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Largest integrated access control solution

Controlling 736 doors and 841 access zones unobtrusively requires seamless integration of technology.

Reliance Infocomm HQ, Petroleum HQ, National HQ and a number of other organisations are based at the Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City (DAKC), which is like a university campus spread over 150 acres with 15 buildings in total.

Reliance Infocomm’s head office

The DAKC security automation project is one of the largest integrated security systems in the world. The statistics from this site are impressive. The DAKC has over 100 000 cardholders, 222 Cardax FT Controllers, 736 doors, 841 access zones, and 266 alarm zones.

Amidst the huge volume of traffic, and in keeping with their guiding principles, Reliance succeeds in making site security unobtrusive and invisible. They achieve this through integrated access control, alarms management, and DVR systems all managed through one core system, Cardax FT, from Gallagher Security Management Systems.

Rajan Luthra, head of security technology with Reliance, said that in spite of the significant physical distance and time difference between India and Gallagher head office in New Zealand, Gallagher was able to effectively provide assistance remotely through a very high level of interaction between Reliance staff and Cardax technical staff, and through assistance from a very hands-on business development manager.

Future proof

A key issue in Reliance’s choice of Cardax was its ability to meet its current and future requirements. Seamless integration with CCTV and video cameras for event-linked video has been achieved. Video integration with alarms and events provides a comprehensive audit trail of events.

Cardax FT interfaces with a number of systems at Reliance. Cardholder data from the Cardax FT system is shared with other systems to streamline processes and maximise efficiencies in cardholder management. When an employee joins the company, their personal data is put into an e-joining HR module in SAP, Cardax Photo ID captures their image and their ID card is produced. Reliance’s interface between Cardax FT and SAP saves time in the card issuing process. Cardholder data flows into the Cardax system from SAP on a daily basis.

Data from DVR cameras and Cardax readers is captured as people enter and exit each building through turnstiles. Reliance extracts this information collected in Cardax for time and attendance verification and utilises an output for Cardax FT into their payroll system for accurate payroll management.

Reliance Infocomm has been using Mifare smart cards throughout the site for five years. Their smart cards have 16 sectors storing multiple applications’ data. They are used in their cafeteria for tea, coffee and vending machines and book issuing in the library. Reliance’s smartcards also store templates for biometric readers for high security areas.

Centralised control

Centralisation of control and use of smartcards also facilitates control of property. Reliance once had 60 hard disks removed from the sites by an internal maintenance person and these were recovered within 48 hours, as the thief’s identity was verified using Cardax access logs and video images.

Reliance today has over 1000 doors networked across a number of sites controlled with Cardax. There is now only 0,5 to 1% incidence of tailgating. Every access control event into security zones is audited for transgression using the recorded video clip. If a cardholder allows someone else to enter an area the incident is recorded and they are sent an e-mail advising them not to do it again. A copy is also sent to their head of department.

Reliance is growing at a fast pace which means there are ever growing demands on the Cardax system. While their system currently has divisions partitioned and a couple of sites integrated, in the future Reliance plans to integrate multiple sites, extend their visitor management system and manage security over the web. The latest addition to the Cardax suite of products, Cardax FT Online Manager will enable cardholder and alarms management to be divulged to line managers, freeing up the security teams’ time to focus on core ­security needs.

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