Access Control

CEBU, Philippines - University of San Jose-Recoletos Main Campus on Magallanes Street, this city, is the first in the academe to have utilized fully the benefits of access control technology.

After three years of enjoying a fully automated data capture and analysis system provided by Ezware IT Computing Solutions, headed by Mr. Josephus Uy Dy, it has expanded the use of the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) System to its Basak Campus that holds the preschool, grade school, high school, and select college courses.

Mr. Dy pointed out that it was sometime June of 2010 when the school recognized the capability of RFID to enhance its security feature by tracking students and personnel in real-time. A combination of devices – from the EzLogger, to monitors, to thin clients that boot up from servers - enables tag reading even few inches away without physical contact. By tapping Student ID to the EzLogger, unlike the swiping requirements of the magnetic cards and the read-only feature of the barcode, students and personnel get to enjoy the stability of such technology and at the same time its evolution to cater to more services. Information could be sent via mobile phones of recipients, say guardians of students, so they will be informed whether their children have really reported to school or not.

In case of emergencies, the guardians can also be informed categorically as to the whereabouts of their wards. This is because the system also allows the students a “tap out.” While the term is highly confined to a wrestler’s world, a university has to wrestle also with many concerns. One way to ensure that a student or personnel has left the premises is a log-out action done by tapping the EzLogger at the exit zone. “In the event of untoward incidents, the Security Services Department can easily check the database as to how many students are still inside the premises. Or if a parent is wary of the whereabouts of a child, he or she could easily be informed whether the child has left the premises or not,” Dy explained.

Areshdel Artes, an Education student and vice president of the Supreme Student Council 32nd Congress, shared that “the RFID allows the guards on-duty to identify if the student entering the campus is officially enrolled in the University, thus heightening safety and security in the school premises. Also, since the students have to tap their IDs on the machine, proper order is observed.”

“As an IT student at Basak campus, I find the newly implemented ID system really useful because it can easily identify whether or not a student checked in to school or not on a certain day, in case his attendance at a certain class is questionable, as all students are requested to scan their IDs before entering the campus. It is also much better and less time-consuming than the conventional method of writing your name in a record book,” explained Information Technology student Angelo Littmann.

Melanie E. Castillanes, Accountancy student and a Commerce House representative, finds the RFID a “very convenient and handy way to deal with security concerns.”

Meanwhile, SSC president John Lester Lastimosa, an Accountancy graduating student, accentuated: “Technological advancements have been very rapid and have been so helpful in augmenting not only the accessibility and comfort in studying but also in improving the safety and security of students and staff members of the University. RFID eventually phased out the manual logging in of names upon entering the campus. Just an ID tap and you’re good to go!”

Student Activity Officer Antonio B. Soria animated that “it is beneficial not only to students but also to the University since RFID is able to validate the students’ eligibility to enter the campus. This also allows the University to have an edge over other universities in terms of state-of-the-art facilities.”

Contactless RFID is also beneficial most especially to USJ-R librarians. For census purposes, they can utilize the data in decision-making. For example, they will be able to act on courses that do not avail of library services. Dy pointed out that while students of a specific course troop to the library being a hub of valuable information it may not be that attractive at all to some other courses. The librarians can then check whether shelf materials are already obsolete, or whether there is a lack of books for a particular  technology or subject matter. The system, in a way, alerts the librarians to be more sensitive to the needs of every course group.

Moreover, the system allows alerts as a last recourse for people often called up to report to a particular office. After a series of written communication and still the person refuses to be summoned, upon tapping at the EzLogger of the entry area, a flasher will be displayed on an overhead monitor. The security guard on-duty now takes cue to escort him/her to that specific office that demands his/her presence.

“The dynamics of the ID with electronic chip is to really address problems that arise with access and the associated security risks such poses to the learning community,” Dy added.

According to him, “it’s a feather on our cap that a school as esteemed as USJ-R is the first among the academe to have taken advantage of a fantastic technology. Information technology is a constantly evolving sector, but USJ-R’s trust on our capacity to provide innovative solutions to IT-related concerns is unwavering. We are optimistic that in the future, all Cebu schools will be as receptive. Security is not just one man’s issue, but a communal concern.” (FREEMAN)