Providence Alaska Medical Center Operates Doors with Schlage Computer-Managed -CM- Locks; CM Locks Heighten Security, Save Time and Money at State's Largest Hospital.

Business Editors

FORESTVILLE, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 8, 2003

IR Security & Safety today announced that Providence Alaska Medical Center is using approximately 300 Schlage "Locknetics on Board" Computer-Managed (CM) locking systems to secure its facility, the largest hospital in Alaska, while also saving time and money.

"The system is used almost exclusively for access control," says Verne Stater, a maintenance mechanic at the Anchorage-based facility. "We previously had a traditional master-key system and we spent a lot of time and money on keys and re-keying the hospital."

Now, when a hospital turns over an employee, Stater simply eliminates the former employee's code or credential from accessing the lockset instead of having to re-key locks and cut and distribute new keys. He quickly and easily programs individual locks with a hand-held computer (PDA).

Providence Alaska Medical Center installed CM locks in its medical office building at entrances to doctor's offices, in break rooms and locker rooms, and at their HUGS system. For the infant ward, the hospital installed both touch pad and proximity readers. Employee nametags double as proximity cards. In the psychiatric unit, card readers are programmed to read a card from up to 36 inches away so employees can exit a room quickly without using their hands. CM products are also installed on exterior doors for facility-wide automated lockdown and unlock capabilities.

Doctors and employees of each individual department are responsible for programming the locks for entry and toggle codes. The versatile locks offer several configurations for programming and also feature an emergency key override function.

IR Security & Safety's computer-managed (CM) standalone locking products provide features found traditionally with online, networked systems. Whatever the credential used, a user-friendly software programs all, including the locks, access trim, and offline hard-wired controllers, which manage strikes and magnets, from a laptop or PDA. New users, access points and access privileges can be entered into the system in seconds.

About Providence Alaska Medical Center

Providence Alaska Medical Center features the state's most comprehensive range of services and the most advanced medical equipment and treatment systems available today. The center's roots go back to 1902, when the Sisters of Providence arrived in Nome, Alaska, and started ministering to the poor, sick and unfortunate. The Sisters built another hospital in Fairbanks in 1919 and opened the two-story, 52-bed Providence Hospital in 1937 in Anchorage. The Anchorage medical center evolved and expanded from its humble beginnings into the state's largest medical facility, with more than 340 beds and 600 physicians, and is now run by the Sisters of Providence and Providence Health System.

About IR Security & Safety's Electronic Access Control Division

Since 1969, IR Security & Safety's Electronic Access Control Division (EACD) has provided premium electronic access control solutions, including electromagnetic locks, monitoring consoles, electromechanical locks and strikes, electrical and electronic exit devices, power supplies and controllers to security professionals and their customers. Leading brands such as Recognition Systems, Schlage, "Locknetics on Board" and Von Duprin comprise the Electronic Access Control Division of IR Security and Safety, which serves an international clientele from its headquarters in Forestville, Conn. Phone is 866-322-1237. The IR website is www.irco.com.