Security Commandment

Cardinia Shire Council has upgraded its existing Challenger access control and alarm system with UTC’s new Security Commander management software and a TruVision DVR. The system was integrated by KTR Group with assistance from UTC Fire & Security and Council’s own IT team.

KTR Group is a key integrator of Challenger solutions in Victoria. The company KTR Group was founded in 1968 by Ken and Trudy Hart and is now managed by their son, Duncan Hart and daughter, Michele Birtchnell. The brother and sister team is highly focused with a noticeable customer-service orientation and it’s immediately obvious they’ve enjoyed being part of the Security Commander beta process at Cardinia Shire Council. KTR is a solid business specialising in end users including healthcare and state government facilities like police stations, court houses and prisons, and councils.

“We’ve been in this industry with the UTC Challenger product for 7 years and we have hundreds of installations, including large, multi-site council installs,” Hart explains. “We are committed to the UTC product and are very happy with the quality and features of the UTC Challenger.

According to Hart, Cardinia Shire Council is a new council and he says in terms of development and growth it’s one of the largest and its about to experience enormous population growth. “At 1300 square kilometres, Cardinia Shire Council is one of the biggest council areas in Victoria,” Hart says. “Cardinia is also about to grow exponentially. Council is expecting the building of 18,500 new homes in the next 5 years, with 3 incoming train lines and 3 outgoing train lines. Obviously a lot of infrastructure needs to be built and Council is looking for an access control system that’s able to cover all its facilities as it grows. As Hart explains, Cardinia Shire Council wants the infrastructure in place prior to development so when a new facility is built they can immediately get the solutions they need. “Prior to KTR coming on board, Council was unsure which way to turn and was looking at other systems but once mnagement saw Security Commander and realised it would allow them to do all they wanted to do with their existing hardware they were sold on the spot,” says Hart. “Cardinia Shire Council is a new client for KTR and this is an existing Challenger site which was installed by another company. In terms of our involvement, we have upgraded Council’s existing Challenger panel with Security Commander software.

We’ve also installed a DVR with 4 cameras and integrated the surveillance system with the access control solution.” KTR Group’s Michele Birtchnell says Cardinia Shire Council was genuinely surprised by the capability Security Commander gave its legacy Challenger hardware. “I don’t think they realised the potential of what they had installed with Security Commander,” she explains. “When they actually began to get a grip on the things they could do with Security Commander, they were really excited by it. “They love that Security Commander system. It’s affordable and it gives them a foundation on which to expand. Budget is a big deal for many end users, especially councils, and Security Commander is sellable from an integrator’s point of view when it comes to cost. “It makes use of the existing Challenger systems and allows expansion and control from one site and it’s very competitively priced,” says Birtchnell. “Important for end users, with Security Commander it’s also easy to move cardholders from an existing system – and councils have a lot of cardholders.

It’s also simple to operate the rest of the functionality as it’s on a Microsoft format that everybody uses all the time. “Obviously the big advantage is that Security Commander allows all the Challenger panels to be brought back to one place and managed by one department – usually the Assets Department once IT has got the system going on their network,” she says. “Generally, IT is involved at the beginning but they then slip away to other things and the Assets Department runs the system day to day.” Meanwhile, Hart says the simplicity makes Security Commander easier to sell and easier for end users to learn. “As an integrator we are directly involved with customers and what we really like with Security Commander is that for the end user the software is brilliant. It’s easy to navigate. Report generation is simple – so is opening doors. That’s what you need for your end user,” he says. “When you hand management of an access controlproduct over to the receptionist at a busy council it’s the system’s ease of use and reliability that will get you the wraps. Obviously, as an integrator, we can use the product because we have the knowledge but a system also needs to be usable by end user staff with other responsibilities. Security Commander fits that bill.”