Any hospital thinking about security is likely considering integration. While stand-alone security systems are certainly out there, they are no longer the desired choice for the vast majority of hospitals.
But what is integration? Ask any two people in the security industry today, and you're likely to get two different answers. In fact, there are so many choices and methods for achieving integration that it's easy to get bogged down.
Levels of integration
At its most basic, integration is making two or more disparate systems work together seamlessly.
"An integrated security system is taking access control, alarms, duress, fire, forced door situations and tying them all into one unit so you can easily check through your camera system the cause of a forced door, as an example," says Jim Crumbley, CPP, PPS, senior risk consultant for AMSEC International, Atlanta. "It can go even further. You can integrate and have anything from HVAC to medical gas alarms all tied in so it alerts security and gives them instructions [on] how to respond."
Indeed, integration is a term that can best be thought of in levels, from interfaced all the way up to complete, true integration.
"Interfaced would be if you have a fire alarm system and a separate security system, for example, and the fire alarm sends a signal to security to unlock doors," says Tim Adams, director, clinical engineering at Bloomington (Ind.) Hospital and Healthcare System, who gave a presentation discussing the subject at this year's International Conference and Exhibition on Health Facility Planning, Design and Construction™. "The two systems operate independently and when you need it, there is a software interface that goes between them. True integration is one platform where all of that takes place internally."
Most experts agree that true integration is the optimal choice. "Integrated systems pass information in more detail," says Terry Cottingham, account executive for ESCO Communications of Indianapolis, Bloomington Hospital's vendor. "It's computer integration where one system does something and based on what has happened, different things happen to other systems. Interfaced has much less flexibility. Integration is several steps above interfaced."
True integration also allows for more levels of technologies that are being integrated. "I think we have more tools available now," Cottingham says. "Technology is available to truly marry those systems together on one platform. And we can now address several types of systems, including energy management, fire and security."
No matter what's being integrated, the advantages are many, according to security consultant Fredrick G. Roll, CHPA-F, CPP, president of Roll Enterprises, Morrison, Colo.
"There is a geometric proportion of taking individual systems and making them work together," he says. "Say you are sitting in a security operation and one of your jobs is to watch the CCTV monitor and you have to watch the alarm panel, which is a separate system. If the two are integrated and an alarm goes off, the camera will automatically go to the area of the alarm without you doing anything. It's one less thing you have to concentrate on. And whatever functions you have to perform as a result, you can concentrate on that."
Fire, HVAC or security?
In general, health facilities can choose between three systems from which to base their integrated systems: fire, HVAC or security.
At Bloomington, the choice was easy. "We started our integration when we installed a new house-wired fire system that had security features," Adams says. "Since ours started as fire and moved to security we liked what we saw in the fire system." The facility also had a previous system from the same manufacturer so they were able to reuse existing cabling and devices.
From his perspective, the advantage of going off the fire platform was that it was an Underwriters Laboratory (UL)-listed system. "With this system, wherever things need to happen, it's built into the system instead of something you or another party has put together. It has been engineered, tested and designed to perform that function."
But for others, using a fire system platform may be too limiting. "One of the concerns we've always had on the fire side is we don't want to ever do anything to impinge on a UL listing," says Elliot Boxerbaum, CPP, president of Security/Risk Management Consultants Inc., Columbus, Ohio. "You probably have a little bit less flexibility in what you can do [with a fire-based system]."
Another option hospitals have is to use the hospital's HVAC system platform. This can be a good option for hospitals that have tight budget constraints, Roll says.
"When you have HVAC and security and fire all pulling wire, consider the cost-effectiveness of having the security system be part of that HVAC system. They are going to have a pretty good sized head-end computer that will probably be able to handle security as well.
"[Security] can work closely with facilities people as they are looking at what type of controls they are going to be putting in," Roll adds. "Almost all new systems will be computerized. Talk to them about what security components can run through the HVAC system."
Still, Boxerbaum adds that while there are a few companies making inroads in that area, the HVAC option may not be there yet for many hospitals. "We find nobody is good at everything. People who are good at HVAC may not have expertise on the security side."
By and large, he sees most hospitals' integrated systems still coming from the security side. "The CCTV vendors are finding ways to work with the access control vendors. The key is to be able to communicate between systems. The access control side is taking the lead on that."
Sharing network space
Another big decision involves the backbone itself, or the way the systems communicate with each other.
"In the past, when you integrated a CCTV system to an alarm or access control system or matrix switch, you did it through relays and hard wiring," Boxerbaum says. "If a door was propped, a relay tripped. That would send a change-of-state to the matrix switch, then send a signal to the pan-tilt-zoom camera. Most of that communication takes place through software now."
Because of that, the option now exists to use the hospital's own network backbone for security.
"Even three or four years ago, when you put security in, you literally owned the wire. It was an RS485 connection entirely separate from the hospital system," Boxerbaum says. "Nobody paid attention to what the security department did with it. Now they are using either the hospital's broadband network, a segment of it, or a stand-alone network--all Internet protocol (IP)-based."
In order to go off the hospital's network, you must first determine whether the network has enough bandwidth to support your security system.
"We strongly encourage very early communication between IT professionals and security professionals," Boxerbaum adds. Everyone needs to understand the playing field. That's critical for the success of these systems. Based on the outcomes of that type of discussion, you can look at whether or not using the hospital's backbone is appropriate for the technologies you are looking at."
