5 Best Practices for Choosing an RFID Solution for a Secure Campus

As you settle in to read this article, the Fall semester is in full swing and the college ‘rites of passage’ have commenced: students have gotten lost trying to find their classroom, they’ve capped out their meal plan, and have likely lost their room key...a couple of times.

It is a very conservative guess that about one in five students will be stuck without their keys at least once every year. Nationally, that equates to approximately 3.8 million missing keys and with replacement costs ranging anywhere between $200-500, cash-poor students resort to publishing all kinds of ‘how to’ advice:

•  Wear it on a hair tie
•  Safety pin it to the inside of your shirt
•  Tuck it into your shoe
•  String it onto a necklace
•  Hide it somewhere in your dorm

Resourceful, but not the best way to ensure safety.

While losing keys is frustrating for students, it’s more than a nuisance to university safety departments. It’s a massive expense with safety, financial and liability consequences. If university safety departments had a ‘how-to’ list, the number one item might just be “How to cost-effectively combat the lost key crisis”, and RFID solutions just might be the answer, but only if they are chosen with specific criteria in mind.

5 Best Practices in Choosing the Right RFID Solution for a Safe Campus

There is a long list of ways RFID solutions cost-effectively enhance campus security. In addition to the well-known automated, electronic cabinets that control access to keys for dormitories, laboratories, safety and maintenance vehicles, and lockers, there are proof-of-visit systems that electronically verify guard patrols for student and faculty safety, and long-range readers that identify vehicles in secured parking lots.

With the many benefits of RFID, there are a handful of specific best practices to be mindful of when choosing the best system for your university’s security ecosystem.

1.    Reliability for that 2 a.m. ‘lost key’ call: When that studious undergrad gets in at 2 a.m. from a hard night of studying and can’t find his/her key, that RFID key cabinet better be immediately accessible. The software can’t fail, and the mechanics need to be rock-solid. Check for these things:

•  Fobs constructed as a single piece that isn’t vulnerable to moisture and are contactless to support a longer lifespan.
•  Cabinets, smart storage lockers and key boxes that utilize multiple processors to avoid freezing up and requiring system reboots.
•  Tamper-proof and vandal-proof locks that can be programmed as fail-secure, so they don’t release in a power disruption.

2.    Dashboards for Information At-a-Glance: The most important part of an RFID system is the software which ties together all the information. Check that the software is easy to use with dashboards that provide details on the collection of evidence, chain-of-custody transfers and item location and condition.

•  When did the dorm key get checked out?
•  Who last took the laptop from the locker?
• When was the patrol car last serviced?
• Is that vehicle supposed to be in this lot?

Also, know that ‘out of the box’ isn’t always the best way to get information that is specific to your campus and security requirements. Access to customized reports is essential to making sure you get the information that will assist you in making critical decisions on safety.

3.    Right-Sized Now and Scales as the Campus Grows: Make sure the RFID solution has the capacity to let you start where you want to start, and grow to include more as your campus expands with new dormitories, maintenance vehicles, recreation centers, etc. Look for customer-friendly system models (small, medium, large) that will accommodate the type of campus you have today but guarantee scalability and flexibility for a growing campus.

This includes choosing an RFID solution that looks beyond keys. Parking lot security is an often-overlooked, vulnerable area at university campuses and can represent a first step in preventing incidents from occurring in the first place. RFID-based vehicle and driver identification solutions can secure even the most remote parking areas and accurately identify vehicles in all weather conditions.

‘Proof of visit’ or electronically verified guard patrols use RFID data collectors linked to maintenance-free and unobtrusive monitoring stations to give patrolling guards (and other service providers) an easy way to electronically record their rounds, providing accountability.

4.    Integrates well for a Future-Proof Solution: Many universities have a card system in place to provide access control for specific buildings, even if they haven’t yet made the move to smart cards for their residence halls because of cost and/or infrastructure. It’s essential to make sure the RFID solution you choose today can (a) support and be part of a technical migration strategy and (b) integrate with the card access control system for unified management of user information, audit logs, and access privileges.  

The security team should be able to assign access privileges to the RFID tags and cabinets right along with any other door access privileges directly from the access control system and view comprehensive information from one audit report. But beware of cobbled together applications versus truly integrated systems - a bad integration will allow essential details to fall through the cracks. Ask security colleagues at other universities about how their integrated system functions.

5.    Proper Preparation and Support from your Partners: Yes, the system must be intuitive, but training is a must. Be sure that the manufacturer of the RFID solution you select offers comprehensive training, ongoing phone support and on-site support. Check to see if the manufacturer has a strong partner program that focuses on training – this will ultimately translate into much better support for you.

 Yes, Losing Keys is Frustrating

Just ask the student who wrote this blog  “The 5 stages of grief when losing your keys”. Heck, it’s annoying enough to warrant a mention in a neuroscientist’s Ted Talk.

But an RFID solution that includes key management for dorms, facilities and vehicles, combined with smart lockers, guard patrols, parking lot security, and more will ease the risk, frustration, cost, and liability associated with lost keys while maintaining a safe and smoothly running campus.

Just remember this Best Practices checklist for choosing the best RFID solution:

• Reliable software and rock-solid mechanics
• Intuitive dashboards and customized reports
• Right-sized now, scales as your campus grows and goes beyond keys
• Integrates well with access control and supports technical migration strategies
• Comprehensive training, onsite support, and ongoing phone support

About the author: Stephan von Schilcher is the Director of Sales for deister USA, and has more than 14 years of international management experience in security technology, procurement, and consultation.