Kantech and Illustra access control solutions ease transitions from legacy devices to modern systems
First Baptist Church in Tupelo, Mississippi—originally founded in 1850 as Hickory Grove Church—is Tupelo’s oldest church. In 2020, the church began major renovations to their facility, which included upgrades to their security and intrusion systems.
Background
Bill Watters and Brad Thompson of Secureone Access, LLC were brought on to help FBC Tupelo solve several challenges associated with enhancing these systems. Kantech sales leaders met with the pair during the most recent Global Security Expo in Atlanta, Georgia to learn more about the security solutions they provided to the church.
The Customer
Watters began Secureone Access, LLC after more than 20 years in the security industry. Previously, he had worked as the operations manager for Broadmoore Baptist Church in Madison, Mississippi where he leveraged his industry knowledge to give security and intrusion recommendations for that building.
After his time there, Watters was approached by Pastor Lee Allred when FBC Tupelo’s Kantech system needed help getting back online, which Watters managed to accomplish.
Watters returned to FBC Tupelo after being asked to assist in the facility’s renovation. FBC Tupelo had received $8 million to put towards building renovations, which included upgrades to their security and intrusion systems.
The Solution
Previously, FBC Tupelo had 12 access doors and several cameras positioned around the building. The new design called for 60 access control doors, 112 cameras and a fully integrated security system utilizing DSC Power Series Neo security system, Kantech Access Control, ExacqVision Network Video Recorders and Illustra cameras.
Watters used Kantech’s extensive features to automate the manual controls of the gym lighting and air-conditioned fans. By integrating the systems together, Watters and Pastor Allred were able to control all their systems from the EntraPass Go app, saving critical time and resources.
“We used to have people visit the church basketball court until 3 AM, which was outside of our hours of necessary operation,” said Pastor Allred. “This helped us autonomously control lights, heating, and all system management.”
Now, Pastor Allred has set the gym lights to automatically turn on at 6 AM and turn off at 11 PM, regulating visitor management and traffic while removing the burden of finding someone to physically manage the light switches. The air conditioning has been improved through automation as well, with prescheduled scenes helping to keep the building’s rooms at comfortable temperatures automatically to facilitate the building’s meetings.
No Panel Left Behind
The success Watters had with FBC Tupelo is a direct effect of Kantech’s continued support for their older panels. Many of our panels have been in service for many years, and with backwards compatibility and ongoing support, customers can continue upgrading their systems confidently without the need for lengthy installs.
“They called me and asked me for a quote with the preface that, ‘We aren’t asking anyone else due to No Panel Left Behind,’” Watters said.
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