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Physical Airport Security

Police Station

 

Physical Airport security can be a challenge at some times. The MASC software is an excellent fit for Airports as many times PLC and Access Control equipment needs to be married together to complete the project. The Gate doors for example have to allow for extended time (20 Min) opening while boarding a plane. The authorization to do so should only come from a Gate Agent not a baggage handler. MASC has the unique ability to perform different tasks based on a Card Type. This allows the Gate Agent to do their job and open the door for 20 min while the baggage handler can only open the door for 15 seconds. For sensitive areas, the MAC-4R series controller also supports the use of TWIC cards for access control.

Networkability is also a key issue and many times the airports have hundreds of doors spread out in different buildings and all the control equipment needs communicate over a fiber Ethernet network. The MASC product can support over 100 loops of control panels per computer to remote wiring closets. Each wiring closet can support any number of doors. If more than 100 connections are needed just add another computer. All of this is done over a dedicated Ethernet backbone with full hot redundant servers. If one server fails the second server automatically takes over.

Airports have very unique badging criteria. The MASC system meets all the needs of the TSA and each badge design layout changes based on many different types of data stored for each individual. Instead of pre-designed 120 different types of badges the user simply places a check mark next to all the categories applied to that person. This feature alone can save the airport over $130,000 by not having to install a dedicated airport badging system.

TSA reports are also another major concern. The TSA requires both weekly and monthly reports from each Airport. The MASC system does both through an automated TSA report routine.

The next area critical for airport operations is automated camera control. When a user highlights a point in the alarm que the system automatically brings up all the camera shots needed to monitor that point. This might be 1 camera or 5 cameras all going to a pre-set condition based on which alarm set it off. Full PTZ control is available by holding the mouse button down next to the edge of the viewing screen.

For roving guards we support texting the alarms to thier cel phones and allowing the guard to acknowledge the alarm without having to go to the host computer. He would swipe his card at the door just secured again and the system would acknoledge the alarm for him. The consulting engineers looked like a hero for this feature.

In summary, MASC can handle all the Access Control, CCTV, DVR, NVR integration, PLC integration, Badging, and TSA reporting needed for physical airport security applications.

 


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