

People don’t want to get out of their cars so that they can use their card to raise the barrier – this is an ideal situation for proximity readers.

If a car park cannot hold all the cars that might want to use it, then some form of occupancy control needs to be implemented. This can sometimes be part of the barrier system, where a counter can be reset when the car park is empty, and from then on counts all the cars in and all the cars out. The barrier will not be raised if the counter is above a set limit. This form of control can also be applied by the access control unit, which counts cards rather than cars and can be cheaper to implement as it may reduce the need for vehicle loops.

Remote Sites

Remote sites can be considered as being of two types – those where local administration and monitoring is required, and those where it is not.

If local administration is required, then usually the two sites will be linked together by a permanent-available connection – for example a wireless access point. This is because in any system there is usually only one database – and any administration terminal must be linked to the database.

If local administration is not required then an occasional connection may be implemented. For example, dial-up modem over conventional telephone lines. The central computer will connect to the remote site whenever there are commands and card numbers to be sent, and will also connect on a regular basis to collect event data. The access control units on the remote site will connect to the PC whenever there is an alarm to report.

Alarm Management

An access control system will generate event data that may be useful in analyzing what happened after an incident has occurred. However, nobody is likely to want to sit in front of a screen watching this happen in "real time". This is where alarm management comes in – this is the principle of notifying someone only as and when a specified event occurs.

The general principles of good alarm management systems can be summed up as follows:

It must be hard to miss the fact that an alarm has been raised.

It must be easy to establish what the event was, and where it happened.

If there is more than one alarm, it must be easy to establish which is the more important one (importance is pre-defined by the system administrator).

The operator must be able to find out what he or she is supposed to do about the alarm.

The system administrator must be able to find out what alarms have occurred, which operators dealt with them and how quickly they did so.

Employees versus Visitors

Even trusted employees should be controlled. Essentially, by giving them a card you are saying, "I trust you". But even if you have thoroughly vetted all your staff, and have done psychological or background profiling to establish trustworthiness, circumstances can change.

By restricting access only to those areas and only during those times appropriate for the employee's level of responsiblity will minimize risk. If someone has been told exactly where they can and can’t go, and they try to "bend the rules" by trying their card in a prohibited area – or if someone has stolen their card and is trying gain unauthorized entry because they don’t know where that card is allowed – the system will alert the proper authorities!

Anti pass-back also prevents a dishonest employee from gaining access through a door or turnstile and then passing their card to someone else.

And if you don’t discover until much later that a security breach has occurred – the event log will show you all events from the system – doors opening, closing, being left open too long, fire doors propped open. It may well be that the monitoring is as useful as control in providing deterrence.

SoCal Access and Video card access systems provide these additional features and they naturally are included within the software.

An integrated visitor/lobby management system and the proper polices with respect to handling visitors can be an invaluable tool to protect your company assets, information, trade secrets and employees. Visitors should be classified by their frequency of visits and the access level they are qualified to possess. For example, the UPS driver will have a different visitor access level versus a regional manager or Vice President who visits quarterly for meetings and site inspections. These considerations will be discussed and taken into account during the 50 point security survey. Additionally Visitor badges can be set to expire both internally disallowing access and by providing a visual change to the actual badge to indicate the badge, and the visitor have overstayed their time on the premises.

System Integration

Integration with other security systems – particularly CCTV – is becoming a common requirement. In an unattended situation, rather than having the CCTV system switch through the cameras on a programmed sequence, it is possible for the access control system to react as an unusual event occurs by sending a command so that pictures are recorded at the location of the event for later analysis.

Another integration feature of SoCal Access and Videoaccess control systems is for high-security low-traffic situations, for example late at night, where you might want a guard to decide whether to allow access or not. If the guard is not close to the point of access, which is quite possible where more than one point of access exists, then when a user swipes their card, the system can:

Alert the guard that someone wants to gain access.
Bring up a picture stored in the access control database of the true owner of the card.
Switch a CCTV camera so the guard can see the live picture of the person standing there

The guard can check that the two images match, and release the door by simple command to the access control system. This need take no more than a few seconds – and the guard might be many miles from the door!

