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Managing weapons & ammunation

for United Nations Office at Geneva with electronic lockers

Logo United nations office in Geneva
Customer
United Nations Office at Geneva
Organization
Government Office
Country
Switzerland
Market
High Security

Ensuring International Security.
By managing weapons and ammunition to the highest standard.

The United Nations Office at Geneva is one of the two headquarters of the United Nations. Here, approximately 9,500 staff members organize more than 12,000 meetings on a wide range of global political issues each year. As a diplomatic center, the UN is committed to the protection of human rights, humanitarian aid and global disarmament.

Several electronic drawers (motorized) and depots from ecos are installed at UNOG to ensure efficient management of weapons and ammunition with easy-to-use access controlled protection via fingerprint authentication. Moreover, highest level security is ensured by following military security regulations for gap dimensions of storage compartments.

Products used:

The challenge: Weapons and ammunition management under safety regulations

The United Nations Headquarters in Europe was looking for a one-stop solution for the secure management of its weapons and ammunition.

For this, it had to be ensured that all weapons could be stored separately from the associated ammunition. Both storage locations had to be locked and protected from unauthorized access.

At the same time, each employee had to be able to access the required weapons as easily as possible. Since the highest security precautions were to be integrated, fingerprint authentication was desirable.

Our solution: Access control drawers and depots with fingerprint recognition

In 2014, ecos provided several electronic locker systems to meet the requirements of the UN. A total of 250 motorized ecos drawer 1m/2 compartments were used to manage small arms. In addition, 50 drawer 4M/3 for long weapons and 300 ecos depot electronic compartments with polycarbonate doors were used to store ammunition.

ecos-electronic-depot
ecos-electroinic-drawer

Because weapons and ammunition are stored separately and protected from access, but are accessible via a common control unit, the equipment can be removed quickly and efficiently. To avoid human error, all weapons are stored in automatically closing motorized drawers. These ensure that even if someone forgets to close the drawer, the drawer will close by itself after a few seconds. This prevents unauthorized access to the managed weapons.

electronic-drawer-for-handgun
electronic-drawer-for-big-gun
lockers-for-ammunition
electronic-drawer-for-big-gun

Access to the weapons managed in this way takes place at the central control unit of the locker, a capacitive 10-inch touchscreen with outsourced fingerprint/vein reader. Employees authenticate themselves by fingerprint while still outside the armory, whereupon the door to the storage room is released. At the locker itself, they then use the touch screen to select the corresponding system and the associated compartment in order to open it.

The result: Efficient and easy storage and retrieval of weapons and ammunition

For the past 8 years, all weapons and ammunition types at the UN headquarters in Geneva have been managed securely and access-protected with the ecos drawers and depots. The daily use of the locker system ensures efficient withdrawals and returns of all types of weapons.

The central control of the total of 600 compartments ensures smooth processes. In compliance with all security regulations, weapons and ammunition are stored separately and locked. Nevertheless, access to both is simple and straightforward, as the relevant employee can open all the required compartments simultaneously at the common control unit.

All weapons are stored in automatically closing drawer systems with gap dimensions in accordance with military security regulations. Combined with the unique authentication of all employees by fingerprint, the highest security measures can thus be maintained.

Key numbers

250

Motorized drawers for pistols

50

Motorized drawers for rifles

300

ecos depots for ammunition