The Challenge
The University of British Columbia, North America’s most international university with a daytime population of 75,000, faced critical security infrastructure obstacles. Their existing system relied on separate, disconnected platforms for access control and alarm monitoring, lacking the modern capabilities and reliability needed for a campus of this scale. The legacy system could not handle UBC’s growth demands and presented vulnerability and scalability concerns, with no way to seamlessly integrate additional buildings without disrupting 24/7 operations.
The Solution
UBC selected ICT’s Protege GX enterprise platform as their unified security foundation. The deployment unified access control and intrusion detection into a single system, integrated with the student management system and over 50 elevators, and introduced Armor IP alarm reporting for real-time campus visibility. ICT’s compact DIN Rail hardware delivered a 70% reduction in wall space compared to the previous system.
UBC’s internal 9-person team functioned as self-installers, with ICT providing comprehensive technical training and certification support throughout the process. Initial installations began during the 2012 construction of the Pharmaceutical Sciences and Earth Sciences buildings, expanding across campus over subsequent years.
Key Outcomes
- 115 buildings secured with centralized management across campus
- 2,300+ doors and 50,000+ card holders on a single platform
- Unified 360-degree real-time campus visibility for security operations
- 50+ elevators integrated with role-based floor access
- 70% wall space reduction with compact DIN Rail hardware
- Scalable infrastructure supporting ongoing campus development
- Enhanced emergency response capabilities across all sites
What They Said
“The advantages of unifying access control and intruder detection into a single platform are obvious. It simplified design, increased user friendliness, decreased service issues, and improved situational awareness.”
— John Molnar, Access Services Manager, University of British Columbia