DES secures West Virginia Northern Community College with new camera system, access control

WHEELING, W. Va. — Five years ago, Dagostino Electronic Services overhauled the security system at West Virginia Northern Community College, installing more than 80 interior and exterior cameras across the school’s three campus locations in Wheeling, Weirton and New Martinsville.

The system is managed using OnSSI’s Ocularis platform. All of the cameras are viewable from a single portal on the platform.

Key school administrators have access to the system as does the Wheeling Police Department. An officer monitors the system during normal operating hours and the system records 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

DSX access card readers were also installed as part of the 2014 project to secure the exterior doors of all school buildings.

Prior to, the doors were unlocked during operating hours, allowing anyone to enter as they pleased.

“Before we had the door access controls, the students, the instructors, all the employees came in and out as they wanted. Anybody could come in, and we had that problem,” Christopher Corbin, manager of technology for WVNCC, explained.

Today, the buildings are only accessible with an ID card. Students, faculty and staff members are given a card which can have elevated or restricted access depending on the cardholder’s needs. A student’s card, for example, might not have access to certain buildings during certain hours.

With the DSX system, WVNCC can also lockdown a building with the push of a button or the swipe of a card. The latter functionality was customized by DES for WVNCC.

“Dagostino came through and built that functionality into the system for us,” Corbin said. “Now we can lock a building down by simply swiping a card against a door reader.”

Corbin said the system delivers peace of mind for students, their families, faculty and staff members.

DES meets expanding needs of WVNCC

Since the 2014 project, WVNCC purchased the former Wesco building in Wheeling to expand their campus footprint.

At more than 20,000 square feet, the state-of-the-art space, which opened in the fall of 2018, houses the school’s new Industrial Technology Center and includes a welding lab, petroleum technology lab, classrooms and student lounge.

DES was brought in to run cable to the new building, connecting it to the school’s existing data and wireless networks. Cameras were also installed and integrated into the OnSSI system and door access readers into the DSX system.

Bringing DES back to do the Industrial Technology Center job was a “simple” and “easy” choice, according to Corbin.

And DES delivered.

“The transition into this building, adding it to our network, adding it to the security and door lock system, it’s integrated directly in and it’s been pretty painless,” Corbin said.

WVNCC said DES can do it all and is “easy” to work it.

“DES has come through with every request we’ve ever had and accomplished it. Even when we’ve asked them for stuff the systems can’t do. They made it happen,” Corbin said.

He concluded, “I would recommend DES to other companies around town and in fact, [I] have. DES comes through and does what they say they’re going to do.”