Case Study: City of Ottawa
Ottawa, Canada

Security Management System Serves over 85 Facilities in Canada's Capital City

The new City of Ottawa was created on January 1, 2001. It incorporates 12 former municipalities into the Nation's Capital, with over 700,000 residents and an area of 2,800 square kilometers, including the former regional municipality. A Johnson Controls Cardkey® security system, first installed in the former Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton's (RMOC) Regional Headquarters in 1990, has been expanded since then to serve municipal buildings throughout the new City. SunoTech, an authorized Johnson Controls Security Solutions dealer, was named service provider of choice for work on this large, integrated system.

The Ottawa city government is responsible for major roads, waste management, police, social services, health services, sewers, drinking water, public works, transportation, and oversight for the City's overall development plan.

The facilities within the City house a variety of departments responsible for city services, from industrial and production to office and technical, including sewage and water treatment plants, waste disposal sites, public transportation departments, police and fire departments, ambulance service, recreation facilities, hockey arenas, football stadiums, social services offices, dental clinics, child care facilities, and long-term care facilities.

Expansion of the security system presented a number of challenges. Creating buy-in to expand the existing Cardkey system to all facilities required strong dealer support. Development of a complete, integrated security management system required aggressive research from SunoTech in how to meet the unique needs of more than 85 separate facilities. The system must also be expandable to facilitate the City's growth plan, and provide for centralized monitoring and control of all facilities from one location, while avoiding additional infrastructure costs.

SunoTech Uses Cardkey Systems to Help the City Achieve its Mission

A Cardkey security system was originally installed in the Headquarters of the RMOC when it was completed in 1990. In 1993, Bob Gauvreau, the current Manager of Corporate Security for the City of Ottawa, became the Security Coordinator for the former Regional Municipality and began advocating an expanded system. He turned to Frank Marschall, owner of SunoTech, a security systems integrator and authorized Johnson Controls Security Solutions dealer.

"I felt we needed to develop a complete, integrated security management system which would connect all of the facilities within the City," says Gauvreau. "My challenge was to sell this idea, and I needed strong dealer support to do that." SunoTech provided this support by taking an aggressive approach in researching the best way to meet the unique security needs of a new long-term care facility being planned. "Because of SunoTech's strong research capabilities, I was able to get buy-in at the top levels of city government for the integration of the long-term care facility," adds Gauvreau. These efforts ultimately led to the expansion of the security system into other facilities within the City.

Today, more than 85 buildings have been integrated using the Cardkey security system. More than 17.000 cards have been issued and more than 800 readers are in place. In addition, more than 1,200 points are monitored, which include access controls, fire alarm systems, life safety devices, CCTV, standard alarm point monitoring, and security alarm interfaces, among others.

The Cardkey D620 and CK720 controllers facilitate communication among all facilities and continued growth of the system. "We needed a system with a lot of integrity, options, and expansion capabilities," says John Gillen, Regional Manager for SunoTech. "Because of the communications capabilities of the Cardkey controllers, the majority of buildings are connected by the customer's wide area network (WAN), with the remaining buildings connected by standard telephone lines." According to Gauvreau, the communications capabilities have been a key advantage of the system. "We avoided a lot of additional infrastructure and phone line rental costs," says Gauvreau.

Security Management System Goes Beyond Access Control

With the large number of facilities involved, and the diversity of their functions, access control is just one of a number of applications that SunoTech and the region have found for Johnson Controls security systems. "The beauty of the system, and one of the reasons the city uses the system, is that it is not just an access control system as much as it is a security management system, which can accommodate a multitude of devices," says Gillen. The Johnson Controls Integrated Security Management System is also providing elevator control, intrusion detection, environmental alarms, CCTV remote monitoring, BadgeMaster photo identification, monitoring of burglar alarm and duress alarm systems, and control of life safety devices at various buildings.

Unique applications include monitoring and access control of city government vehicles, which have been tagged and are scanned by underground readers located at the gates of various facilities. The Robert O. Pickard Environment Centre uses this method to monitor and control the activity of outside contractors who haul waste to the facility. In addition to providing access and egress control, the system allows accounting personnel to verify the number of deliveries.

