ESITECH Customer Story GFT-904_with_links

GE Energy Connections
ESITECH Counts on the
Security of GE Redundancy
PLCs have been used in the security industry for decades to control cell doors as well
as critical security, power, and water systems. Until recently, these systems have been
proprietary–specifically designed for each project by an engineering firm and installed on-site
by local electricians. However, proprietary solutions have many limitations. They are difficult
to upgrade and it can be cumbersome and expensive to incorporate additional equipment.
The security industry is starting to embrace non-proprietary control systems that can be
easily upgraded and integrated with other security control systems and equipment from
different suppliers. And as redundant control systems become more economical, they are
increasingly being installed in jails and prisons.

Security Industry Innovator
ESITECH Security Group, Inc. are leading innovators in the
area of detention security, and have been relying on highperformance,
redundant automation control solutions from
GE. The firm designs, manufactures and installs integrated
security control systems, primarily for correctional facilities.
Their services range from emergency maintenance, to
feasibility studies, to design assistance and implementation.
The 25-year-old company, based in Richmond, VA, is owned
by Jeff Power and David Sizemore.
Although ESITECH installs systems in new facilities, with few
new correctional institutions being built, upgrading and
replacing outdated security control systems is their bread
and butter. These upgrades are often implemented as a last
resort, primarily due to budget restraints. “Correction
departments tend to be very reactionary,” says Power,
ESITECH’s President. “They wait until a system is broken
before considering upgrading.” In addition to controllers,
ESITECH upgrades PCs, workstations, and video systems in
detention facilities.
ESITECH was among the first firms to design and install
non-proprietary systems for the detention security market.
“With proprietary systems, clients who purchased an
electronic security system for a correctional facility were
married to the firm that sold it,” Power says. “We think
non-proprietary systems are better for our customers. They
can get other firms to work on our installed system and it
makes upgrading and expanding systems much easier.”
In addition to being non-proprietary, Power says security
systems should be integrated, automated, and redundant.
“We utilize the most technologically advanced software,
equipment, programming and installation techniques to
provide a fully integrated and automated electronic security
control solution with redundant features,” he says. Power
adds that since integrated systems can seamlessly react to
one another through common programming, they help
reduce operational failures, increase safety, and minimize
operator error.
The second pillar for ESITECH is automation. “Utilizing
system-specific programming techniques, we can make a
facility secure through automation, which reduces operating
costs, improves speed and efficiency, promotes safety, and
defines standards,” Power says. For example, automated
systems can capture and record on a hard drive the “who,
when, where” of a specific location within a facility;
intercoms can activate cameras so the operator can assess
the situation (by seeing and speaking with the person) before
opening a door; cameras on both sides of a door can show
who is on the other side before a door is unlocked; or before
a group of doors are unlocked, a pop-up message can ask
“Are you sure?”
“Utilizing system-specific
programming techniques, we can
make a facility secure through
automation, which reduces
operating costs, improves speed
and efficiency, promotes safety,
and defines standards.”
Jeff Power,
President,
ESITECH Security Group, Inc.

Security Requires Redundancy
But perhaps the most important aspect of a security control
system is redundancy. “All good security is redundant, relying
upon ‘back-up’ for maintaining safety standards,” Power
says. This is true of both correctional facilities themselves
and the systems that control them.
Through redundant programming, systems are checked and
rechecked, and backups kick in when needed. As system
redundancy gets cheaper, it is becoming a standard in
security control installations. “With tight budgets, redundant
systems offer greater costs savings than individual PLCs in
every area, without the risk of a single point of failure,”
Power says.
Because redundancy is such a critical component of modern
security control systems, ESITECH has standardized their
systems with GE controllers, primarily PACSystems * RX3i
controllers with PROFINET redundancy.
Why GE? Power says there are a number of advantages to
GE redundant systems. “First of all, it’s better redundancy,”
Power says. GE’s high availability control solution relies on a
ring topology and PROFINET, the leading open industrial
standard. Traditional network redundancy schemes require
two duplicate parallel networks to achieve a reliable backup
connection to each node on the network. GE Media
Redundancy Protocol (MRP) with PROFINET provides each
node on the network with a backup physical connection to
every other node on the network, but in a much more costeffective
way: a ring topology.
With a ring topology, if there is a failure or delay on the line,
the data is quickly rerouted. And PROFINET with MRP
redundancy doesn’t require external switches and
converters, which reduces system complexity and cost.
PROFINET also makes GE redundant control systems easier
to install, upgrade, and configure. Standard cabling from
copper to fiber provides direct connectivity to the control
and I/O. And the ability to connect to third-party devices
offers greater flexibility when adding devices or upgrading
the system. In fact, Power says that GE controllers are so
easy to install, that it can be easier to replace a system with
GE controls rather than upgrade a system. Once installed,
PROFINET’s name-based configuration helps get the system
up and running in just minutes.
There’s still another advantage to standardizing on GE
controllers. By using GE, ESITECH installers have become
very familiar with the product, which helps with specifying,
installing, and servicing control systems.
“With tight budgets, redundant
systems offer greater costs savings
than individual PLCs in every area,
without the risk of a single point
of failure.”
Jeff Power,
President,
ESITECH Security Group, Inc.
PACSystems RX3i

Richmond City Justice Center
ESITECH first specified GE’s redundant PACSystems RX3i
controller for the state-of-the-art Richmond City Justice
Center Project. ESITECH was the security electronics
contractor on the award-winning, $124 million project,
which included 424,000 square feet of new space and
another 14,000 square feet of renovations.
On the Richmond jail product, ESITECH specified, designed,
supplied and installed the security control for the locking
systems, video management, intercommunication, “man
down” personal duress system, motion sensors, glass
breakage sensors, and lighting, power and water systems.
“We worked hand-in-hand with the Richmond Sheriff’s
Office, the architects and engineers at HOK and Wiley/
Wilson, and Thompkins, Ballard, Davis Joint Venture to
deliver a state-of-the-art security control system that
would carry the city forward into the future,” Power says.
ESITECH was the security
electronics contractor on the
award-winning, $124 million
project, which included
424,000 square feet of new
space and another 14,000
square feet of renovations.

A Continuing Partnership
ESITECH continues to refine its system and software
standardization process. One thing that they don’t see
changing is their relationship with GE. “GE controllers
have been, and will continue to be, the bedrock of
our design philosophy,” Power says. “GE’s system
architecture, combined with their support at both the
corporate and distributor levels, has always been first
class, reliable, and consistent.”
“GE controllers have been, and will
continue to be, the bedrock of our
design philosophy.”
Jeff Power,
President,
ESITECH Security Group, Inc.
GE Energy Connections
Automation & Controls
2500 Austin Dr
Charlottesville, VA 22911
1-800-433-2682 or 1-434-978-5100
www.geautomation.com
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