Whether you are working in a small office, doctor’s office, coffee shop, or store, it is essential to ensure that your staff and property are protected.
For some, protecting property may mean locking the front door with a key. However, with the advent of newly available technologies, any business can now afford an access control system.
There are various access control systems: standalone controllers for controlling one or four doors, systems with a keypad or reader for single-factor authentication, and larger systems that allow corporations to grant access to their employees at multiple sites using a single account. Here are considerations to help you choose the right door access control.
- Cost
If cost is the main factor for you, pay attention to access control based on proximity cards or key cards. After installing the equipment, you can give your employees access cards to control entry and exit. If an employee stops working for you, you can remotely deactivate his card. These solutions are cost-effective and are great for most businesses because it reduces the risk of an ex-employee gaining unauthorized access to their original workspace.
Some organizations require additional security measures such as multi-factor authentication for entry, which would also influence the cost of your access control system. Recently, executives, IT administrators, and other employees who have access to more sensitive information have started to use multi-factor authentication for door entry, so it is important to consider if this fits into your access control needs. For example, an employee in an organization must present a card and enter an access code or use their fingerprint to open the door to a room that contains essential information or property.
- Ease of use and management
When taking into account the different modern access control systems, the question arises: how to determine the most suitable option? When choosing an access control system, the first thing you should know is whether it is easy to use and manage. Ease of use is an important factor because you want your employees and guests to securely and easily enter your business’s space. Next, you need to define the system’s function to determine how your access control system is going to be managed. You have to consider questions such as:
- How many doors do I need to secure?
- How many credentials do I need to provision?
- Are specific users only allowed to access certain areas of the building?
- Choose an access control system with a video surveillance system.
It should be understood that many entry-level access control systems do not support integration with other security and automation systems. This means that if you plan to install a video surveillance system or implement an elevator control system in the future and integrate them with access control, you need to consider an access control system that supports this. You will have to go beyond entry-level security to ensure that you have future-proof security.
- Set a Budget
Finally, set a budget and stick to it. There are various solutions, from electric locks to biometric time attendance systems, available to you at different price points.
Conclusion
Regardless of your business size, the security market offers various access control systems that can be customized to your needs. With the rise of a hybrid workplace and increase in physical and cyber security threats, it is important to also make sure that your building’s security system follows the best practices. By taking all of this into account, you’ll be able to choose the right access control for your security strategy.
