Traffic Studies
I was recently reminded of the changes that our industry has undergone over the last decade as I was reviewing some older, archived design documents. It used to be that a complicated access control system consisted of a 386SX PC running Windows 3.x software monitoring 20 to 30 card readers around a three or four building corporate campus. Really sophisticated systems would have both an alarm printer that provided a continuous hard copy of system activity as well as a report printer for scheduled output. Today, we are routinely designing systems with a central server that monitors and communicates with any number of regional servers located on various continents. Card reader counts on the order of 2,000 to 3,000 are not unusual. Seamless software links to corporate personnel databases are now standard offerings.
With this increase in complexity comes an increasing requirement for a clear and strong commitment to system manager and console operator training. We were recently asked by a client to evaluate three access control software/hardware providers for possible preferred vendor status. One of our concerns on the project was end-user training. When asked about this issue, one of the software providers said, “It depends on the integrator.” During the course of that effort, we spoke with three high-end users for each of the potential software providers and asked about the training provided.  Table 1 briefly summarizes the information received as a result of our discussions. As an engineer, I am always tempted to graph data or at least try to come up with generalized, quantitative rules of thumb. Unfortunately, that's hard with this data because of the amount of scatter. It is interesting to note that the amount of training provided each end user is fairly consistent when grouped by software vendor even though this is usually at the discretion of the specific integrator performing the project.
Obviously, the issue of training is complicated by a number of factors. These include:
- The capabilities of the particular system manager and console operators: Depending on an end user's staffing model, the capabilities of the individuals in these positions may be at such a level that they do not need a great deal of fundamental, background training, but only training on the specifics of the new system.
- Segregation of responsibilities: In some instances, the system manager is a member of the end user's IT department who probably needs no training at all. Another case is the system manager could be a senior security officer or a member of the corporate security staff who would require substantially more training.
- It's all about money: There is no question that either in a bid environment or a negotiated fee relationship, one of the easiest ways to reduce price is to cut the soft costs such as the effort directed at training.
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We are in the process of reviewing and updating the training requirements in our specifications. Our specification template provides the following level of effort for training:
- Phase I Operator Training: This is a 40-hour training course conducted approximately three months prior to the completion of the installation of a new system. This provides a good background to the system operators and, in many cases, security management. This exposure to the new system helps the security management staff prepare any new policies and procedures that are needed to support implementation and management of the new system.
- Phase II Operator Training: This is a second 40-hour training course that takes place just prior to the beginning of final system testing. This training period is normally attended exclusively by the console operators and is focused on the responsibilities and actions of the system operators.
- Phase III Operator Testing: This is a 16-hour training course that takes place in three to four-hour segments during the final system testing. Phase III is exclusively hands-on operational training with a live system.
- System Manager Training: Our specifications template requires a system management-level individual to attend one of the operator training courses plus three additional days of system administration training. This is the area that we are expanding in order to provide the necessary level of competency to administer the enterprise-level systems that we are specifying today.
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The issue of end user training raises another topic that will be dealt with next month. Specifically, what kind of training does the installation crew have on the type of equipment being installed? How current is their certification and how can you as an end user ensure that the crew installing the system is qualified to do so?
Randy Nason, PE, VP
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