Where guards provide security, they may well be responsible for dealing with alarms generated by the access control system. If they are on tour around the site, they could be alerted by a message sent to their pager or mobile phone. Also, while on tour, if they fail to use their card at a certain point by a certain time, the system could raise another alarm to summon help in case they have been attacked.

Intruder alarms are normally active out-of-hours, while the access control system is mainly used during work hours. However, at the point where these two overlap – e.g. first person in and last person out – the access control system can over-ride the intruder system by shunting intruder detection contacts or arming or disarming the system. Also, if a security incident occurs, comparing event logs from the two systems can provide useful evidence.

Cabling

The limitations and economics of running cables need to be considered:

Reader cables have limitations due to signal degradation over distance. Typically, 100 meters is the limit on 24awg – but it is substantially more with proper cable gauges.
Low-capacitance cable will normally be required for reader and communications cables.
Lock-strike cables have limitations due to voltage drop. Simple calculations are employed to determine what specification of cable to use.

Other Benefits from Access Control systems

There are many ways in which an access control system can benefit an organization.

Security can be further enhanced if the access control card also bears a picture of the rightful holder. If staff members are instructed to challenge anyone not wearing a card, or if the picture doesn’t match the face, then every employee suddenly becomes an additional security guard.

Because the system can record all comings and goings, the data can be used for other purposes. For example, calculation of the time spent on the premises can be used for attendance totals, and this in turn can be cross references with payroll records in case of discrepancies. Further, in the event of a fire alarm or other catastrophe, the system can list all those people on the premises and also those who have presented themselves at muster points. This does require significant enforcement of rules requiring every person to swipe in as well as out even if someone holds the door open for him or her.

In closing, always think about the people who have to use the system. If the system makes it hard for them to do their job – in particular through queuing to get through turnstiles, or being refused access where they should have been allowed - eventually it may have to be significantly revised or possibly de-commissioned. Fortunately, SoCal Access and Video, working with their clients will arrive at the best possible solution for your unique facility. SoCal Access and Video has mastered all of the aspects we have covered of benefit to employees as well as the employer to increase efficiencies, facility security and return on investment.

About the auhor:

Campbell Wright, CPP is the owner and operator of SoCal Access and Video www.socalaccessandvideo.com and aplusid.com. SoCal Access and Video provides system design, installation and business security consultation services for the implementation of card access control systems and digital video surveillance systems. The website www.aplusid.com provides a complete shopping cart catalogue for photo ID system supplies such as ID card printers, photo ID systems, ID ribbons, plastic cards, access cards, lanyards, badge holders and badge reels that can also be customized to include your company logo or information. For more information please visit these websites or call (888) 762-2509.

ID Card Basics

Campbell Wright — Sun, 30 May 2010 13:51:49 GMT

ID Cards

ID cards are generally produced using either a traditional film based method or digital printing technology. The older, more traditional process for producing personal ID cards is a multi-step process which is time consuming and costly as compared to a digital system. Card produced in this fashion can also be easily counterfeited or changed.

Take an instant photo of the person, cut and trim the picture to fit the ID card.
Separately print the person's ID information on a card-sized piece of paper or card stock. Laminate the picture and card together.

This process has been widely used in various applications including student ID cards, employee ID badges, club membership cards, and driver's licenses.

Many ID users do not see a need to upgrade their ID card production capabilities if the projected card production is relatively low (below fifty cards annually). At this production level, one will possibly want to consider an entry level, ink jet ID Card system or may also want to consider outsourcing card production.

Digital ID card printing is a one step process in which text, graphics and pictures are physically printed on a plastic card directly from a computer system without any user intervention. These cards are usually the same size as a standard credit card and made of a plastic called Polyvinyl Chloride otherwise known as PVC. Plastic ID cards can be printed in monochrome or full color, front side only or on both sides.


