What does Access Control Offer your Organisation?

Access Control… Every organisation seems to have it.

But what does it offer?

How would your organisation benefit?

Access Credentials over Keys

Your organisation needs security, and without access control, you are likely reliant on the traditional lock and key.

The lock and key, however, has its downsides.

When a key is lost, stolen or cloned, the only secure way to prevent access is to change the locks… all of them.

This quickly becomes incredibly expensive and an incredibly huge inconvenience.

Access control systems use unique access credentials per user, and this means that there is no need to re-distribute keys to every user should there be a lost set.

In less than five seconds, an access credential can be removed from the system.

And once it’s removed, it won’t work, and alerts can even be set up should it ever try to be used!

Access Credentials don’t have to have a limited use either, with industry standards such as MIFARE, the same card that grants access to the building and subsequent doors, can also be used for cashless vending, access to PCs, Printers and so much more!

Many access control systems allow for two-factor authentication too, further increasing security.

Where high-security is desired, a policy requiring both physical credential and unique PIN Code can be enforced.

As an alternative to physical tokens, biometric readers are growing in popularity, using something like a fingerprint as a token can ensure that the one user who always seems to lose their token, can’t (not easily anyway!).

Flexibility

Modern day access control systems can be hugely flexible.

And no, we don’t mean that physical access control is somehow a gymnast…

What we do mean, is that in larger organisations, it’s rare for every staff member to need access to everywhere at all times.

Access control systems understand this and therefore allow the times that doors that can be accessed can be controlled, and if someone doesn’t need access, they don’t get it.

In practice, this can aid in limiting warehouse staff access to office areas.

Or control so that cleaning personnel only have out-of-hours access.

And areas that aren’t required to be accessed by most personnel, such as your server rooms and other sensitive areas, can only be accessed by named groups or individuals.

Logs

Whilst it’s great to be able to limit access.

The ability to retrospectively analyse users movements can provide a huge insight into your organisation.

Access control systems provide you and your operators with a comprehensive list of the movements of staff and visitors throughout your building.

From a live view to historic events, you can gain further insight into users actions.

Providing you with the ability to not only understand the movements throughout your building(s), but also the ability to understand where staff members are at critical times.

Integration with Network Systems

The latest physical access control systems feature far more than the hardware controlling the door.

Traditionally access control systems were a system all on their own, far from understood by anyone but the installer.

However, the latest systems are now network-based and with leading manufacturers encouraging third-party companies to integrate their software in a seamless manner, it’s a trend that is set to continue.

But what third party systems can aid your business through integration?

CCTV

Like most businesses, you probably have a CCTV system.

Traditionally CCTV and Access Control, systems that operate together to ensure your business stays secure, were very much separate.

With both of these systems very much migrated to the network, it is now possible to integrate the systems seamlessly together.

If you’re making use of your organisations event logs, reconciling these events with your CCTV, directly within the software can provide a huge time saving.

And as we all know, time is money.

Active Directory

Active Directory (AD) underpins most organisations’ entire IT systems.

And due to this, every employee and their associated details are already firmly entered into this system.

Therefore it doesn’t make sense to have to re-enter these into your access control system… especially when they’re likely already structured into departments within AD.

That’s where software like COSMO AD2PAXTON steps in, offering the ability for you to automatically import and synchronise the two databases together.

Whilst an integration between the two systems provides a massive time-saving at the initial installation of your access control system.

Many changes occur that would usually require manually reconciling between both Active Director and your access control system, things such as staff joining, departing, name changes, personnel photo updates, and that’s just the start.

With the integration between the two systems in place, the time savings can provide enormous cost savings for your organisation.

Across the World… or Country

Modern day organisations aren’t constrained by borders.

The rest of your organisations’ infrastructure can be used anywhere in the world.

Why should your access control differ?

With a growing number of organisations having multiple premises, and staff becoming ever more flexible, the desire for staff to visit a multitude of different premises is growing.

Modern day access control systems are now able to be centrally controlled, allowing for a centralised system to control your premises around the world.

No longer will your staff have to carry a multitude of access credentials.

No longer will you have to input the same person on a multiple number of different access control systems.

No longer will you need to update every system someone was registered on should they depart the organisation.

A central system to handle every premise, no matter whether it’s down the road, or the other side of the world.

Apps

It seems that everything has an app for it these days… And as you might have guessed, access control is no different.

With many features available in the palm of your hand, it removes the need to be constantly stationed at a PC, a great advantage when you consider the mobility of todays organisations.

With great features such as the ability to open doors, administer users, run reports and even establish a roll call through an application, it’s no surprise that apps are being continually developed.

Whilst all these features are hugely beneficial, the ability to see a live roll call, mark people as safe when they arrive at the muster point and the further ability to see where users last known positions were is a game changing ability.

What it Means

It’s clear that access control has huge benefits, its ability to secure your premise(s) and its ability to integrate with a wide range of third-party applications whilst doing so is game changing.

It also provides you with an understanding of who is coming and going, and to not only be able to monitor that, but also control it.

If you wish to talk to someone about an access control solution and what it can offer to your organisation, why not get in touch with one of our consultants? Give us a call on 01604 422722 or get in touch via our live chat.