Building Management: 5 Reasons to Use Access Control Systems for Business Security (Part 1)

Building management is one of the top concerns of property managers and building owners looking to increase business security. Multiple interior and exterior doors, the presence of restricted or sensitive areas and heavy traffic all contribute to increased access control issues. Access control security systems can help solve many of these issues and minimise unauthorised entry.
In the next two edition of The Tittle-Tattle, we will examine the different access control technologies available to your business, and then we will take a closer look at how they can help you increase your building security (and save you money, too).

Part I: What Technology can an Access Control System be comprised of?
Some building managers may think of access control security systems as complicated, expensive electronic networks that are difficult to implement. In reality, they can be tailored to fit many different building sizes, occupancy types, and budgets.

An access control security system allows building management professionals and building owners to do more than just control admission to restricted areas. It also keeps electronic records of entries and exits into those areas. Such records help building managers measure traffic and identify who used a door at any given time. This makes it much easier to answer important security questions such as, "Who was in the building when that incident happened?" and so on.

What access control method is best for you depend on your specific business security needs. Four (4) common access control methods are examined below.

#1: Keyless Entry Swipe Cards
These cards bear magnetic strips which contain information about the cardholder. A card reader scans the stripe and allows or denies entry accordingly. The cards are relatively inexpensive, and each user can be given a different unique ID for entrance and exit tracking.

#2: Biometric Scanners
This type of system requires the user to input some type of biological information, in addition to or instead of an access card. The most common types are retinal (eye) and fingerprint scanners. Palm-print scanners or voice activation systems can also be used.

This kind of access control system is more secure than swipe cards - sounds silly to say, but it's quite difficult to forge an eyeball or a hand. The technology for these devices has been advancing and is becoming cheaper to make and install.