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Multi-site access control for Academy Trust

The St Lawrence Academy is a school for 11- to 16-year-olds, located in North Lincolnshire, UK. The school is currently undergoing an expansion, so it looked for an access control system that would provide an extra level of security for their pupils and staff and could add new buildings and users to the system as the school grows.

Advanced IT Services was approached by the St Lawrence Academy with the requirements, and they suggested Paxton10. Advanced IT Services is an end-to-end IT solutions provider that has over 20 years of experience in the education sector and has installed Paxton security products for over 10 years.

Expandable solution required

At the beginning of 2023, St Lawrence Academy investigated installing a new access control system at the school as they were establishing their own Multi-Academy Trust (MAT). The main requirements were to be able to access the system remotely, the ability to administrate multiple sites with varying groups of users, and that it has the potential to be integrated with other products and systems to maximise functionality.

Ashely Woodward, Project Manager at Advanced IT Services, said, “Paxton is our go-to product for any of our client’s access control requirements. We usually introduce Net2 for our education clients, however as this client is beginning the journey of becoming a MAT, we suggested that the rollout of Paxton10 would provide a good opportunity.”

Paxton10 solution

Paxton10 is a future-proof system that combines access control and video management. Its online user-interface allows administrators to access the system from any device with an internet connection, making it easy to manage and monitor the security of a site. Paxton10 is scalable up to 100 sites on a single system with up to 1000 doors, 1000 cameras and 50000 users. The system’s features fulfil the St Lawrence Academy’s security needs.

Woodward said, “Paxton10 presents an exciting opportunity for both our client and us. The modern and user-friendly web interface allows administrators to manage sites with ease. The system is simple to use, which means system users can be trained easily. The system has been overwhelmingly well-received by the client’s network manager.”

Another benefit that Paxton10 has brought to St Lawrence Academy is the multi-site feature. It will allow them to expand the system as more schools join the trust. Woodward explains, “The Paxton server is located within our own internal data centre, which means adding additional sites to the system can be done with ease and speed; without the need for VPN access.”

Advanced IT Services started with a four-door trial with Paxton10, before installing it across 30 doors with 166 managed users. The system successfully isolates the Trust offices on site from the main school buildings and manages pupil access, creating a secure area. In addition, if any pupil is late to class or absent, system administrators will get notifications and the pastoral teams can act quickly, making sure there’s no emergency and that pupils are safe.

There are plans to expand Paxton10 when more schools join the Trust. The St Lawrence Academy also plans to integrate Paxton10 to other systems, further upgrading the functionality of the access control solution.

Woodward adds, “Over the next few months, we will be installing a Bodet system across the site, which will be fully integrated to the Paxton10 system. This will allow a button press to announce a lockdown, and lock all doors associated, simultaneously.”

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