Company Overview
The Ottawa Shooting Club is located in Castalia, Ohio – near Sandusky. The range, which is accessible to only members, provides Ohio’s sportsmen and sportswomen with a safe place to practice their firearms skills. The location of the club is remote, and the area it covers is significant. Due to the secluded nature of the club’s facility, it has always been secured by a perimeter fence in order to protect members. However, when a security upgrade was needed, they called Brent Canfield and Smart Digital to sweep the perimeter and provide recommendations.
The Challenge
The Ottawa Shooting Club is located in a remote location and covers a large parcel of land, in order to accommodate various shooting ranges. The club’s owners wanted guests to have access to the facility as needed but were not able to staff the gate to provide extended operating hours. They knew, however, that an access gate could be automated and secured with a code that only members would have for entry. In order to learn more about their options, the Ottawa Shooting Club contacted Smart Digital. After careful examination of the facility’s existing perimeter security, Canfield recommended the installation of a slide gate operator that could be run autonomously. “Don’t wait until an intruder is inside your property before you protect it,” Canfield says. “An access gate is preemptive – it lets intruders know that the premises are being protected and deters them from taking action.”
The Solution
The Smart Digital team chose to install a slide gate operator because of the isolated nature of the club’s location. The facility had no access to WiFi, so Canfield opted to use a radio operator connected via cell phone tower in order to control the gate. The slide gate can be monitored and programmed remotely, via multiple communication devices. And club members can gain access to the facility simply by using the proper code. This way, no gate attendants are required to be onsite and members can access the club at their convenience via a members-only passcode.
The Result
The slide gate operator that was installed at the Ottawa Shooting Club features multiple safety features to protect vehicles from damage. The features include underground sensors that identify when a vehicle is moving through the gate, and prevent the gate from closing on the vehicle. The gate also has a miller’s edge, which prevents it from closing on a pedestrian that is in the process of walking through it. In addition, the gate is programmed with an automatic exit loop, so that guests leaving the premises do not have to enter a code to exit. A code is needed only to open the gate from the outside when a member is attempting to enter the club.
