DAVIDSON, N.C. – Bosch Security Systems, Inc., a full-line manufacturer of high-quality security solutions, announced April 21 that Davidson College, an independent liberal arts college in Davidson, N.C., has selected a solution from Bosch to upgrade its extensive system of security and life safety equipment installed throughout the various buildings on its 450-acre campus.
Looking for a way to reduce recurring operating costs for the system, the IT staff at Davidson College turned to long-time security and life safety systems integration partner CRS Building Automation Systems, Inc. Their challenge to CRS was to engineer a way to shift the primary monitoring infrastructure to its campus fiber network. CRS recommended the installation of IP communications modules from Bosch Security Systems, Inc.
“The Bosch modules allow the college to continue to use their existing fire and intrusion control panels, while taking advantage of the cost savings and other benefits achieved with communications to the central monitoring station via an Internet connection,” said Phillip Cashion, Jr. (Skip), President, CRS Building Automation Systems, Inc.
More than 70 fire alarm systems from a variety of manufacturers protect the residence hall, classroom and administrative buildings throughout campus. All of these systems now communicate to the central monitoring station using Bosch Conettix C900V2 Dialer Capture Ethernet Modules, which work equally well with the college’s Bosch D6412 Control Panels as they do with the installed panels from other manufacturers. The modules use IP as the primary communication method to the central station. If the network fails, phone lines connecting the panels to the college’s private branch exchange (PBX) switch serve as the back up.
Previously two phone lines connected each panel to the public switched telephone network (PSTN) for communications, requiring 140 dedicated phone lines to communicate with a central monitoring station. By eliminating the direct connections to the PSTN for each panel, the system’s operations costs have reduced significantly.
Davidson College’s IT Department has calculated that the upgraded system will result in an impressive return on investment.
“We have already experienced a 50 percent cost savings now and expect that number to increase to 75 percent in the near future,” said Brent Babb, project manager, Davidson College.
On top of the cost savings, the college is also benefiting from more detailed alarm information being transmitted from its security control panels to the central station. The central station can now tell the local authorities the exact location in a building where motion was detected or windows or doors were forced open by an unauthorized individual. This improvement is achieved through Conettix DX4020 Network Interface Modules connected to the Bosch G Series control panels that secure the administrative buildings on campus.
Overall, IP communications between the control panels and the receiver offer the college greater security as the control panels regularly send supervisory messages to the receiver at the central station to ensure the system is functioning properly. If the control panel does not receive an acknowledgement message, the central station operator is alerted. IP communications are also received faster by the central station than those previously transmitted via a phone line, which in turn, improves response time to an alarm.
In addition, the upgrade has helped the college reduce the amount of time required to fix any issues impacting the system.
“Previously, we had to wait for service from the phone company. Now, the IT staff is automatically alerted if there is a network or phone line problem, and we can dispatch a staff member to fix the issue at any hour of the day,” explained Babb.
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Bosch April 21, 2008 press release