Digital access control ID card with photo image and standard hologram	Digital access control and stored value debit passenger card with photo ID and smart chip	Digital club membership card with photo ID, membership number and bar code

ID Card Printers - How they work

PVC plastic ID card printers feature all the same basic printing operations; dye sublimation and/or thermal transfer printing. Both techniques involve a ribbon being heated as it passes under a thermal print head. The difference is that thermal transfer ribbons heat up and transfer ink onto the plastic card, and dye sublimation ribbons heat up and undergo a chemical change process that turns the ink into a gaseous state which then permeates the plastic card.

The ribbon used in color dye sublimation printing is divided into three separate color panels Yellow, Magenta, and Cyan
(see Figure 1). This configuration is referred to as YMC.

Fig1

These three colors are the primary colors used in ID card printing to produce all other colors including black.

The dye from the ribbon is applied to the plastic card via a multi-pass operation. This means the card will pass under the print head once for each of the three colored ribbon panels - applying each color separately.

The term Dye Sublimation is also referred to as Dye Diffusion. When the Dye on the printer ribbon is heated by the print head it is transformed from a solid to a gas and diffused onto the plastic card (the card is specially coated to absorb the color dye). The hotter the elements in the print head, the more dye is converted to a gas and absorbed into the plastic card. At 300dpi the picture quality and continuous color tones produced by a dye sublimation printer outperform most laser or ink jet printers with higher resolutions.

The advantage of dye sublimation is the millions of colors that can be created. The colors result from a combination of the panels on the ribbon. By combining these colors and varying the intensity of the heat, providing various shades of each color, you are virtually unlimited in your color selection.

Thermal Transfer differs from Dye Sublimation in that Thermal Transfer uses Ink rather than Dye. Both Dye Sublimation and Thermal Ink (sometimes refered to as Resin) can be combined in one ribbon (see Figure 2). This ribbon is referred to as a YMCK Ribbon. The letter "K" is the designator for the color black in the printing industry.

Fig2

Why do you need a separate black panel, when you can create black by mixing the three basic YMC colors together?

The answer to this question is simple. When black is created by mixing the YMC colors together it creates what is referred to as "Composite Black." Composite Black typically looks muddy or has a grayish tint when compared to Thermal Transfer (TT or resin) black. Composite Black is not recommended for printing bar codes on ID cards since combining the three colors together does not produce the sharp edge many scanners require (this is invisible to the naked eye but can be observed under magnification). Composite Black is also invisible to IR scanners since there is no carbon in the dye. Since you may not know what type of scanner will be used, the rule is to always use TT (resin) black to print bar codes.

PVC ID card printers are capable of printing in monochrome using a single color ribbon. These ID card printer ribbons are less expensive than full color multi-panel ribbons and can be either dye or ink (thermal transfer). The most commonly used monochrome ribbon is "Black" but there are several other colors available including; Red, Green, and Blue.

Dye sublimation ribbons are preferred when you are printing pictures on ID cards, since they can produce many shades of gray for a smoother look and a better picture quality. A resin black picture normally uses a dithered gray scale (gray made from a combination of pixels which limits the number of shades), producing a coarser, grainy look to the image.

Thermal Transfer (resin) ribbons should be used to print text, bar codes or single color graphics such as simple logos. Black monochrome ribbons are represented by the letter "K" followed by a lower case "r or d", (Kr or Kd). The "r" designates a Thermal Transfer ribbon with resin ink. The "d" designates a dye sublimation ribbon.

ID card printers apply various types of materials are used to protect plastic ID cards from abrasion, wear, fading. Alternation, and duplications. Overlay varnishes and laminate patches are the most common materials used to enhance ID card durability and security.

Card durability has to do with how well the card withstands various forms of environmental stress. They include resistance to abrasion, such as passing the card through a magnetic stripe or bar code reader, protection from image fading when exposed to sunlight, and resistance to damage when immersed in water or exposed to chemicals.

Another important factor in applications such as drivers licensing is resistance to tampering, alteration, and/or replication. With the use of protective materials such as laminate patches with holograms, cards can be constructed to eliminate the potential of tampering and alteration. Card security means that the ID card can be verified for authenticity.

