Security Matters

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How To Build Access Control Into Your Security Plan

Access Control

When you think of security, you probably immediately think of locked doors, but what about other types of access control?

Even if you have surveillance cameras and security guards, it’s vital to have different types of access control elements as part of your security plan.

This provides you with a more comprehensive and advanced security strategy designed to keep more control over who accesses which areas of your business or building. The good news is it’s easier than you might think to implement these controls into your current plan.

Why Add Access Control

If you already have other security measures, why bother adding access control? No matter how much security you have, no one can see what’s going on every single second. For instance, if someone sneaks by a guard as they patrol to the other side of your business’s property, no one might notice for several minutes.

This is plenty of time to pick a lock. However, if the door requires both a key and a passcode or keycard, it’s going to take much longer. This gives a security guard or remote guard time to notice what’s going on and deal with the situation.

Some of the top reasons to add access control elements include:

  • Easier for employees and reduces reliance upon upper level employees
  • Create an audit trail
  • Easier to lock down during an emergency (hard to restrict key usage versus electronic access control)
  • Harder to bypass than traditional locks, doors or gates
  • More cost effective

To get more in-depth, employees often lose keys. This leads to a costly situation, but more on that in a minute. Plus, lower level employees might not even have keys, which makes them dependent on upper-level employees. If those employees are late, everyone else is late too.

An audit trail is ideal for keeping track of which employees access which areas of a business at any given time. Is it a matter of he said/she said? Just check the log of who was in the room when an incident happened. If it was only one employee, the problem is solved.

In an emergency situation, a single manager or business owner can lock down everything at once. With traditional keys, employees could still unlock doors, leaving the place unsafe. This allows for more overall control and security.

While electronic access control and even access control that involves physical security guards can be bypassed, it’s much harder than just picking a lock. Plus, alarms typically sound if electronic access control measures are forced, such as kicking down a door.

Finally, they’re far more cost-effective. Yes, the systems cost more to install, but consider this. When an employee loses a key, you have to replace any locks that used that key. You’d also have to give any other employees with those keys brand new keys. That quickly adds up. Even if the employee pays for it, you still lose time replacing everything.

A Growing Market

Access control is starting to catch on more and more. Business in this market increased more substantially from 2016 to 2017 than it has in the past. Some access control manufacturers saw as much as a 20% increase in just a single year.

Why? Businesses are being more proactive about their security. With growing threats, not just from data breaches, but physical threats too, businesses are doing more than ever to keep their businesses, employees and data secure.

Different Types Of Access Control

There are three main types of electronic access control options:

  • Discretionary – The owner sets restrictions on who has access to which areas
  • Mandatory – Access is provided based upon titles/labels versus on an individual basis. It’s typically a blanket access system controlled by the security provider.
  • Role-based – Based solely on the title an employee has

Of course, these are just the overall types. As far as access control systems go, you have numerous options, such as:

  • Keypads
  • Keycards
  • Cameras or guards at gates
  • Buzzer (with camera) entry system
  • Passcodes
  • Biometric scanners (fingerprints, eyes, ears, facial)
  • Door/window alarms

As you can tell, you have a wide variety of options to suit your security needs. Simply adding access control to main entrances/exits, employee only parking areas and restricted rooms, you create a much more secure environment.

Contact BOS Security

If you’re ready to add combine access control with physical security, contact us today at 404-793-6965 to learn how our trained guards can help improve your security strategy.

Want to uncover vulnerabilities, especially those that could be improved by access control elements? Take advantage of our free Security Needs Assessment today.

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