Controlled Access Simplified

I probably shouldn’t take so long between articles. Ya know, you come into these things intending to keep a schedule. Then, things happen. And you end up not doing that.

Thanks for checking in, though. We’re doing well over here.

Remember that article waaay back? The one about access control? Yeah. That’s been keeping us busy lately. Between audit trail and keyless entry, there hasn’t been a lot of time for writing. I have a feeling there will be a lot of that this year.

I think, by now, everyone knows how audit trail works, how fobs work, how access hardware works and even how to program cards. It’s not really a topic that holds a lot of mysteries.

I do want to show you something, however. It’s not entirely groundbreaking, but it’s served us well in the last little while.

Let’s say you have a building;

And that building has apartments;

And in those apartments are tenants;

Those tenants need access to the building here;

And also access to the units, here;

Lends itself to two different systems doesn’t it? A key system for this is simple;

Simple as it is, it does mean your tenants/employees/you are carrying two different keys for the same building. It also means that, should you ever… how do we say… part with an employee/tenant on terms that are less than ideal, you still have a key floating around that could be used to compromise you. That means you need to rekey the building.

Now, don’t get me wrong. This is something we are more than willing to do, and it is a service we provide. But for arguments sake, let’s do this in card format rather than keys.

Here is the same building;

Each unit is equipped with a reader at the door, and a control module in the unit;

The main door has it’s own reader, and it’s own control hidden away in a utility room somewhere;

But wait, doesn’t that mean you still need two fobs?

Well no. No it doesn’t. As long as you are using the same manufacturer for all of your readers and control modules, you can program your tenant fobs to also open the front door. In the case of a hostile termination, or even a walk-off resignation, you don’t need to worry about retrieving the key… you just deprogram the fob or card so it no longer works.

Tenants can program their own fobs, while property owners can relegate the entry programming to their property management or security company.

While fobs are proprietary to their systems, the access systems can’t tell if the card is being used for more than one system. You win.

Each door is independently scheduled as well. You may want the front door open from 10 am to 10 pm, but two tenant doors locked all day, while the others are unlocked from 1 pm-5 pm, for example. Or all four doors on different schedules. We can do that.

Additional value? Why yes. Yes there is.

Tenant moves are much easier to handle as well. No key retrieval means no honour system. Wiping the fob programming means any non-returned fobs become useless. If they are moving within the same building, they can simply take the fobs with them and program them into the already existing control unit.

Not just this, but when everyone uses a fob they also leave behind a footprint. Some of our clients use their access control for payroll, as an example.

Because these systems are electronic, you also get alot more options for door operation. Things like timers and lock down protocols can be activated to monitor and even eliminate interior activity during certain hours. Your doors only need unlock when someone needs to come in, and a door being held open can set off a warning siren if you want to bring that in.

While keys are, on the front end, cheaper to install and implement, more and more we’re seeing access control become something that business want and/or need. It’s just that much easier to manage, and a lot harder to subvert.

This is not a substitute for keys, just for key distribution. You will always want a mechanical backup behind your electronic measures, because power outages are still things that happen.

Anyways. That’s what we’ve been doing. On a very large scale. For people who know what they want. And they came here to get it. That’s what we’re here for.

Get a quote. It’s free.

 

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