Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council chose the P3.net system after its existing, 16-year-old system became unreliable.
Following a successful trial involving six doors, the authority’s central services manager Steve Cox decided to expand the system over a further 18 entrances.
The installation, which began more than two years ago, now encompasses the council’s three main multi-user buildings – the town hall tower block, the old town hall and the exchange building.
While the system initially only covered external doors, key points between buildings and into the mayor’s parlour are now integrated.
“Normal access times are 7am-9pm, Monday to Friday, but this can be varied for staff working in the evenings such as cleaners who have access between 4pm and 8pm, Monday to Friday,” said Cox.
“The system is very flexible so that staff working at weekends or those on call can be given appropriate access.”
BSB’s technical director, Ian Bend, said this flexibility was crucial in being able to accommodate the thick stone walls of the original town hall, which is a listed building.
“The very thick stone walls at the old town hall meant it was difficult to run twisted pair network cables. However, the IT department was able to provide Ethernet access points so the P3.net controller was used at each door. These were then addressed via IP.
“This saved planning permission, a lot of expensive drilling and disruption to the council offices. The P3.net system then also allowed the remote buildings to be included in the one system. Two client workstations were loaded with the software so that more than one staff member could administer the system.”
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