Supply Chain Company Makes Access Control a Priority

​Transportation Impact is a privately held company named to the Inc. 5000 list by Inc. magazine five times. The company aims to reduce supply chain costs for cli- ents in multiple vertical markets. The company, based in Emerald Isle, North Carolina, works for clients to reduce shipping costs through small package and freight negotiation, as well as with its state-of-the-art transportation management system. The company employs a team of 70 people in two modern office buildings in North Carolina. The safety and security of the company's dedicated employees and infrastructure is a priority for Transportation Impact. Company executives knew it was time to invest in an access control system to protect employees.  

Transportation Impact's corporate headquarters resides in a four-story building with the bottom two floors housing executive offices and conference rooms and the top two floors housing a restaurant and bar that is open to the public.

The biggest challenge the company faced in sharing a building was that members of the public commonly walked in on private meetings taking place in conference rooms while looking for the restaurant. Having the public enter Transportation Impact's office at will was not only a disruption, it was also a security risk for employees and for private information and systems. It was imperative that the conference room and executive areas were safeguarded from unauthorized access.

The company needed an access control solution that was simple to administer across multiple buildings, could handle the addition of geographically dispersed locations, and provided users with a con- venient method to access the buildings. Transportation Impact consulted security integrator, Electronic Solutions of Greenville, North Carolina.

Electronic Solutions had been working with Transportation Impact for several years and understood the company's needs. Ron Snyder, president of Elec- tronic Solutions and an ISONAS certified partner, suggested the ISONAS Pure IP access control solution in the fall of 2016, starting with a pilot program for ISONAS's new RC-04 reader-controller, all managed from the ISONAS software, Pure Access Cloud.

Transportation Impact was one of the first companies to use the new hardware product and provide feedback on the functionality and usability of the system. In addition, it was one of the first to take advantage of the Pure Mobile credentials from ISONAS. "The ISONAS solution is easy to install and it offers a simple solution, which only requires an ISONAS reader-controller and a CAT 5 cable for power and data," Snyder says.

One key challenge that drove Transportation Impact and Electronic Solutions to choose ISONAS was the need for convenient access for their users. After installing the system, Transportation Impact provided key fobs to employees to use with the system.

Unfortunately, many of the key fobs were lost, which resulted in employees propping open doors, circumventing the security and effectiveness of the access control solution. With the number of lost key fobs, Transportation Impact needed to find a way to incor- porate access control into their employees' normal everyday practices. The ISONAS Pure Mobile credential allowed them to take the convenience of their mobile phone to the next level. The Bluetooth Low Energy feature of the Pure IP hardware family (RC-04) eliminated the need for a physical card or key fob and allowed a mobile device to act as an access card.

With the simplicity of Pure Mobile in combination with Pure Access, there was no need to install additional software, purchase additional licenses to enroll mobile credentials, or acquire a bank of credentials. The RC-04 hardware and Pure Access software are ready to use with the ISONAS Pure Mobile credentials right out of the box. An employee at Transportation Impact downloads the Pure Mobile application to his or her phone, presents it to a reader-controller, and the facility adminis- trator associates that mobile phone to the user's profile.

"We were looking for an easy-to-use access control solution that allowed access with the touch of a button and we found it," says Norm Pollock, vice president of information technology at Transportation Impact. "In addition to having mobile access, we really liked having the ability to automate on a schedule and set the doors to lock and unlock during certain times of the day all from the Pure Access Cloud software."

Transportation Impact has 11 ISONAS RC-04 reader-controllers installed across two office buildings, all administered from the Pure Access Cloud software, giving access from anywhere at any time. Pure Access Cloud eliminated the need for any additional onsite network infrastructure and provided full administra- tive and management power of the access control system from any device. Now the company can assign users to the system; establish access schedules, events, and holidays; prevent doors from being propped open; and eliminate surprise visits from the public. With nine doors secured in the corporate headquarters and two installed in a second building on the front and back doors, Transportation Impact is ready for business.

With plans for a third office building in the works, Transportation Impact can easily add additional doors to its access control system now and in the future.

Monique Merhige is president of Infusion Direct Marketing and Advertising, Inc.