50+ Camera Surveillance & Access Control for a Chicago Residential Tower

Project Overview

A Chicago residential tower with over 200 units approached Vidimost LLC after years of frustration with an aging security system that had been patched and expanded by multiple vendors over the previous decade. The existing infrastructure consisted of a mix of analog and early IP cameras from different manufacturers, door access hardware running on standalone controllers with no centralized management, and network cabling that had been added piecemeal without any structured plan. The result was an unreliable system with frequent camera outages, blind spots in critical areas, and access control that required a technician visit for every credential change.

The Challenge

The building’s HOA board identified several urgent problems during a security audit. Nearly a third of the existing cameras were offline or producing unusable footage. Parking garage coverage had significant blind spots between levels. The main entrance intercom system dropped calls regularly, and residents complained that the door release function was intermittent. The access control system used standalone controllers at each door with no central database, meaning that when a resident moved out, their key fob had to be manually deleted from each individual controller separately. Credential management had fallen behind, and there was no reliable record of which fobs were still active.

The building’s network infrastructure was equally problematic. Consumer-grade switches had been daisy-chained in electrical closets, cameras and building internet shared the same flat network, and PoE power was insufficient for the camera count, causing random devices to drop offline when the total draw exceeded the switch capacity.

The Solution

Vidimost designed a complete system replacement organized into three layers: network infrastructure, video surveillance, and unified access control.

Network Foundation. We installed Ubiquiti UniFi managed PoE switches in each IDF closet, replacing the consumer-grade equipment. VLANs were configured to isolate camera traffic, access control communications, and building internet into separate network segments. Fiber uplinks connected each floor’s IDF closet to the main MDF, providing bandwidth headroom for over 50 concurrent camera streams.

Video Surveillance. Over 50 Hanwha Vision IP cameras were deployed across the property, covering the lobby, all hallway corridors, elevator cabs, parking garage levels, loading dock, trash and recycling areas, pool deck, fitness center, and building perimeter. Cameras in the parking garage were specified with 120dB WDR to handle headlight glare. All cameras feed into a centralized NVR with RAID storage and a 30-day retention policy aligned with the HOA’s requirements.

Unified Access Control. Brivo cloud-based access control replaced the standalone controllers. All entry points, including the main lobby, parking garage gates, fitness center, pool deck, package room, and service entrances, are managed from a single cloud dashboard. Resident credentials can be added or revoked in seconds from any web browser. Every access event is logged with timestamps, creating a complete audit trail.

The Approach

The project was executed in three phases over six weeks to minimize disruption to residents. Phase one focused on network infrastructure, running cable and installing switches during daytime hours when most residents were at work. Phase two covered camera installation, starting with parking garages and common areas before moving to corridors. Phase three brought the access control system online with a parallel-run period where both old and new systems operated simultaneously until all credentials were migrated.

Complete documentation was delivered to the building’s management team, including network diagrams, camera location maps with fields of view, VLAN assignments, and access control system administration procedures.

Contact Vidimost LLC at (872) 254-5015 or info@vidimost.us to discuss a similar project for your building.