Going off the network is not possible for everyone. But if you can do it, it offers many benefits.
"With network backbones now in place, we can communicate over multiple campuses to control panels, to video recorders--all in remote areas," says Jack Johnson, president of Intelligent Access Systems, Atlanta. "With the proper software, we can view the network live all over the campus from a PC."
When Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta recently did a major integration project, they went over their hospital's network backbone.
The security industry has changed dramatically over the past five years, says Gary LaClair, director of security/parking at Piedmont. "Physical security used to be on its own and logical didn't exist. Now, logical is as strong as physical. With network-based access control, the alliance forged with IS is really important."
Working together with IS has its advantages. By going over the hospital network, most security-related problems can be fixed in-house. This is a perk that security staff at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, has found in its experience using the hospital's local area network (LAN).
"With the size of our system, we would have to maintain a pretty high level of networking expertise," says Bob Leahy, support manager. "We would either have to have technical expertise in-house, or rely on someone else outside. Now, if there is a problem within the hospital network, we have people on-site. They are able to bring it back up relatively quickly in most cases."
The specter of networks going down is an issue that may cause some hospital security departments to think they need to shy away from using the hospital's network. But there are options for preventing and/or mitigating most problems.
One option is to use the network for viewing only, but have a separate security network. "You don't necessarily have to have the whole security system be part of the network," Roll says. "You can have the security system run separate, but use the hospital network where it's appropriate for viewing."
A separate, dedicated network just for security would probably be on top of most hospital security directors' wish lists. Unfortunately, the expense involved makes that a pipe dream for many facilities.
Another option is to ask for a virtual LAN (VLAN), Johnson says.
"A VLAN is similar [to a dedicated network] in that it simply is a secure network backbone within the existing network backbone," he says. "Most large hospitals already have a backbone with switches. They can often partition part of their network backbone for security equipment."
The final option--using the hospital's main network--does have problems, but there are advantages, too. "It does make infrastructure planning much easier," Adams says. "Functionally, it's sometimes a little easier. Any functionality that involves a PC can basically plug into a network. But it's important to look at security and reliability. Are you prepared for downtime?"
If you do decide to go over the hospital's network, Boxerbaum recommends that you make sure to have extensive backup. "You have to do a thorough assessment of the network architecture. Any hub, switch or router that is touched by security has to be on emergency power-ups."
The security equipment should then be fitted with a modem card, Boxerbaum suggests, so that if power goes down, the modem can communicate alarms back to the panel.
Much of the security equipment that is designed to use IP also comes with its own backups, Johnson adds. "Most of your security on the card access side--the panels in the field--are fully distributed, meaning they have their own memory similar to a PC. In the event the network goes down, the access control system behaves in stand-alone mode and keeps the entire database. When the network comes back up, the panels send their history back down to the central server for storage in the database."
That is the case at Massachusetts General. "With our system, though the monitoring and control of locks is based on the hospital network, individual panels that control the entire floor are locally hardwired," Leahy says. "If the network goes down, the panel is intelligent and will continue to lock and unlock doors. We also have a number of workstations and can switch to another workstation and have those points monitored at that station."
If all else fails, the hospital reverts to a backup key system for critical areas.
One thing to keep in mind, Johnson adds, is "networks today generally have to be very reliable. There is a lot of redundancy built into the networks in large hospitals because they can't afford for them to go down. We are actually seeing better uptime with networks."
Designing for integration
Often, what prompts hospitals to consider integration is a new project--a new wing, building or renovation that requires them to take a second look at security equipment. This can be an ideal time to plan for true integration, even if the implementation will still be a few years away.
"We are starting to see a lot of replacement hospitals," Adams says. "That's the time to do it. It's more economical to do an integrated system. They can share a lot of hardware. In some cases, they can share cabling."
Even at existing facilities, a new project can present an opportunity to plan ahead for security instead of going in after the fact, Adams says. "We planned where to put receivers in the ceilings. When we designed we looked at what we needed as far as cameras. Were we going to need space? Where did we need telecommunication rooms? We made those rooms larger so all functions could share space," he adds.
That is key, even if you are not going to go to full integration right away.
"One of the things we would suggest is to begin to at least look at IT installation standards," Boxerbaum says. "For example, if you are looking at Cat-5 or Cat-6 cabling, you know you are limited to 100 meters between devices or panels. If you begin to plan your system based on those types of standards, in the future if you want to migrate to an IP-based system, you are three-quarters of the way there.
"If you are not currently operating on the hospital's backbone, you can almost mimic the backbone architecture," he continues. "You can share network rooms with the routers, so if you wanted to go there, you would be set up for it and could make the transition relatively inexpensively."
But, LaClair cautions, the best way to install an integrated system is all at once--once you make the decision to go ahead with it.
"It's not something you really want to do in stages. If you can't get financing to get the project done, wait. It's not a technology you can put in over time," he believes. "The technology we are using these days is all PC-based, networked. It's the computer industry--that technology changes so fast from one year to the next.
"If you are constantly adding components over time, the original stuff is already dated," LaClair adds. "You are not really getting the benefit of an integrated system until it's all integrated."
Karyn Hodgson is a Riverwoods, Ill.-based freelance writer who specializes in the security industry.
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