RECOMMENDED STEPS FOR A SUCCESSFUL STARTUP OF A NEW SECURITY SYSTEM

Before you select a vendor or system:

1. Find out what is and isn't working for facilities similar to yours. Take into account physical facility design, the types of occupants and their activities and schedules, and the facility environment.
   
   
2. Determine your security monitoring and access control objectives.
   
   
3. Identify those people in your facility that will be involved in managing and maintaining the new system. Determine which individuals should be involved in the early educational steps, in system specification and selection, and in system training. Select one person who will become the system "expert", the person who will "take ownership" of the system on behalf of the facility. For very large systems, this may require a dedicated position for one or more personnel.
   
   
4. Determine how the secured areas of your facility will be monitored and accessed on a daily basis, and how you will periodically verify that access controls and monitoring are in place as you intend.
   
   
5. Work out the types of reports that you will need. Make example reports using a word processor, and include them in your system description or specification.
   
   
6. Describe any special facility requirements in detail.

After you have selected a vendor or system:

1. Realize that the remainder of the process will probably take more time and attention from facility personnel than what may have been expected. Then prepare yourself and your facility personnel to support whatever level of participation is required to have a successful system installation and startup.
   
   
2. Have the vendor provide you with a list of information that he needs from you, and a schedule of when you must provide it.
   
   
3. Meet with the vendor to determine what aspects of system design, setup and operations you must collaborate on.
   
   
4. Get educated early on how the system defines access privileges.
   
   
5. Determine the access requirements of the facility occupants and define the security access privileges for individuals (users) and groups (user groups). Provide this information to the vendor as early as possible for vendor review and comment.
   
   
6. Determine who will type in the user security privilege information, and whether this will be performed during the operational test period, or prior to it.
   
   
7. Have the vendor provide a test plan that includes field acceptance testing and operational acceptance testing. Have the vendor clarify or provide more detail for any portions of the test plan that don't clearly indicate what they prove and how this relates to your requirements and objectives. Make sure the test plan provides complete coverage of the required system functionality.
   
   
8. Have the dealer provide a training plan or outline based upon the specific functions that your facility would require of the system. Make sure that the training includes "hands on" sessions with an actual system, not just book and lecture training.
   
   
9. Determine which facility personnel will participate in the acceptance tests. Make sure that they get sufficient system training prior to the tests to be able to understand and accurately system responses that will be performed.
   
   
10. During operational testing, make sure that the facility "system expert" does indeed become expert on the operation of the system.
    
    
11. As part of the operational testing, perform the system and facility inspections or procedures that you will use to periodically verify that access controls and monitoring are in place as you intend.

After the final acceptance:

Have a breakfast or lunch get-together for the vendor personnel and facility personnel that have been involved in the system selection, installation and operations. Congratulate one and all on the successful commissioning of the system, thank them for their contributions, and take the time to celebrate a job well done.