ID Anywhere Secures NYC Office Buildings
For Fisher Brothers and Sandhurst Associates, Ltd., property management
companies that own and operate Class A office properties in mid-town
Manhattan, building security has always been a high priority. Their
properties are home to many large accounting firms, banks, U.S. and
foreign government agencies, international finance companies and other
high profile businesses where security is essential.
Because of the identity and nature of their building tenants, Fisher Brothers and Sandhurst face two competing demands: providing their tenants with maximum security, while maintaining a professional, welcoming image in the building lobby. John Angarola, Director of Security, and Kevin Smith, Director of Corporate Security, looked long and hard at access control systems before finding something that met their building security needs.
“Providing proper building security has some unique challenges,” states John Angarola. “We need to allow a free flow of traffic in the building lobby during daytime hours. Many of our tenants have individual access control systems and reception areas on their respective floors, but they expect us (building security) to prevent unauthorized visitors from accessing tenant floors. ID AnywhereÔ allows us to do that.”
All Fisher Brothers and Sandhurst buildings employ security officers in the building lobby. The officers use portable hand-held card readers running ID AnywhereÔ access control software from Purple Oak, Inc. of Chicago, IL to validate employee ID cards.
Having a mobile access control solution provides Fisher Brothers and Sandhurst with some unique benefits:
-ID Anywhere allows entry points to be set up or changed at any time.
-ID Anywhere uses battery operated hand-held readers, so security is not compromised during a power loss.
-ID Anywhere combines strong security with a personal touch. Security officers read employee ID cards, giving them an opportunity to greet and get to know building employees.
-ID Anywhere notifies officers of terminated, lost, or stolen ID cards, enabling them to take immediate action.
-ID Anywhere prevents piggybacking, where an unauthorized person enters the building on the heels of a valid employee.
Because the system is mobile, Fisher Brothers and Sandhurst can tighten or loosen security as needed. They can set up as many or as
few entry points as they need, and can change the building's access configuration at any time. According to Angarola, “The portability of the system is its biggest benefit. Because the system is extremely flexible, we can provide cost effective security at the level required by our tenants.”
Fisher Brothers and Sandhurst provide ID cards to tenants who do not already issue them. Tenants with existing ID cards do not need a separate building ID.
“Our tenants’ safety is our number one concern,” states Angarola. “We’ve been extremely pleased with the ID Anywhere system, as well as with the service we receive from Purple Oak."
