Let’s start with some company history…
On September 27, 1942 the Radio Corporation of America Laboratories, or RCA, opened its new, centralized facility in Princeton,
NJ. It was renamed in 1951 to honor General David Sarnoff, RCA Chairman. He was an immigrant from Russia who worked hard
to succeed. He started in 1917 as a manager of a commercial department. In 1920 he proposed a "radio music box" to the Vice
President. With new technology on the rise, it was approved. The first true radio broadcast in 1921 had over 300,000 listeners.
Sarnoff was then promoted to executive vice president. Here, he watched as radio made up for 75% of RCA profits. He went
on to lead a company of the best radio engineers, the largest entertainment factory in the world, and a large number of
dealers and distributors.
What is the "Sarnoff Way"?
This is a way of creating value for our clients, shareholders, and employees. It builds on Sarnoff's tradition of Changing
the World with Technology. It is a unique organization, deep in history with radio and TV technology. We are leaping into
the future with HDTV, video, and spin-off companies. We are multifaceted from technology to biopharmaceuticals. We also
do classified work for the Government.
Tell us more about the facility.
There are around 900 employees at our facility on a daily basis. There are about 1,100-1,300 people who visit our facility
each month. We have an open campus that consists of a three-story building, and five other smaller buildings. One building,
called High Tech, is a manufacturing site. We work in electronic, biomedical, and information technologies. There is a lot
of engineering and design work done here. We also develop and solve problems for big players in the electronic industry.
We have labs with chemicals that are regulated by OSHA.
What is the biggest security issue you face?
We are mostly concerned with access control. With the number of employees and visitors that we have, it is certainly an
issue. We have cards that are swiped to gain access into the building. We have to activate and deactivate these cards regularly
with employee turnover and for visitors. We activate about 40 new cards a month and a lot of these are for temporary workers,
so they need to be deactivated shortly also. One problem we might face is when a route driver has a substitute without a
badge, his access is denied, and then we are called.
Other issues we face are typical safety issues. These include gas leaks, water leaks, and spills. If an alarm goes off,
we are the first called. On weekends, our problems are facility related. They are power outages and leaks. Some of the labs
could lose $50,000 worth of product without power, so we respond quickly.
How are the grounds patrolled?
There are 12 officers in the department. We currently own one PIPE. We have two separate tours, one outside and one inside.
We used to have three tours, but when we purchased Guard1, we restructured the tours to simplify
things. We do the tours every couple of hours. We do not do tours during regular working hours. They start at 7 p.m. every
night and are done all day on the weekend. We are here 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Our inside tour is walking. Our outside tour is walking and mobile. It takes the guards about two hours to complete a tour.
We have 25 buttons outside and 25 buttons inside in various places. The guards do more than just activate the buttons. If
that was all they did, a tour would only last a very short time. Instead, we like them to check out everything.
How do you like the reports?
We like them a lot. We use them to see if there are problems or if the guards had any misses. We print them about every
two weeks. It is very easy with The PIPE. All we have to do is hit a button tour, load the
report, and print.
How has The PIPE changed the way your officers do tours?
I have only heard positives about The PIPE from our guards. Our old system was awkward. It
was hard plastic with no traction to hold. It got dropped a lot and so it needed to be repaired often, which was expensive.
The batteries also ran down often. With The PIPE, I do not even have to remind the guards
to take it. They like the slimmer shape. We wanted more field reliability and that is what we got. We have not had a problem
with The PIPE.
It is very dependable and the guards like it much better. The guards do not think of carrying The
PIPE as a job. We love it!
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