Do You Have Project for Shelter? 2N Products Are Ideal Solution

In a worst-case-scenario, uninvited visitors are a risk to the health and lives of clients. This is why the Women’s Center & Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh opted for 2N products. Until recently, the centre was struggling not only with a lack of accommodation capacity but mainly with an outdated security and communications system. For a non-profit organisation though, a modern communications system and security with reliable access control is essential. This is why the centre invested in a new solution based on networking technologies and selected a robust telephone system by Cisco integrated with IP video intercoms and access control by 2N.

Protection for the building’s perimeter and entrances is provided by three 2N® IP Verso intercoms equipped with an RFID reader and touch keypad. A two-step verification system is used to access the building. Apart from an access card, residents also have to enter a PIN. Inside the building, entrances are then protected with fourteen 2N® IP Force intercoms with two-way audio and wide-angle HD cameras.

“2N intercoms and their access control systems really have helped us increase our security. With increased visibility and two-step verification, there is no way a violent abuser can get into the building by cunning or force,” said Mark Ritter, Information Systems Administrator at the centre.

Women usually first contact the shelter by telephone on the hotline. For this reason, installing a new communications system based on the Unified Communications Manager software by Cisco was an important step towards modernisation. This robust network communications infrastructure provided the centre with secure and scalable call management. It is also fully integrated with 2N products.

Thanks to seamless integration, staff at the centre can remotely monitor entrances, check visitors or let staff and residents who have forgotten their card or PIN into the building. The integrated systems from 2N and Cisco have significantly increased the level of security throughout the whole building.