The challenge

This project for a major Sydney healthcare institution included over 700 access control doors and 200 fixed duress points, all hardwired to distributed security panels. As is often the case, it was planned to install these security panels in the communications room, but when the time came installers found there just wasn’t enough space to house any off-the-self or pre-made cabinet solution.

To complicate things further, the space between the communications racks and the walls of each room was only just slightly wider than the swing of a standard cabinet door.

The solution

Prosys Services teamed up with Powerbox and Jack Fuse to help solve this challenging set of logistical problems, because it was clear that a comprehensive and sophisticated electronic security solution was needed.

The first step was to custom engineer equipment cabinets to fit the precise measurements. There is a large amount of access control equipment to house, so each cabinet was made 1.2m wide and 2m high.

To address the challenging room dimensions, the cabinet depth was limited to just 135mm, and the double-locking cabinet doors were custom designed to lift off, instead of swing out, to ensure that egress through the communication rooms met Building Codes of Australia requirements.

The capability

28 of these custom designed panels were manufactured especially for this project, each capable of servicing 56 doors, with spare capacity. The cabinets feature a removable back plane that was pre-fitted and wired with power supplies, DIN rail door controllers and power distribution modules, which saved substantial time in onsite labour during the final installation.

The doors

Next, the healthcare project masterplan required a mix of fail-safe and fail-secure doors. To meet this demand and ensure comprehensive compliance across the board, Jack Fuse Power Port 8FR power distribution modules were selected for installation, because they provide fused power distribution to all electronic locks throughout the facility, as well as essential door lock release with a fire alarm trigger.

Each fused output can be individually set to provide fire tripped power or standard power, which enables the option of providing power to fail-safe or fail-secure door locks, with simple and time efficient implementation.

Then for the numerous request-to-exit sensors throughout the building, Jack Fuse Power Port 10HD distribution modules were chosen – the impressively small footprint of this model being a deciding factor.

The power

For a major healthcare facility, uptime and safety are of paramount importance, and these factors drive the success of any onsite project. To ensure ultimate access control and duress across the entire system, it’s powered by 42 Powerbox switch mode power supplies. Two models are used - the 8A PB256 and the 16A PB251 – and the varying capacity between these different models enables the power supply capacity to be easily customised for each cabinet, while at the same allowing space for other equipment.

To increase reliability and redundancy, the door controllers and electric locks are powered from different power supplies.

The limited cabinet space restricts back-up battery size, however Powerbox power supplies have high-capacity charging circuits, which ensure the batteries are ready to function on demand in any power outage, and immediately prepared for use again when normal power is restored.

Each power supply also features AC and battery fault alarm outputs that are all individually monitored, ensuring the facility security team is alerted fast in real time to any potential power issues.

The future

This comprehensive solution of using specially engineered cabinets, flexible Jack Fuse power distribution, reliable Powerbox power supply, and a talented installation team, has empowered Prosys Services to overcome some incredibly challenging scenarios and ultimately over-deliver to a very happy customer.

This cost effective, industry leading security solution will serve this major healthcare institution long into the future, inspiring excellence and innovation in many other projects along the way.

Get in touch with the Powerbox Australia team today to find out more.