More so now than ever before, safety and security in the workplace is an issue on everyone's minds. Two organizations that have realized the importance of personal alarm locating and safety systems are the California Department of Youth Authority and the Sterling Correctional Facility in Colorado.
The California Department of Youth Authority has undertaken a major capital improvement project to engineer and install Integrated Personal Alarm systems at 10 of their larger facilities located throughout the State. The Integrated Personal Alarm Systems are based on Actall's PALS (Personal Alarm Locating System) 9000.
Actall's first installation into a California Department of Youth Authority facility was in the Southern Youth Correctional Reception Center and Clinic (SYCRCC) in Norwalk, Calif. In 1998, installation of the 'state of the art' product known as PALS 9000 began in the SYCRCC Facility.
The PALS 9000 system uses handheld devices known as Personal Mobile Transmitters (PMTs) that use both radio frequency (RF) and infrared (IR) signals to locate persons in duress situations. By pressing a red 'Panic' button, pulling a breakaway pull cord, and/or tilting the PMT unit more than 60ยบ to set off the mandown alarm, the PMT automatically communicates location and type of alarm in real time to Actall's Crisis Controller Alert Monitoring software.
SYCRCC's latest addition to its system is a new feature known as 'Follow Me Audio.' Once a duress alarm has been initiated, the audio point is located and automatically activated. In the case of further movement, the 'Follow Me Audio' feature will monitor and 'follow' the staff member until the alarm is acknowledged. This provides the control room with the ability of having two-way communication via intercom to the alarm zone. Actall also offers a 'Follow Me Video' feature that easily integrates to CCTV systems. This automatically identifies the alarm zone, and activates the closest CCTV camera. And as with the Audio feature, if there is any movement, the CCTV cameras will 'follow'. Further integration to PLC's, hard wired security and access control are also part of the PALS design architecture.
With the SYCRCC facility complete and operational, the California Department of Youth Authority expanded the personal alarm projects with the Actall PALS system in the remaining facilities.
The Norment Security Group, Inc., an Actall dealer, was awarded contracts for nine of the 10 sites. Norment's installation will be conducted in three separate phases. Phase one, currently under construction, is a $4 million project and includes the three Southern California facilities in Ventura, Chino and Whittier. Phase two, which was scheduled to begin July 2002 in Northern California, is a $5 million project incorporating Preston, Sacramento and three of the four facilities in Stockton. The final phase, a $1 million project will complete the Stockton facilities.
Jake Dawson, Norment's Project Manager for these nine sites, is responsible for all aspects of system installation, testing and certification. When asked to describe his experiences with Actall, Dawson said 'Actall's PALS system represents a complete, quality choice for our customers. The customer/technical assistance departments have been very responsive to our needs. Whenever questions have been asked or problems encountered, Actall staff has been there to help.'
The PALS System is not only easy to install and cost effective for retrofit applications, but is also easy to expand once the basic system has been installed. IR locators and wireless repeaters are only required to expand a system into new or existing buildings that were not installed originally with the basic system.
'The Actall devices are easy to mount and terminate,' said Dawson. 'Head end components are as easy to assemble as a personal computer system.'
Dawson said certain features, such as being a Windows based system and menu driven, are important for the user.
PALS 9000 operates with Actall's patented Windows-based Crisis Controller Alert Monitoring software. It is designed to operate either as a stand-alone or fully integrated monitoring system. In an alarm situation Crisis Controller will date/time stamp, show identity of person in trouble, type of alarm and a graphical display of location (using facility maps) all in real time. Alarms can be displayed on a computer screen, a pocket paging system for mobile personnel notification known as 'Page Alert,' or through the use of lamps, horns or buzzers.
Components of the system are fully supervised by the Crisis Controller software program for any malfunctions or problems that may occur, including low battery warning levels. PALS can also offer guard tour and real time staff tracking as well as site-wide networking for facilities that may have multiple monitoring needs.
A Graphical User Interface allows for the mapping of a facility. In an alarm situation a symbol will appear on the facility map at the corresponding alarm zone. The two most current locations are always visible, updating location information as the unit moves, allowing the control room to easily monitor the situation.
Another of the growing number of facilities that are concerned with making sure their staff are as safe as possible in their workplace is the Sterling Correctional Facility (SCF). It has a capacity of 2445; it is a Multi Custody Level Facility, with 830,000 sq feet of building space and 80 acres inside of the perimeter fence.
Part of SCF's decision to use the PALS 9000 systems was the indoor/outdoor tracking capabilities as well as the ease of installation and expansion. The first phase of the installation at SCF incorporated the East and West Support Buildings for the facility. Phase two, will expand the PALS 9000 coverage to encompass all of the buildings within the perimeter fence ensuring all areas are monitored.
The PALS system utilizes both IR and RF locating devices that may be placed indoors and outdoors. All IR and RF locating devices are locally powered with 12VDC / 14VAC eliminating the need for long wiring and conduit runs. The components may be equipped with battery backup for power outage situations. Exterior RF repeaters and RF locators may be solar powered when line power is not convenient.
The Actall certified dealer for the Sterling phase two project is Digatron, Inc. Digatron, based in Denver, first became aware of personal duress security systems when a job they were working had specified a duress system. The building was of historic importance, which caused problems with installation because the product that had originally been specified, required extensive wiring and calibration.
Actall's PALS 9000 requires local power to their devices without the need of extending wiring back to the control equipment. Additionally the Historical Society requested that excessive accessing of ceilings and damaging of the building be avoided, it was important to have all the IR devices made to match existing wall finishes.
Anthony Ibarra, CEO and founder of Digatron, Inc. said, 'When they were confident all this could be accommodated within the specified budget, the system was quickly approved by the client and we were given the contract.' Ibarra goes on to say 'The reason we continue to use PALS 9000 in our system design is because the system is very simple to install as well as very easily integrated with access control and CCTV/digital recording technologies; the end product appears as a single seamless system. We simply don't get calls about problems with this system. If we install products that require constant attention just to keep them operational, we see profits dwindle and costs escalate.'
Ibarra said the future use of PALS is evident. 'Obviously this product is already very important in the corrections industry. This technology will be a mainstay in everyday living in the not too distant future. This is the kind of rock solid stability we need in our line of work. '
*Jan Bender is a Marketing Representative for Actall Corporation and submitted this case study to
Corrections.com.
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