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Education Case Study
The Campus That Threw Away the Keys.
How Saddleback College moved from nearly a thousand brass keys to electronic access control across a large, open campus—and gained greater visibility, faster response, and centralized control.
The Challenge
1,400 Openings. Nearly 1,000 Brass Keys.
What drove Saddleback Community College to invest in upgrading nearly every lock across roughly 1,400 openings to electronic access control? The catalyst was two-fold.
First, issuing and tracking nearly a thousand brass keys had become increasingly cumbersome and risky. More importantly, the college wanted to elevate door security in a way that could help streamline emergency response.
Saddleback is not a small campus. Its roughly 700,000 square feet span 200 acres in South Orange County and serve nearly 25,000 students each term across 170 programs. With part-time students, specialty classes, events, and childcare, the number of people on campus can double or triple.
1,400Campus openings targeted for electronic access control
~1,000Traditional brass keys being issued and tracked
200Acres across the South Orange County campus
25,000Students served each term
See the Campus Story
Why Saddleback Moved to Electronic Access Control.
Saddleback College Access Control
A Closer Look at the Deployment
“Faculty and staff personnel wanted the ability to be proactive in the event of a violent act at the school. They wanted a solution that would allow them to quickly lock a classroom from inside if necessary and a way to quickly alert central dispatch.
A Top-Down Initiative
Safety Had to Improve Without Making the Campus Feel Closed.
The move to electronic access control was supported from the top, but faculty and staff were a major driving force. Saddleback wanted a solution that could improve protection while preserving the open, welcoming character of the campus.
The college spent more than four months on discovery and analysis with campus teams, IMRON, and ASSA ABLOY. It also visited other schools with successful access control systems before deciding how far to go.
Because Saddleback already had a strong video camera system in place, IMRON's ability to integrate access control with Video Insight gave campus police another layer of situational awareness.
Why PoE
Always Online. Immediate Feedback. Better Decisions.
After assessing the needs of campus police, facilities, IT, faculty, and staff, Saddleback standardized on ASSA ABLOY PoE electronic access control locks integrated with IMRON's web platform and software.
Campus police wanted the instant feedback that PoE provides. Always-online locks can provide continuous door and lock status plus an audit trail of authorized access—information that helps improve day-to-day security decisions and accelerates response when every second counts.
The first phase began in the college's new science buildings with more than 160 Corbin Russwin Access 700 PIP1 intelligent locksets. Later phases moved to SARGENT IN220 PoE locks for retrofits and new construction while maintaining compatibility with the existing IMRON system and credentials.
01 / ALWAYS ONLINE
Continuous Status
PoE locks provide continuous door and lock status rather than relying on disconnected or manual processes.
02 / AUDITABLE
Access History
Electronic credentials and event history provide a clearer audit trail for campus security and administration.
03 / CENTRALIZED
One System to Manage Access
Access can be issued and revoked centrally as staff, faculty, roles, and semester needs change.
Creative Use of the IN220
Turning a Privacy Button Into a Panic Button.
One of the SARGENT IN220's features was originally intended to lock a door from the inside for privacy. Saddleback and IMRON configured it for a different purpose: a panic button.
When activated, the button immediately locks the door and sends an alarm to dispatch. A graphical map in the IMRON interface identifies the alarm location so dispatch can quickly determine where the event occurred.
If multiple alarms appear near each other, an authorized supervisor can issue a command to remotely lock down the building—or the entire campus—while still allowing campus police with the appropriate credential to gain access.
One Button. Two Immediate Actions.
The configured panic function locks the room immediately and simultaneously sends an alarm to the campus police dispatch center, helping staff avoid stepping into a hallway to secure a door during a potentially dangerous situation.
Visibility in the Driver's Seat
Security Operations Beyond the Dispatch Center.
IMRON's web interface can also be accessed from a patrol car laptop. That gives an officer the ability to monitor the system while making rounds, particularly at night or when no dispatcher is on duty.
If an event occurs on the other side of the campus, the officer can immediately see the situation, head to the location, investigate, and call for additional resources if needed.
UNITYIS® WEB ACCESS
Real-Time Information Wherever the Officer Is.
For a geographically large campus, browser-based access gives campus police another way to maintain situational awareness without being tied to the dispatch desk.
Dividing Up Access Control Duties
IT, Police, and Facilities Each Own a Piece of the System.
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Setup & Infrastructure
IT sets access levels, performs substantial setup programming, maintains the on-premises web server, and monitors access-control software performance.
CAMPUS POLICE
Credentials & Monitoring
PD issues and manages credentials and serves as the primary day-to-day operator, monitoring real-time access events from dispatch.
FACILITIES & MAINTENANCE
Doors & Hardware
FMO inspects doors and hardware, including closers, latches, levers, automatic doors, electric strikes, card readers, and other field components.
“Overall, Saddleback’s electronic access control system has become a real timesaver and has freed up officers from having to go around locking and unlocking doors manually. It has helped accelerate our response time when it’s called for.
Original Case Study
ASSA ABLOY
This case study originally appeared through ASSA ABLOY and documents Saddleback College's transition from traditional keys to networked electronic access control integrated with IMRON.
UNITYIS® FOR EDUCATION
Modernize Access Without Losing Operational Control.
UnityIS® helps educational institutions centralize access control, integrate door hardware and video, and give security teams real-time visibility across the campus.
