The first building to roll out the system will be the new USD 28-million Centre for Learning which is a jointly funded project between the Provincial Government and the College. The facility, which is currently under construction, will add 22 further classrooms to the campus and will be used to provide training for a wide variety of career, continuing education, degree, developmental, trades and technologies, and vocational programs.

"The Canadian educational sector is embracing SALTO's state-of-the-art technology in a big way. Okanagan College is the third Canadian post-secondary institution in 12 months to make a long term commitment to SALTO as the sole provider of their electronic access control security" comments Amir Zouak, vice president SALTO Systems (Canada).

"The College, which is home to 5,000 students, chose SALTO for its flexibility and the fact that our access control would not have to be hard-wired to every door. Our ANSI stand alone locks require no wires and are able to communicate with the SALTO software via hotspot wall readers just through normal card use. We'll be providing a mix of perimeter and internal locking systems across campus, starting with the new Centre for Learning then replacing the majority of mechanical locks across all the existing College buildings and facilities over the next several budget years." Zouak continues.

Steve Robinson, Okanagan College's director of Campus Planning & Facilities Management, says: "We chose SALTO because it will give us so much more control over our campus security. Its built-in flexibility also means the College can get maximum benefit from the technology while providing a secure learning and working environment for all the students and staff."