LobbyGuard enhances building security

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools' uptown Charlotte headquarters is testing a new high-tech security system called LobbyGuard. The following article features the security system...

Excerpted from "CMS security system is given a gander"
By RICHARD RUBIN, The Charlotte Observer April 2, 2005

CHARLOTTE, NC Where would you expect to find tighter security:

A) At a news conference in Amman, Jordan, at a time when protesters in neighboring Iraq were burning the Jordanian flag, or

B) At Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools' uptown Charlotte headquarters, where nesting Canada geese have been known to hiss at springtime visitors?

You all know a setup when you see it, right? It's CMS, of course.

UNC Chapel Hill's journalism school recently arranged an exchange of Jordanian and N.C. journalists in an effort to promote press freedom in Jordan.

When a Jordanian reporter visited Charlotte in November, she attended a news conference at the CMS Education Center. The guard on duty demanded a driver's license, and seemed a bit taken aback to get an Arabic passport instead. But with a Charlotte reporter vouching for the visitor, she was admitted.

When N.C. reporters and editors visited Jordan in March, they were amazed at how easy it was to get into the national government's weekly news briefing in the capital city of Amman. At the time, Iraqis were accusing Jordan of condoning terrorism against Shiite Muslims; Jordan had pulled its envoy out of the Baghdad embassy.

Armed guards were visible at the entrance to government offices in Amman, but the weekly briefing is open to the public and the foreign journalists walked right in. No questions asked, no bags searched, no ID required.

Back in Charlotte, CMS headquarters is testing a new high-tech security system called LobbyGuard. All visitors must be photographed, have their driver's licenses scanned, enter their destination into a computer and wear a stick-on, bar-coded photo badge. On departure, they must enter their badge number to sign out.

CMS hasn't ponied up any money for the system -- yet. The manufacturer is providing a free trial, said CMS spokeswoman Jerri Haigler. Haigler said the trial is a continuation of efforts to update security, which began after the Sept. 11 attacks.

The Ed Center was peaceful Friday, and the geese seemed undeterred by the badge.