Virtual Police is an IP Video Solutions provider that specializes in access control and security cameras for industrial and commercial businesses. Like many startup companies, Virtual Police was founded on a business passion and fueled with entrepreneurial drive.

With a background in real estate, finance, and insurance, Lance Rankin, owner of Virtual Police, not only understands what it takes to run a successful business but how to meet detailed customer needs. “My initial vision for Virtual Police was simple,” says Rankin. “Offer a surveillance/access control system that mimics a true patrol network.”

In order to bring his ideas to fruition, Rankin had to find equipment that would operate around the clock, provide the highest level of detail, and offer low operating and maintenance costs.

The eyes of the system are MOBOTIX cameras and the brain is Kaba’s Embedded Access Controller and Door Unit combination. “Our core business philosophy is to find the best products in the industry, learn every aspect of those products, and install/service solely those products,” notes Rankin. “Instead of trying to be everything to everybody, we are experts on a few products, and we’ve chosen Kaba’s Embedded Access Control products and MOBOTIX cameras for our business.”

VIRTUAL POLICE ON KABA PRODUCTS
“We selected the Kaba Embedded Access Control system for its features and functions, but what we like the most is how rock solid the devices are,” says Rankin. “About six years ago, we installed several hundred door units at a site. Since then, we have had to replace only four door units. And, it wasn’t because the units were defective, two of them failed because of a wiring problem with a power supply, and the other two failed because a lightning strike at the facility took out a whole wing of electronic-type devices. In both cases, we re-installed each door unit within 15 minutes. It’s nice to know that if we need to we can easily swap out devices.”

VIRTUAL POLICE PROVIDES UNIQUE SOLUTION TO MEGA WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY
Virtual Police is a preferred vendor for one of the world’s largest wireless communications and telecommunications providers. As part of the company’s vast products and services, the giant wireless provider has more than 200 data centers in 24 countries, including a super Network Equipment Center (NEC) in Texas that sits on 25 acres, employs over 2,000 employees, and includes over 200 doors throughout the facility.

Approximately six years ago, the data center had issues with their access control and camera system so they turned to Virtual Police for a solution that would accommodate their internal corporate policy, data center’s facility size, and corporate IT design.

“As soon as we got pulled in on the data center project, we did our homework on the customer’s current situation, goals, policies, needs . . . ,” says Rankin. “Once we understood the scope of the project, we found the data center the right equipment, then added our own value to it. The net result was a unique solution that even a mega wireless communications company could give an A+ grade.”

The solution Rankin and his team developed for the data center included over 250 MOBOTIX cameras, HID readers on doors, iCLASS® cards, and 14 Kaba AM524 Controllers with 100 Door Units (13 clustered together with one cluster master). The access control system is Linux-based (free and open source) so it allows for customization. “Our IT programmer is a Linux enthusiast,” says Rankin. “With an open source format operating system, you can tie into central programming and reporting functions. We wanted to read data and push data, and with this type of control, you can work the system to get what you need. It allows us to be creative and the customer to be satisfied — they get exactly what they want.”

The wireless company had a unique need: the solution provider needed to access the corporation’s Active Directory. Rankin ties into the Active Directory to view approvals and permissions of employees before assigning access at the local level.

“We work directly with the wireless company to keep them in synch from the corporate level to the local level,” notes Rankin. “Due to high security standards, the company gets audited frequently and the databases have to match.”

Currently Virtual Police is one of the only integrators in the country that has developed a program that ties to a client’s Active Directory. Rankin and team also developed an interface to the Kaba embedded access control application that allows them to provide client-specific data, such as finding who did not enter an access point within the last 90 days.

The hub of the Kaba system is the Access Manager 524, which includes an embedded access control application. With this system, there is no PC or servers to install, users execute system administration, user setup, and event viewing via a standard web browser. To access the application, users type the IP address, log into the system, and the application menu displays.

To accommodate another request from the wireless company, Rankin created a custom home page on the data center’s internal network and installed it on top-level managers’ computers. The managers can pull up the Virtual Police Launch Pad and click-on areas or reports that are of interest to them, for example, they can select a door and see the activity at the door or pick an employee and see every move that person made.

The managers can also see the camera views from their computer screen(s). All the activity is kept within the Kaba database, it knows every card swiped, the different access groups, who belongs to them, and it serves as the vehicle for setting up custom days/holidays and access schedules.

A GLIMPSE AT VIRTUAL POLICE’S FUTURE
Rankin has a distinct business model and it is paying off. “We don’t spend a lot of time developing plans to go after new business; we spend all of our time building and fostering relationships for very few customers,” declares Rankin. “Once they see what we can do, they stay with us. In the case of the wireless company, we’ve done ten times the initial scope of work. We’ve built a long-term relationship, and I’m proud to say that my team and I are here six years later.”

Recently the wireless company selected Virtual Police to supply products and services for the new construction of a data center in California that will include a couple hundred doors and cameras on one system.

And, the NEC in Texas recently purchased 25 acres behind the facility that will adjoin the main facility. In the next three to five years, Rankin expects to install another 20 to 25 Access Manager 524s clustered working together as one system.