Techniques include the application of overlay varnish or overlaminate materials with or without hologram images. Use of these materials in constructing cards makes replication by anyone without access to the hologram image materials virtually impossible.

Material	Card Life	Durability	Security
Overlay Varnish	Up to 2 years	Minimal
Overlay Varnish with Hologram	Up to 2 years	Minimal	Visual
Clear Patch Overlaminate	Up to 5 years	High
Patch Overlaminate with Hologram	Up to 5 years	High	Visual

ID card overlay varnishes provide card protection, but have a much shorter life span than laminate patches - and offer very little security (with the exception of some hologram varnishes). Varnishes are not a solid covering and have multiple tiny holes in the surface, which allows the dyes to be drawn away from the card. This will cause the image on the card to blur and fade due to UV light, shift in color, or just wear away. The life expectancy of a plain plastic card is up to 2 years.

ID Card Overlaminates

ID card laminate patches offer better protection than plain varnish, for both security and life expectancy. A patch laminate is, as its name implies, a polyester patch that is applied to the surface of the card after printing. Laminate patches, most often either .6 or 1.0 mil thick are applied via a hot roll laminating station that is usually incorporated into the ID card printer for efficiency and easy operation. The life expectancy of a plastic card with a laminate patch is up to seven years.

Bar Codes

Many times the key to understanding a technology is to understand why it came about. One of the first publications concerning barcodes was one written by someone at NCR (National Cash Register) titled: "Keyless Data Entry". This was around 1973. The publication described a method of entering data into a Point of Sale System without having to use the keys. Cash Registers had become data terminals attached to a main computer in large retail and grocery stores. This is why they were no longer even called Cash Registers. When the clerk "rang up" items this new Cash Register did a lot more than total up your bill and calculate your change. Actually, the clerk didn't even enter the price of the items any more; but rather a series of numbers that described what the item was. This number was sent to the computer. The computer looked up the price and sent it back to the Point of Sale System and also subtracted the product from the store inventory. When the inventory got low enough the computer could process the paperwork to order more products. The computer also compiled various reports for the store management so they knew all about their inventory; what the fast moving products were; the slow moving ones and a lot of other things about how their store was running. Of course the key to accurate transactions and accurate information for management all relied on the clerk entering those numbers accurately.

It didn't take long to realize that human beings are not very good at reading a series of numbers from an object and entering them correctly on a keyboard. A lot of mistakes are made, especially when the clerk is expected to do this hundreds or even thousands of times a day. Somehow, a method had to be devised to mark the necessary information on each product in a manner that some type of "machine" could read the information accurately provided that the clerk just held the item so the machine could see this special marking. It would also be necessary that this special marking be added to the product at very little or no cost. This requirement, of course led to the development of barcodes.

The types of barcodes in use today can be roughly divided into two categories; Retail and Industrial. The example discussed above of why barcodes came about, covers their usage in retail applications. But barcodes are used everywhere these days. You've seen the TV ads for UPS and Federal Express saying that they know where your package is at all times. You can even use your PC to find out the status of your shipment. None of this would be possible without barcodes. So, let's look at the main barcode symbologies in use today.

The retail sales business in the United States mainly uses the UPC or Uniform Product Code. If you're a manufacturer of retail products you must apply for a UPC barcode for that product by contacting the Uniform Code Council. A normal UPC code contains 12 digits. The first digit tells what type of product the code is on (retail, pharmaceutical, etc.). The next five digits identify the manufacturer of that product. The next five digits identify a specific product produced by that manufacturer. The last digit is a check digit used to tell if the barcode scanner read the first eleven digits correctly. In Europe the EAN or European Article Numbering code is used. It's similar to UPC, but contains an extra digit as part of the identification of the country where the product originated. EAN is also used in some applications in the US, such as Booklan code.

In industrial applications many different types of barcodes are used because the type of information that is contained in the barcode varies considerably. Retail applications just require the product and manufacturer. In industrial applications the barcode can contain part numbers, serial numbers, lot identification or just about any other piece of information about an object. The characters in the barcode might be numbers, letters or other punctuation marks, in any combination. There might be a limited area to mark the code, requiring the highest density of information possible.

