Electronic Access Control

If you own a business that currently requires audit trails, needs to tightly control access to restricted areas within the company’s building or demands the quick removal or addition of keys from the company’s system, you should consider installing an electronic access control system to better secure your property and assets.

An EAC is defined as a security system that requires the user input some type of authenticating information, such as a password or personal identification number, a smart card or some kind of biometric identification like a fingerprint or retina scan.

Access control systems provide many benefits to companies of all sizes, such as:

• The ability to deter, record and track individuals who are trying or who have already gained access to your company.
• Automatic auditing of attendance and hours worked by all employees.
• Prevent anyone but authorized individuals from accessing sensitive material.
• Reduce overhead costs by avoiding the need to replace locks in the event a troublesome employee is fired.
• Control and administration of remote access systems via one interface that operates in several companies.

Electronic access control systems can also be programmed to restrict or allow access during specific hours or on certain days only. Maintenance or cleaning crews that visit your company two or three times a week in the evenings will not need a key to enter the building. Nor will you need to have someone physical present at the building to let them in.

Additionally, you will have a record of all people entering the building after hours which can provide pertinent evidence in the event something is stolen or damaged.

According to statistics provided by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, nearly 3⁄4 of all employees have stolen at least once from an employer, whether it was money, valuable information or various items kept in supply rooms. By implementing an electronic access control system in the overall company security plan, business owners can potentially reduce this statistic to zero. In fact, research has shown that companies revealing the fact that they use EACs during interviews can “weed out” those employees who have stolen from previous employers.

Kinds of Electronic Access Control Systems

Two kinds of electronic access control systems are currently available from Vertex Security: standalone and networked EACs. A standalone EAC consists of card readers that are chiefly controlled by individual door controllers and are mostly found in places containing less than three or four access points.

Computer-based or networked EACs operate by using a PC that is connected to a larger system of card readers or door controllers. Warehouses, universities, industrial plants and hospitals often use this kind of security system because of the numerous access points existing throughout multiple buildings.

For organizations dealing with highly classified information that may represent a danger to the company if deliberately or accidentally disclosed, biometric technology provides EACs such as fingerprint readers that scan individual fingerprints and compare them to fingerprints existing in its databanks. Biometric security is extremely efficient and exemplifies the ability of electronic access systems to completely prevent unauthorized access.