Access Control for the Commonwealth Law Courts

Gaining access to all court locations throughout Australia using a single access control card is about to become a reality for all Commonwealth Law Court and Family Court of Australia staff.

The scale of the project, and the complexity of integrating different access systems across the country’s five separate duediseriars posed some unique technical challenges for the security-sensitive environment of the court system. There were 650 different access control points, 24 locations and 14 separate workstations, all controlling thousands of Commonwealth Law Court staff members with multiple access control keys.

The Challenge
SNP Security, in collaboration with IPP Consulting and GE Security, worked with multiple stakeholders to identify common ground and to standardise not only the hardware to be utilised, but also the naming conventions and all operational aspects of the system.

Multiple system platforms were in use, including Titan, DKS Key and MIL systems. These had to be modified and reduced to two operational platforms to ensure operating reliability. A major hurdle was the absence of availability of a common network, and in some cases, only limited accessibility and network infrastructure. This required a radical change in thinking to enable network connections for each and every access point. 

Access Control Solution
SNP Security implemented a new Forcefield Enterprise solution to replace 11 systems, working alongside the Cardax system used in three locations.  These two different platforms, Forcefield and Cardax, were retained to allow greater client flexibility to adopt the best solution for future upgrades.

The Forcefield Enterprise server operates via a dedicated Wide Area Network (WAN) to integrate 14 workstations. Updates to staff access levels to permit access to Court Buildings can now be made in any one of the workstations in different locations, linked to the Forcefield Enterprise server.

“Forcefield Enterprise acts as the major core of the system by storing all information on users and system configuration in a central location” says SNP Security Project Manager, Tony Vuu
“Full redundancy is offered, with a second server operating as backup for disaster recovery”.

Security is maintained by partitioning each workstation computer within the network, allowing local users to view and change security within their individual locations. The ability to make changes at the national level is restricted to those with appropriate security roles, as tightly defined within the system.

The new solution allows updates to be communicated directly to the Field Device Controllers in each location via dedicated WAN networking back to the central database, quickly updating access through individual doors. This significantly reduces technician time in each location, by eliminating the need to manually update each controller.

SNP Security has issued new access control cards that are able to be used within all buildings across both platforms, completely eliminating the need for Court staff to have multiple keys.

“Forcefield Enterprise represents a huge saving to the Courts in terms of technician time, as well as greatly improved convenience to the many staff members” says Tony. 

Universal Management Interface System
The second phase of the project is the streamlining of card production and access management through a Universal Management Interface System (UMIS). Specially designed by GE Security, the UMIS is intended to act as the interface between the Forcefield Enterprise and Cardax FT system.

The UMIS solution is a “first of a kind”, as it required integrating existing card access systems from different manufacturers and finding a single workable resolution without replacing the existing systems. UMIS offers the ability to integrate not only with a limitless number of third party systems, but also provides easy and controlled access to manage users via the web interface.

For more information:
Josh Raymond
National Sales Manager