The three most common codes used in industrial applications are Interleaved 2 of 5, Code 39 and Code 128.

Interleaved 2 of 5 code is designed to encode numbers only. It is a two level code, meaning that the bars and spaces have only two widths. The code is interleaved in that one digit is represented by a series of five bars, two of which are always wide. The next digit is represented by five spaces, two of which are always wide. For this reason an Interleaved 2 of 5 code always contains an even number of digits. A leading zero is usually added if an odd number of characters are to be encoded. All codes have unique patterns at the start and end of the code. This tells the barcode reader which direction it is reading the code. Most all codes can be scanned front to back or back to front, as long as the scanner knows which way it's going. Because of the simple start/stop pattern it is possible for a decoder, looking for an Interleaved 2 of 5 code, to mistake printing for the code and try and decode it. Many times the decoder will be successful in decoding a two digit code. To avoid potential problems with Interleaved 2 of 5 code, always use four digits or more. In addition, always try to use the same number of digits and program your decoder to only accept a code with only that number of digits.

Code 39 is a two level code that is designed to encode both letters and numbers. The standard version encodes upper case letters A-Z, numbers and a few punctuation marks. The asterisk (*) character is always used as a start and a stop character. Extended Code 39 encodes all 128 ASCII characters. Code 39 is the code most often used in industrial applications. Even where only numbers are involved, because it is not subject to the problems outlined above. It is called Code 39 because each character is made up of nine elements, five bars and four spaces, and three of the nine are wide, while the remaining six are narrow. Extended Code 39 uses certain character pairs to represent characters not normally present in Code 39. This works fine but the added characters take the space that would normally yield two characters, so the resulting code is longer than normal Code 39 for a given number of characters.

Code 128 is the best code to use when all 128 ASCII characters are needed. It is a four level code, meaning that bars and spaces can have four different widths. There are actually three versions of Code 128. The A version encodes all upper case alphanumeric characters plus all of the ASCII control characters. The B version encodes all upper and lower case alphanumeric characters. The C version encodes numbers only. It is possible to switch between character sets within the code by using shift characters. The advantage of Code 128 is that it can encode all ASCII characters in the shortest possible code length. The disadvantage is, because it has four different bar and space widths rather than two, more demands are put on printing and decoding technologies.

ID Card Encoding

Magnetic stripe cards have been in existence since the early 70's when they were used on paper and film-based ID cards as well as credit cards. Magnetic stripe technology is widely used throughout the world on plastic cards and remains the dominant technology in the United States for transaction processing and access control. Other technologies such as PDF bar codes and smart chip cards for ID cards are now capturing part of the magnetic stripe market since they can hold more information.

Magnetic Stripe Plastic ID Card

Magnetic stripe encoding terms:

Coercivity

A technical term used to designate how strong a magnetic field must be to affect data encoded on a magnetic stripe. Coercivity is measured in Oersteds (Oe). Coercivity is the measure of how difficult it is to encode information in a magnetic stripe.

HiCo

Abbreviation for High Coercivity. HiCo magnetic stripes provide the highest level of immunity to damage by stray magnetic fields. They are more difficult to encode than LoCo magnetic stripes because the encoding requires more power. HiCo magnetic stripe cards are slightly more expensive for this reason.

LoCo

Abbreviation for Low Coercivity. Easier to encode and slightly less expensive than HiCo magnetic stripe cards. Selecting which type of magnetic stripe to adopt depends on how the card is to be used. Will the magnetic stripe be used daily, once a month, or just a couple of times a year? The chart below shows some of the applications where magnetic stripes are used and which stripe is common for that application.

Applications	LoCo	HiCo	Usage
Access Control			daily
Retail Customer Loyalty Cards			weekly
Membership Cards			weekly/monthly
Time and Attendance			daily
Debit/Credit	International	United States	weekly/monthly
Drivers License			Occasionally, but HiCo required by most states.

