Tesla Systems, Tyco Fire & Security and HID Global install access control at Boston Ronald McDonald House

Tesla Systems, Inc. in conjunction with Tyco Fire & Security and HID Global, have jointly donated and installed a comprehensive access control system for the Boston Ronald McDonald House, a home for families who have children with cancer. For more than 25 years, the Boston Ronald McDonald House has made it possible for families to live at the house while their children are undergoing surgery, chemotherapy, or bone marrow transplants at nearby Children's Hospital Boston and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute's Jimmy Fund Clinic. When lightning struck the Ronald McDonald House last year, it disabled the facility's entire access control system. In order to ensure safety and peace of mind for guests and staff members, they needed to quickly get back up and running. "When the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute mentioned the situation at the Ronald McDonald House, we were happy to provide our installation expertise in replacing the damaged system," said Bob O'Rourke of Tesla Systems. "I knew both Tyco Fire & Security and HID Global would support us in this endeavor and because of everyone's support, we had all eleven doors up and running within two days." Tesla Systems, Tyco Fire & Security's Kantech brand and HID Global came together to replace the entire system with new access control equipment including Kantech KT-300 door controllers, EntraPass Corporate Edition software, HID iCLASS R10 readers and iCLASS cards. Doors are locked 24 hours a day for the security of Ronald McDonald House guests. They are only accessible by swiping the contactless smart card. Each guest of the Ronald McDonald House is assigned a contactless smart card to present to the door reader in order to enter the facility. The Ronald McDonald House easily manages the new access control system using Tyco Fire & Security's Kantech EntraPass Corporate Edition software, a powerful multi-user access control system. When a family leaves the facility, the site manager simply deactivates the smart card. "The Kantech and HID solutions are ideal for nonprofit organizations such as the Ronald McDonald House. It was amazing how Tesla Systems Inc., Tyco Fire & Security and HID Global came together so quickly, and quietly, and generously, to provide us with this incredible donation. Bob O'Rourke came by one day to see what the House needed and before I knew it, the job was done. This team directly and immediately impacted the safety and comfort of our families, and for that we will always be extremely grateful." said Andy Richards, executive director of the House. "This economical, out-of-the-box solution requires minimal installation and integration, driving down the IT costs involved with managing access control systems. A donation of this kind is a tremendous gift for a small, community-supported non-profit such as ours. Not only did this gift help all of our guests feel immediately safer and more comfortable, it also resulted in a huge—and ongoing—cost savings to the House."