Whether you manage or own a business, residential complex, or industrial property, you would stand to benefit by installing an access control system. An access control system is a security system that restricts physical access to certain areas of your property through technological means such as locks, security cameras, key codes, and key cards. It is a way to protect valuable equipment and information and a way to ensure the safety of your tenants if you own residential properties. There are innumerable benefits to implementing an access control system, and here are five of them.
- Superior Security
The main reason to use an access control system is the improved security that it provides. It is a great way to segment off areas of your business that are deemed more high-risk for security breaches. Access control systems offer more specificity in that one person’s key card can open multiple doors depending on their access level, unlike having to use metal keys, which require different unique keys for each door. These key cards also show who was granted access to what area and when, which we will touch on later.
- No Metal Keys
As mentioned above, metal keys are inefficient and easy to lose. If someone loses a traditional key, you may have to put in new locks everywhere to ensure the site’s security. If someone loses a key card, you can simply remove that key card’s access and print them out a new and different card. Key cards are also much more difficult to duplicate than traditional keys, where someone can get a copy made at a hardware store for a few dollars.
- Time-Sensitive Access
If you were to use metal keys, anyone who possessed a key (or a copy of it) could gain access to whatever door the key unlocked at virtually any time. That is not the case with an access control system’s key card. You can set specific dates and times when certain key cards are granted access to particular areas of your business. This flexibility also allows you to easily grant people like temporary workers access for the length of their employment while easily being able to remove their access when they’re gone.
- Allows Remote Access
An access control system typically has a central hub on a computer terminal where everything is visible and available to any respective administrative user. This hub can grant users access to any site that is hooked up to the access control system. This feature is quite convenient as some employees and managers may need to visit multiple buildings or sites, and anyone who forgot their key card can be remotely granted access to where they’re trying to go, provided they have the authorization.
- Entry and Exit Records
We briefly discussed this in point one, but access control systems allow you to know who was trying to gain access, who was granted access, and on what day and time they did so. Depending on your setup, you can also log exit times as well. This can come in handy if you are investigating theft or an accident and need down-to-the-minute details on who was where, and when. This also has the added benefit of clearly showing when employees are getting to work and when they are leaving, so you can tell what kind of hours they are logging.
The Cost of Not Using an Access Control System
If you own or manage a business, residential property, or industrial property, not having an access control system can cause some unnecessary headaches while simultaneously potentially compromising your site’s security. Landlords with tenants who lose their keys, industrial properties who have had materials stolen but have no visitor log, and businesses who have had an accident, but no entry/exit history are all examples of how much more difficult it would be if they simply used a traditional lock and key system. Don’t rely solely on locks and keys when there’s superior technology available. For your property’s safety, security, and profitability, it would be wise to implement an access control system due to all the benefits mentioned above. Because you can’t put a price on peace of mind.
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