Evolution is helping to improve the security of patients, visitors, and staff at one of Scotland’s largest teaching hospitals with the installation of fibre-optic-based access control technology.
Evolution worked with the team at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh (RIE) to upgrade the cabling infrastructure to fibre optic as a more-reliable way of ensuring access for the hospital’s thousands of passholders.
The new card-based access system has now been installed to manage some 227 doors throughout the RIE, further improving the hospital’s security and reducing the need and cost of unnecessary maintenance.
The cards are proximity readers and are used at controlled doors, while each card also contains a photograph, name and department – acting as an identity card too.
Scott Lawson, operations manager at RIE, said: “The system has to manage the demands for access of the 10,000-strong footfall that the hospital experiences daily, and it consistently performs well across the hospital’s entire estate.”
Along with system reliability, the hospital also demanded flexibility, both in the system and during installation.
“The hospital regularly sees changes of purposes for buildings and the requirements for access can alter substantially”, Lawson said.
“With the new system, changes can be quickly and easily accommodated. The Evolution solution allows operators to programme and dispense new passes from an easy-to-use portal.”
John Baillie, area sales manager at Evolution, added: “It was essential for the hospital to remain open throughout and with minimum disruption.
“We, therefore, worked closely with each department to support their needs while never sacrificing security, and our attention to detail in the planning meant the project ran very efficiently.”
