The Raleigh (N.C.) Police Department has expanded its cloud-server based access-control system it began implementing more than seven years ago.

The department is continuing to expand the system using Brivo Systems' ACS WebService at a growing number of police substations and other locations, according to Brivo.

"These days, more and more businesses are seeing the many advantages of managing their access control in the 'cloud,'" according to Steve Van Till, Brivo's president and CEO.

Prior to installing Brivo, the Raleigh PD utilized key pads at the entrances of some of its stations. Officers and staff gained access by entering a code, however, if a non-authorized person learned the code, building security was compromised.

Raleigh police wanted to more effectively control access at their buildings, but they wanted a system that provided both central and on-site administration. In addition to such tiered administration, the initial system design also called for a combination of both existing keypads and new card readers.

With the recent system expansion, a single Brivo system now manages access for more than 900 sworn and civilian members of the department as well as subcontractors and other personnel, covering approximately 60 access doors at 14 locations, including its new administration and North District buildings. System administrators have created approximately 15 different personnel groups to manage access at each location and to provide access across some or all locations for appropriate personnel.

The department has been steadily rolling out Brivo ACS for over seven years.

"The Raleigh Police Department doesn't have to invest in server capacity or software to get up and running at each new site — all of that is managed by Brivo," according to ASG Security's Gregory Curtis. "In addition, its daily transactions are kept off site in Brivo's geographically dispersed data centers, which provides the department with both redundancy and disaster recovery capabilities."