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University of Sydney – Integrated Card Solution Simplifies Campus Life, Supporting Access Control, Transactions and More.
University of Sydney – Integrated Card Solution Simplifies Campus Life – It’s tempting to think of a university access control solution as a basic beast – vast, yes, with masses of door controllers and zone inputs, but it simply opens doors and signals alarm zone triggers – nothing too complex about any of that.
But this simplistic notion of what an access control solution can be bears little resemblance to the integrated solution at Sydney University, where over decades the university and its security provider have implemented ID cards for everything from building access to purchases, to borrowing library books and even getting student laundry done.
Even clever applications need upgrades and in 2024 University of Sydney embarked on a project to streamline and simplify campus life for students and staff across its 143 buildings and 150 research centres. That mission statement – streamline and simplify – is important because it highlights the lateral functionalities that had already been applied to the university’s system.
According to Jodie Lowe, senior product owner, Information Communications and Technology at the University of Sydney, the team decided it was time to modernise how it managed ID cards because the old system was showing its age.
System Upgrades
“The system had been operating for over 20 years and was starting to feel like a bit of a dinosaur – it was time for a change,” she says.
Something that’s important to note before we move on is the scale of University of Sydney’s access control solution – it manages up to 100,000 active cardholders at any time, including staff, students, affiliates, and members of the public. It’s simply massive, and there are torrents of event notifications that go along with it.
“Our original campus card had become essential for everyday life here at University of Sydney – it got you into buildings, labs, and libraries; it let you borrow books, print and scan, and even pay for laundry in student accommodation,” Lowe says.
“At the same time, we knew that students were using digital bank cards, boarding passes, and concert tickets on their phones and our goal was to move with them by delivering a secure, mobile-friendly solution using Apple and Google Pay, so students and staff could just tap and go. Simple, fast, and future-ready.”
Gallagher Assists University of Sydney
According to Lowe, the university team worked with Gallagher to introduce digital ID cards, not just to tackle the growing cybersecurity risks of its ageing platform, but also to give students and staff a smoother, more modern experience. Importantly, the University of Sydney and Gallagher have a history dating back 30 years, so partnering to create a resilient, trustworthy solution for staff and students came naturally.
“The card system was deeply embedded in a complex web of integrations and customisations built up over 2 decades,” Lowe says. “But the goal was clear: modernise, secure, and simplify the way ID credentials were issued and managed.”
The University chose Transact Campus (Transact) for its extensive track record within higher education sites and their unique ability to offer NFC-enabled mobile IDs through Apple and Google Wallet. Joining the project was Mike Margrain, Gallagher Security’s technical director for APAC and IMEA.
“This was a major project for the Gallagher Security team to support, and we enjoyed working with the University of Sydney and Transact to deliver a transformative solution – one befitting today’s learners and staff,” Margrain says.
“The key was using our Gallagher Security technology coupled with Transact’s products to provide the university with a solution to issue, manage, and revoke ID credentials.”
“Once complete, the integration between the Transact Mobile Credential and Gallagher Command Centre allows university students and staff to gain fast, secure access to areas on campus, simply by ‘badging’ or tapping their smartphone or Apple Watch at a Gallagher reader,” Margrain explains.
“We knew it was important for the university to have a result that was seamless for students and staff. From the inner city of Sydney to the Great Barrier Reef, the university has teachers, researchers and students based all over Australia, so we needed to create a solution that would work and gain their buy-in.”
Developing the solution required custom software engineering to securely and seamlessly synchronise credentials between the Transact Cloud and Gallagher Command Centre. It also enabled field controllers and door readers to recognise and process the new wallet credential formats.
“Thanks to Gallagher’s intelligent reader technology and robust HBUS communication protocol, the upgrade was remarkably efficient,” explains Margrain. “Most of the existing readers received the update automatically over-the-wire, with a smaller number of older legacy readers needing physical replacement.”
According to Margrain, Gallagher channel partner ARA Group put in a solid effort upgrading the university’s hardware infrastructure. While the university has more than 3600 Gallagher door readers and 2100 Aperio doors, only 1700 required replacing, alongside the deployment of 515 multifunction printers.
As Lowe explains it, after months of load testing across systems from multiple vendors – and many long days and equally long nights spent perfecting the incoming system – launch day was an outstanding success. Staff had the opportunity to sign up for their digital ID cards first, followed by students a week later.
Project Roll Out
At 9am on the morning of 22 July 2024, communications began to roll out to students. Lowe organised a campaign across the university’s website and internal channels, with electronic banners in major buildings and libraries across campus and she remembers the excitement of seeing hundreds beginning to sign up for their digital ID cards before the numbers started tracking in the thousands.
“We were live, and it was a huge success,” Lowe says. “We had the Gallagher and Transact teams on standby to help with any teething issues, but it was a smooth rollout for both students and staff. Mountains of positive feedback from students and staff quickly followed.”
To date, more than 58,000 digital ID cards have been set up by cardholders using the Transact eAccounts app and adding the card to Apple Wallet or Google Wallet. Cardholders now have access in minutes to a secure and convenient digital ID that replaces the need for a plastic ID card.
Lowe is delighted with the high adoption rate and says the project has been a major success.
“The successful collaboration between the University, Gallagher and Transact demonstrates our shared commitment to re-imagining the digital experience,” she says.
“There’s also less demand on our operational and support teams, and a vast improvement of the customer experience. By introducing a modern card management system and a digital ID card for our staff and students, we’ve simplified processes, ensured data protection and provided advanced self-service options.”
“The transition means there are no more long lines at the Student Centre to request your first card, and no long wait of up to 4 weeks to receive it. Students and staff now have immediate access to services.”
The project has successfully created a faster, safer, and more user-friendly experience for the security team, too.
“We have significantly reduced the human effort required to issue cards,” Lowe says. “We save over 1000 hours per year with the introduction of automated services, such as online photo submission and ID verification.”
“Alongside this, by going digital we have reduced plastic waste and improved our environmental impact. This is a big win for the university, as we’re proud to be powered by 100 per cent renewable energy. And, of course, we’ve removed the cyber risks we faced as we have enhanced data security.”
“Our aim was to deliver technology that just works for our customers and colleagues – technology that is simple and easy, and we’ve achieved that and more,” Lowe says.
“Having Gallagher and Transact partner with us was the key to helping us deliver a successful product. We couldn’t be happier with the results, and we are very grateful to Mike and the Gallagher team for their dedication and commitment to help us provide a better place to work and a place that works better.”
You can learn more about Gallagher here, discover Transact mobile credentials here, or read more SEN news here.
“University of Sydney – Integrated Card Solution Simplifies Campus Life, Supporting Access Control, Transactions And More.”