The easiest way to determine visually if a stripe on a card is HiCo or LoCo is by the color. HiCo stripes are black and LoCo stripes are a lighter brown. Magnetic stripe readers are "blind" as to whether a stripe is HiCo or LoCo and are designed to read both.

Another term often used is Stripe-up and Stripe-down. Stripe-up means the magnetic stripe is on the front of the card and Stripe-down means the magnetic stripe is on the back of the card. This information is important when ordering a printer since the magnetic encoder must be installed differently for Stripe-up and Stripe-down models at the factory. The most common is Stripe-down.

All major ID card printer manufacturers follow the ISO standard for encoding, but can be changed via the Windows driver to enable proprietary encoding. Proprietary encoding offers greater security and most readers can also be easily reprogrammed to read custom encoding.

E-card Features Insert E-card features graphic from pdf file

E-cards is an industry term that includes both proximity and smart cards. E-cards offer the greatest security available because they can contain vast amounts of data and information.

Proximity Cards

Proximity cards are at the entry level of the secure e-card continuum. They are widely used in access control applications, giving the user a great deal of keyless convenience. A proximity cards internal antenna provides a greater security than a magnetic stripe whose data is vulnerable to strong magnetic fields or decoding. Proximity cards signals are not easily intercepted.

Smart Cards

Smart Cards are at the high end of the secure e-card continuum. They provide the most security because they can store and transfer a significant amount of information. Plus they are extremely tamper resistant. Because they can store biometric data like fingerprints, iris scans and signature dynamics, you can authenticate identify or verify information. This allows you to control access and track usage of physical assets and data.

My First Blog Entry

Campbell Wright — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 18:54:50 GMT

My first Blog entry begs the question, why am I doing this?

Egotistical self promotion? Need more interactive stimulus besides Facebook and Twitter? Too much time on my hands? Well, really none of these pertain to my motivations, but instead, I realized that I had some specific information and knowledge I would like to share. Throughout my adult life, I have enjoyed success, and in contrast some failures. I have benefited from all of these experiences in one way or another, but more than anything I have benefited from a philosophy throughout my travels of savoring the journey of life and concentrating on a path of life long learning and continuous improvement through a thirst for knowledge, ongoing education and being a student of life’s experiences. I believe strongly that there is something to be learned from each person who crosses my path.

I enjoy speaking to and writing about topics with which I have specific experience and expertise. I also possess a persistent curiosity and thirst for knowledge to learn how things work, how things came to be, reading about and participating in divergent opinions of where things are headed. I am continually surprised by how my specific knowledge in the ID, security and management arena is not necessarily common knowledge and wish to share that knowledge and thoughts with those who would be interested in listening.

Educational Consultant Shakti Gattegno, speaks about connecting to your core . . .

“Start with self-reflection, which requires observing oneself in the lighting of awareness and without judgment. It helps to pay close attention to what you are or have rather than to emphasize what you think you’re not or don’t have. The more one is connected to oneself, the greater will be one’s capacity to reach out. And the less one will expend energy trying to please the world.”

Events of the last year have created a greater self awareness and desire within myself to reach out and share what I have and to connect to others who have similar interests and objectives.

After many years of severe dislike of my name I have come to appreciate the moniker my parents bestowed upon me and decided after a quick search of available domain names that in fact, my name is somewhat unique and that I should embrace the nightmare of my youth and consider creating a website domain with my name to further my cause.

So what can you expect from me on this forum? I hope to post a new entry at least weekly. I plan on writing about various topics that interest me and on which I have specific knowledge and expertise, however, I also plan on sharing content from other sources ranging from trade publications, journals, news sources and magazines. I do not foresee limiting my entries to only “work” related topics. I may add some anecdotes from my daily travels and experiences.

And so, that is my story and I hope that you will enjoy and contribute to my blog with your comments and any other materials that would be appropriate. In closing, a quote from Leonard Nimoy struck me as appropriate, “We strive to find within ourselves our own personal voice – that which puts us in a state of grace.”

Live long and prosper.