Summary

Seminole State College of Florida has more than 32,000 students and 190 programs. Using the Security Center unified platform, the College centralized security systems across multiple sites while minimizing upgrade costs.

Seminole State College of Florida offers more than 190 degrees and programs to over 32,000 students. Opening in 1966 with a few portable classrooms, the College now encompasses six sites spanning Seminole County, including campuses in Sanford/Lake Mary, Oviedo, Heathrow, and Altamonte Springs.

The company

Seminole State had previously invested in an access control system that also offered a video surveillance component. After a few years, instabilities of the platform caused security vulnerabilities and hampered IT resources. The video surveillance system also became costly, requiring more servers as more cameras were added.

The challenge

“We have seen ROI in this investment—there has been a huge boost in efficiency, less maintenance, and less server downtime. From an IT standpoint, Security Center is a much more robust platform.”

Bill McCoy, Senior Network Analyst, Seminole State

Results

Seminole State College decision makers chose Security Center Omnicast™ video surveillance system and the Security Center Synergis™ access control system to unify its security in one easy-to-use solution. Teams monitor over 300 cameras and 320 doors across four campus locations. Thanks to a dedicated fiber optic network that is leased from Seminole County, the IT and security teams have a centralized view of all sites from the main campus.

According to Bill McCoy, Senior Network Analyst at Seminole State, “The main reason for choosing Security Center was that it was cost effective. Not only were we able to drastically reduce our hardware costs by moving to a virtualized server environment, but we were also able to install the Synergis Cloud Link to preserve our existing access control hardware. The Synergis Master Controller was the driver in our access control upgrade from a budget standpoint.”

The solution

$65,000 USD hardware savings

The Synergis Cloud Link connects to third-party access control modules, allowing the college to modernize its door security without having to undergo a full system “rip-and-replace”.

Centralized security views

Access control data and video from the four campuses is sent back to the main campus, where the IT and security departments can manage cardholders, change rules, view video, and more.

Easy multi-campus navigation

Features, such as partitioning, have helped the college group cameras and doors based on their location, making it easy to sift through and quickly find information.

Future community collaboration

Since Seminole County standardized on Genetec, Seminole State College can provide first responders with access to their system to enhance situational awareness in the event of an emergency.

Security Center Omnicast Synergis