The City also uses a CCTV system with audio talk back capability. This system has been installed at outdoor facilities, such as swimming pools and ice rinks, to alert the operator to unauthorized access to the facility. The audio talk back capability allows the operator to instruct the intruder to leave and has proven to be an effective tool in preventing vandalism and unauthorized use of the facilities.

In order to meet the security needs of the new long-term care facility, SunoTech used the system to provide a safe, yet friendly, environment for the residents of the facility. "The facility is home to senior citizen residents and those who suffer from varying forms of dementia. The challenge is to provide an open and friendly environment, yet maintain the safety of residents identified as at-risk," says Gillen. By using the proximity reader technology and identification wristbands, SunoTech programmed the readers to lock the doors when an at-risk resident approaches. This allows other patients, staff and family members to move about freely. If an at-risk resident somehow manages to bypass the system, a back-up alarm system is activated and the nurse's station and the central office downtown notified.

A recent addition to the system was the City's two water purification plants (Britannia and Lemieux Island), which are now protected by access control. "With the security risks associated with these types of facilities in our modern age, I think it is most important to protect our drinking water," says Gauvreau.

The entire system is designed to work well with a minimum of human intervention. "This saves on contract security costs and man hours for a variety of security- and non-security-related functions. It allows the City's people to focus on their jobs and core mission. The end result is a safer, more efficient workplace," says Gillen. "The product is user-friendly. It works for all of our applications and gives us peace-of-mind by permitting us to have control when we want it," adds Gauvreau.

Pioneering Service Delivery

New, innovative uses of the Cardkey system are allowing the City of Ottawa to pioneer new means of service delivery. One example of this is the new Community Centre, which is a Technologically Controlled and Accessed Building (TCAB). This means that, through the use of access cards, user groups open the facility, turn on lights, ventilation, etc., and then re-secure the facility without the need for staff to be present on site. This greatly reduces the operating costs of the facility, assisting the City with the provision of increased community centers during a period of fiscal restraint.

A Solutions and Service Team

Under the service contract, SunoTech is responsible for routine service, parts and labor, and training of security personnel. SunoTech is responsible for all upgrades to the system, as well.

"As a business management partner, the City expects us to develop solutions, implement them, and service the product," says Gillen. Gauvreau adds, "As a major provider of services, we need to have vendors who are good partners. There hasn't been a challenge brought forward that SunoTech and Johnson Controls have not found a solution for. This affords me the time to focus on other challenges."

"As a dealer, we use the security product's technical support on an ongoing basis. The greatest support, however, is the constant development of Cardkey software, hardware, and other new products that keep them ahead in the new marketplace." says Gillen. "Equally important is the backward compatibility of products from Johnson Controls, which has allowed us to continually enhance and expand the system," he adds.

Steve Finnamore, Director of Real Property Asset Management for the City, strongly supports the expansion of the Johnson Controls security system in the City's various facilities.

Bob Gauvreau, Manager of Corporate Security for the City of Ottawa, wanted to develop an integrated security management system, which would connect all the facilities within the City.

"We are very pleased with our partnership with SunoTech and Cardkey products. SunoTech supports our mission by keeping us well informed and providing solutions to our needs. Johnson Controls supports our mission by supporting our dealer," says Gauvreau.

Noreen Langdon, Director of the new P.D. Clark Long-term Care Facility (modeled on table), depends on the Johnson Controls security system to provide a safe, yet friendly, environment for the residents and staff of the facility.

The Robert O. Pickard Environment Centre uses the Johnson Controls security system to monitor and control the activity of outside contractors who haul waste to the facility.

"The beauty of the system, and one of the reasons the City uses the Johnson Controls system, is that it is not just an access control system as much as it is a security management system, which can accommodate a multitude of devices," says Gillen.

The new Ottawa Police Services-East Division is just one of the many facilities for which the Johnson Controls security system provides access control.

Frank Marschall, owner of SunoTech, and John Gillen, Sales Manager are pleased with the partnership they have built with the City and proud of the many diverse applications of the Johnson Controls security system.