For many end users, the benefit of implementing a smart solution is a boost to the overall return on investment. While crime prevention is the ultimate goal, any additional benefits from the system which introduce efficiencies can help with regards to authorising the contract.
In the past, there was a lot of talk about the return on investment (RoI) of security solutions. However, it was difficult to ascertain a true sense of the tangible RoI because losses due to crime are not a constant, nor are they easily quantifiable. With today’s smart systems, things are somewhat different. Because the systems not only offer protection, but can also deliver a wide range of everyday efficiencies, the RoI can now be proven in many use-cases.
By implementing a technology-agnostic software platform, integrators can deliver a seamlessly integrated GUI which not only provides intuitive and unified control over all the elements of the security system, but can also provide control and management of peripheral systems.
Too often, users only interact with a security system when something negative happens. Where smart building control is added, customers use the system on a daily basis, enjoying the realisation of business efficiencies. This not only eliminates the ‘grudge purchase’ mentality, but delivers a genuine return on investment.
One example of this can be seen from a University in Europe. The University supports tens of thousands of users across its campus, with around 80 buildings across numerous locations. With a duty of care to students and staff, a significant investment was made into a security solution. This incorporates approximately 600 doors protected by access control, linked with more than 200 video surveillance cameras.
When the system was designed, the main objective was to ensure the security control room operators could access all elements of the security system as a unified solution. However, because of the scale of the site, it also requirements relating to energy and utility management.
The university management wanted to implement a degree of monitoring and control over electricity, gas and water consumption, as usage figures were high. The best solution was to integrate relevant management systems into the security solution. This was achieved using COSMO PSIM+.
To deliver seamless integration of the security and energy management systems, COSMO PSIM+ allowed the relevant connectivity as it is an API-based technology-agnostic solution. The single intuitive GUI ensured that the energy management and maintenance teams could easily access real-time, accurate status information about the systems, whenever necessary.
The real-time monitoring software brings together data from the complete security system, as well as from energy monitoring and operational systems in a single place. The customisable interface means COSMO PSIM+ delivers an easy-to-use interactive experience for the customer, providing key features such as remote access and monitoring with full control of the site’s existing systems. As a result, the university management team has maximised its RoI on the security investment.
Creating COVID-Secure systems
Using the flexibility of PSIM+, it is also possible for educational establishments to manage students, staff and university premises to deliver a COVID-Secure application. Educational establishments have seen enormous pressures placed on them to manage the flow of students during the pandemic, for example controlling occupancy of buildings, managing pedestrian flow and ensuring internal spaces do not become overcrowded.
By linking the access control and video surveillance, as in the energy management scenario, PSIM+ can – with relevant configurations – also ensure that internal spaces do not become over-crowded, designate certain doors as entry-only or exit-only, deliver real-time people counting to operators and identify the formation of crowds which do not meet social distancing requirements.
The ability to customise bespoke applications using COSMO PSIM+ means that systems used to manage sites with an emphasis on managing the pandemic can then be reconfigured afterwards to also deliver energy management, building control or a host of other tasks, thus preserving the return on investment.