Due to the perceived complexities of mixed credentials, re-issuing of cards and working with new systems, our client had avoided the access control upgrade process for many years.  But maintaining an antiquated, magnetic strip card swipe system was increasingly difficult.  With this in mind, a sensible decision was taken to carry out a phased upgrade across the two sites over a three year period.

The scope of the project was to supply, install and commission access control hardware for 115 doors, provide a new software interface and manage the re-issuing of access cards for approximately 4000 staff members.  Due to the scale of the project it was split into three phases, addressing more problematic areas of the hospitals first.

The first phase of works was completed over an 8 week period, with 35 doors upgraded, 1500 cards re-issued and with estates and other department staff using the new and improved browser based interface.

As could be predicted with an intensive period of upgrading, our clients encountered inevitable 'teething troubles'.  The majority of problems arose from the collating of current staff information and the re-printing and issuing of cards.  However, with close management and dogged determination to succeed, the engineers at Uber Control ensured that impact on the departments were minimised and that the system availability was continuous.

Having completed phase one, of the upgrade process, our client found that they had also gained a few, unexpected, benefits.  Having started from a blank system we could be sure that ONLY the correct personnel were granted access for each area.  Removing troublesome controllers from an extensive controller network improved transmission speed for the remaining non-upgraded devices.  The new, browser based interface, improved the overall usability and usefulness of the access control system.

It gives us great satisfaction to see that, with the right planning and understanding of the process and the needs of stakeholders, even the trickiest upgrades can be achieved, in challenging timescales, with low impact and can even uncover less obvious benefits.