The Problems with Traditional Access Control Systems & How to Solve Them

Traditional Access Control Problems & What You Can Do

Access control is important at nearly every property. It is a special concern at large sites such as industrial locations, truck yards, automotive lots, and other similar locations. Not only do these areas often have many people coming and going throughout the day, but these people are all different and they all have different clearance and authorization levels.

For instance, a warehouse could have employees entering the site, but they may also have third parties such as contractors, delivery people, visitors, inspectors, and several others visiting as well. Creating a system that gives each of these people appropriate access, without being costly or confusing, can be a challenge for several reasons.

The first potential issue is that individually signing each person into a facility is a complex task. If you leave this task up to a single security guard at a gate, it will likely take a significant portion of their time and attention to do this. This means they won’t be able to watch the rest of the facility. Traditional onsite security guards can also be quite an expensive option, especially if your facility needs 24/7 access control services.

Some organizations try to solve this issue by giving their employees keys, fobs, or swipe cards. However, while these methods work for employees, they don’t make sense for third parties. There’s no reasonable way to give every single person who may need access to your property a fob or card.

Security fobs and keys also have another weakness: you can’t be certain that they’re being used by the appropriate person. If a fob or card falls into the wrong hands, it may not be discovered immediately. In the meantime, it could be used by a criminal to gain access to a property. If this happens, it becomes very difficult to know who used it and what steps to take to prevent the problem from happening again.

Solving Access Control Problems

A powerful way to improve access control at your facility is by looking into remotely monitored options. Remote access control tools ensure that your property is watched over at all times without the need for costly security guards.

With remote access control, your gates and other entrances will be equipped with cameras and speakers for two-way communication. These cameras will be monitored at all times by trained security professionals. When someone arrives at the gate, the security team can request identification and match the person’s ID to a list of those who are authorized to enter. By conducting a visual match of the person to their ID, you ensure that the person is who they say they are. Security staff can also communicate with the person in real-time if they have any questions or need more information before admitting a person to the site.

The result is an efficient and effective system that prevents unwanted access. Since everyone who comes to the site must be positively identified by a real person, there is no way that someone who is not on the authorization list could enter.

How Remote Access Works

A remote access control system starts with cameras. Birdseye Security’s ID-Verifi™ system involves using two high-definition cameras at each entry point. One camera is aimed at the face of each visitor while the other is designed to focus on their ID. This makes ID-verification easier and more accurate. Since a real person is reviewing each ID, this drastically reduces the risk of error when compared to other systems, including facial recognition technology. No matter how good technology may be, it simply cannot replace the accuracy of a real human.

Each entrance is also equipped with a two-way speaker system. If the security team needs to ask questions (such as determining why the person is attempting to access the site) or clarify any information, this can easily be done in real time.

Remote access security systems also capture and analyze all data that is recorded by the system. As a result, it is easy to see who has visited your site, the duration of their visit, and even where they went once they entered your property. This sort of detailed information simply isn’t possible with more traditional access control tools or security guards.

For more information on remote access control, or to find out how these tools could keep your industrial site, warehouse, truck yard, or other large property safe and secure, please do not hesitate to contact our security team.