Background

The California Employment Development Department (EDD) provides essential workforce services to residents across the state, including unemployment benefits, disability insurance, and job placement programs. With hundreds of staff and visitors accessing EDD offices each day, maintaining secure and controlled entry points is vital to ensuring a safe, professional environment.

When it came time to upgrade access control at their Chico facility, a Contract Analyst for EDD, contacted Safe and Sound Security to explore a practical solution for managing a single door at a time—with an eye toward consistency across multiple sites in the future.

The Challenge

The Chico office, located at Salem Street, needed a simple, affordable on-premises access control system for one of its key entry points. While the project scope was limited to a single door, EDD emphasized a need for:

• Local system management (no cloud-hosted solutions)
• Re-use of existing electrified hardware to keep costs down
• Standardization across three potential sites
• A trusted partner who could handle all locations consistently

The department was looking for a partner who could prioritize cost-efficiency without cutting corners, and who could design a repeatable solution for broader deployment across similar state facilities.

Why Safe and Sound Security

EDD selected Safe and Sound Security based on our ability to design and deliver cost-effective, scalable, and standards-compliant security solutions for public-sector environments. Our team understood the balance between reliability and simplicity and developed a tailored scope to meet EDD’s exact needs.

For the Chico facility, we provided a fully on-premises access control system that included:

• One (1) Axis Communications access control panel
• One (1) PoE switch
• One (1) lock power supply
• A management laptop pre-configured with access control software

To reduce installation costs and downtime, we:

• Reused the existing electrified door hardware
• Ran new cabling from the door back to the Main Distribution Frame (MDF)
• Installed all hardware within a centralized and easily maintainable rack system

Results

The Chico site now benefits from a streamlined, reliable access control system that meets all of EDD’s internal security and IT requirements. With local control via the management laptop, the site can onboard or deactivate users, adjust schedules, and review access logs without depending on internet connectivity or third-party hosting.

Key outcomes include:

• Significant cost savings by leveraging existing door hardware and minimizing licensing fees
• Consistent system design that can be replicated at other EDD sites with minimal variation
• Ease of management for local staff, with no need for advanced IT training or cloud-based administration

Expansion and Continued Trust

Following the successful installation at the Chico office, the California Employment Development Department entrusted Safe and Sound Security with additional projects across the state—further validating the value of a standardized, reliable access control approach for government facilities.

Each deployment utilized Axis Communications hardware for the access control panels and readers, ensuring consistent performance, seamless integration, and long-term support.

New deployments included:

• Redding Office ( Pine Street) – Installation of access control on doors, using existing electrified hardware on one and coordinating with a local locksmith for the second. The system included Axis panels and readers, a PoE switch, and a pre-configured management laptop.
• Santa Rosa Office (Healdsburg Avenue) – Deployment of a fob/card reader system on doors, with one reusing existing hardware and the second electrified in coordination with a locksmith. The system was built on Axis components for consistency with other locations.
• Vallejo Office (Marin Street) – Replacement of outdated keypad systems with a five-door Axis access control solution, supported by two access control panels, two power supplies, and a centralized management laptop.
• Eureka Office (K Street) – Installation of a full access control system at the entrance, including Axis hardware, cabling, a PoE switch, and electrification support via locksmith coordination.

These standardized deployments allowed EDD to reduce system complexity, streamline procurement, and simplify training and maintenance across all regional offices—while benefiting from the durability and reliability of Axis hardware.

Looking Ahead

As EDD continues to modernize its facilities statewide, Safe and Sound Security remains a trusted partner in that journey. With Axis-based access control systems now deployed across five regional offices—Chico, Redding, Santa Rosa, Vallejo, and Eureka—the department has built a secure and scalable foundation for facility access management.

Our partnership with EDD reflects a growing trend among government agencies: choosing simple, repeatable solutions that maximize both value and reliability. Whether managing future expansions, training local teams, or providing remote support, Safe and Sound is committed to helping EDD maintain secure, accessible, and well-managed facilities across California.