Everything operates within a hierarchy, and security is no exception. When an organization is founded, it establishes a mission. For Detroit automakers, that mission is to make money by building cars; for a chain of home hardware centers, it is to earn profits by selling hardware; for a hospital, it is to provide healthcare; for some nonprofit organizations, it is to assist developing countries; and for the United Nations, it is the pursuit of world peace. Each of these missions requires the establishment of business programs and organizational structures to support the mission. For a corporation, those programs could include manufacturing, distribution, and sales; for a healthcare organization, programs could include hospitals, clinics, and outreach programs; and for a nonprofit organization, the programs could include fundraising and assistance programs. Almost all organizations also have accounting, information technology, filing, and administrative support programs. Once the programs are established, the organization must acquire assets to support the programs. Assets could include factories, warehouses, depots, shelved products, networks, furniture, and office buildings. In fact, each business program has a mission, subprograms, and assets. All assets need protection from misuse and harm. Enter the security program. The security program also has a mission, subprograms, and assets, like any other business program. One of those programs is the electronic component (high-tech systems, of which there may be several, including electronic security systems and information technology security systems).

Uniform Application of Security Policies

In order to get consistent results, it is imperative to use consistent processes and procedures. Imagine how chaotic it would be for a multinational corporation to allow every department at each site in each business unit to perform its accounting using its own choice of software programs and accounting techniques. It would be very difficult for the organization’s management to consolidate all these different reports into a single cohesive picture of the organization’s finances, and that could easily result in corporate losses and intense scrutiny by regulatory bodies and shareholders. It is also unwise for any organization to allow its business units and individual sites to establish their own individual security policies and procedures, guard-force standards, and others, which results in the potential for legal liability where different standards are applied at different business units. Enterprise-class security systems provide the platform for the uniform application of enterprise security policies across the entire organization. Enterprise-class security systems can also provide visibility regarding how other company policies are being applied and followed. What follows, then, can be better management when that information is made available to management in a cohesive way.

Force Multipliers

Integrated security systems can become force multipliers. That is, they can expand the reach of a security staff by extending the eyes, ears, and voice of the console officer into the depths of the facility where he or she could not otherwise reach. The use of video guard tours enhances the role of patrol officers because many more guard tours can be made with video than with patrol staff alone. Detection and surveillance systems alert security staff of inappropriate or suspicious behaviors, and voice communications systems allow console officers to talk with subjects at a building in another state or nation while their behavior is observed on-screen.

Multiple Systems

The integration of alarm, access control, security video, and security voice communications into a single hardware/software platform permits much more efficient use of security manpower. Enterprise-class security systems are force multipliers. The better the system integration, the better the organization will be able to use its security force.

Multiple Buildings

When security systems span multiple buildings across a campus, the use of a single security system to monitor multiple buildings further expands the force multiplication factor of the system. The more buildings monitored, the higher is the value of the system.

Multiple Sites

Like multiple buildings on a single site, the monitoring of multiple sites further expands the system’s ability to yield value. It is at this point that a true enterprise-class security system is required because monitoring multiple sites requires the use of network or Internet resources. Monitoring multiple sites can be tricky due to network bandwidth. We discuss how to get the most out of network bandwidth later in the book.

Multiple Business Units

Some large organizations also have multiple business units. For example, a petrochemical company may have drilling, transportation, refining, terminal, and retailing units. Each of these can benefit by inclusion in an enterprise-wide security program.

Improved System Performance

Enterprise-class systems can also provide significantly improved system performance. The integration of multiple systems at multiple sites into a cohesive user interface allows for simple, straightforward command and control. Gigantic systems can become manageable.

Improved Monitoring

System monitoring can be dramatically improved over non-enterprise systems. The integration of alarms, access control, video, and voice communications across the platform provides the console officer with coherent and timely information about ongoing events and trends, especially when coupled with Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) software. This is especially true of systems that utilize situational awareness software that put the alarms and alerts into a dynamically updating context of the site and floor plans so that the console officer can clearly see evolving suspicious activity in relation not only to the surroundings, but also to security response assets. In elegantly designed systems, when a visitor at a remote site presses an intercom call button and identifies him- or herself as an authorized user who has forgotten his or her access card, the console officer can pull up the record for that user quickly and confirm both the identity of the person at the intercom and that person’s validity for that door. In this design, the system knows the user, the door, and the date and time. As the console officer drops the person’s icon onto the door icon, the system either grants or denies access to the door based on the person’s authorization for that door for that time. (This application requires custom software.)

Reduced Training

Enterprise-class security systems can also require less training. The most basic console operator functions for a truly well-designed enterprise-class system can be learned in just a few minutes (answering alarms, viewing associated video, and answering the intercom). Because the interface is standardized across the enterprise, cross-training between buildings and facilities is practical. Also, operators from one site can provide support for a console officer or guard at another.

Better Communications

Integrated Security Systems can also provide better communications. Well-designed integrated security systems can integrate security intercoms, telephones, cell phones with integral walkie-talkie functions, two-way radios, and paging into one easy-to-manage single-software platform. Imagine a console officer who can wear a wireless headset, a wired headset, or use the computer’s microphone and speakers and trigger the push-to-talk button with a footswitch or a mouse press. The efficiency of the system is further improved when the system queues the appropriate intercom automatically each time a camera is selected. The more the system presents the console operator with the tools to act as though he or she were there at the scene, the better the system serves the security purpose. (This function is best performed by situational awareness software in addition to conventional integrated security system software.)

For many of the reasons stated previously, enterprise-class security systems enhance labor efficiencies. There can be fewer consoles, fewer guards, no redundant monitoring, nighttime off-site live monitoring where on-site monitoring was not cost-effective before, and mutual aid between sites and buildings. All these factors free up guards to be on patrol and in live communication with the central console.

Reduced Maintenance Costs

Enterprise-class security systems are generally built on the use of a common technology across the entire platform. Counterintuitively, they are also generally built on simpler technology than less sophisticated systems. The key to success is often the elegant combination of simple technologies into a highly refined system. This inherent architectural simplicity often also results in lower maintenance costs. Although the results are elegant and sophisticated, the underlying technology is actually simpler than in times past. The key is to combine simple Boolean algebra logical functions (and, or, not, counting, timing, etc.) in elegant ways.

Improved System Longevity

Security systems are notoriously short lived. Contemporary security systems are composed of numerous delicate components that either fail mechanically or are unable to upgrade as the system scales. Thus, when upgrades are necessary, it is often necessary to throw out components that are only a few years old because they are not compatible with newer technologies. This inbuilt obsolescence has a long tradition in security systems, much to the consternation of building owners and consultants. Most building systems are expected to last 15 to 20 years. Some building systems, including the basic electrical infrastructure, are expected to last the life of the building. However, most electronic security systems made by major manufacturers and installed by major integrators last less than 7 years. A well-designed enterprise-class security system should last 10 to 15 years between major architectural upgrades. This is achievable using the principles taught in this book.