How to implement access controls in business

Poor security and its risks are every business manager or owner’s biggest nightmare. When talking about security risks it’s easy to imagine forced break-ins or holdups. But what happens if the threat is inside your offices? That’s where access controls in business come in. 

Access controls have become a very popular security tool in Kenya. It’s hard to walk into a modern office without finding an access control system installed. Access controls have many benefits for a good reason for that. Your business has many assets to protect in its work no matter its size or industry. That’s why you should seriously consider the benefits of having a modern access control system. In a way, access control systems are a must-have physical security technology for a business that wants to grow. 

Access control systems conveniently restrict access to a building or specific areas to only authorized people and can raise an alarm if illegal access is attempted. Access management will make your workplace and premises safe, secure, and efficient.

But how can you ensure you end up with a reliable access technology system and a good investment for your business?

The first challenge you will have is deciding what fits your needs. There is no one-size-fits-all access control option. You should ensure you end up with a system that makes business sense by meeting, supporting, and responding to your business needs. 

Every business will have different reasons why it needs a modern access control system. The good news is no matter your requirements there is a wide range of options in the market. But that’s the challenge. Which one is the best? 

So your first step before you start researching the best option is to ask yourself and your team what you want to achieve. Analyze your needs by asking and answering the following questions;

What you are trying to protect is very important. All companies should protect their employees, visitors, and assets. Talking of assets, they differ greatly in value depending on your business size and industry. Some businesses have critical assets or rooms such as server rooms, safes or vaults, or even laboratories within their premises which means they need higher security access measures.

Depending on your business size you will have different types of people who need to access your workplace. For small businesses, the number may be limited to your employees only. For large companies and organizations, you will likely have many types of people who have or need access to your premises every day. These may include;

• Employees 
• Temporary Employees 
• Visitors 
• Suppliers 
• Contractors

The higher the number of people who need access the more threats to your business security. Managing all these different access credentials will call for a more robust access system compared with what a small business will need.

• How many areas or doors should we secure? 
• How many sites or locations do you have? 
• How many people will use the system? 
• Do we want it to manage visitors’ access around our offices too? 
• How will it integrate with other systems we have? 
• How do we want to access the access logs and reports? 
• What credentials and added security measures do we want? 

Access systems come with different technologies and levels of sophistication. There are three major categories. Two first two are fairly common but the third one is relatively new but worthy to explore for its flexibility.

This is by far the most common access control system. It uses physical credentials like keycards or keyfobs. They make a cost-effective choice and are very simple to use and also affordable. However, they are not the most reliable choice and create a big security risk potential. 

Cards and fobs can be copied, cloned, shared, stolen, or lost. If a card gets into the hands of an authorized person or the wrong employee, your business is exposed and vulnerable to security breaches. 

They are suitable for small businesses with less valuable assets for their low cost. However, if you run a big business with many employees the upfront cost of issuing new cards and the stress and risk of managing lost or unused cards make it undesirable. In this case, it’s cheaper to explore more advanced alternatives.

Biometric controls use biometric data credentials such as facial scanning, fingerprints, eyes, voice, or a combination of them. Since they use a person’s human unique features to allow access, removing the need for physical credentials, they are considered highly convenient and very secure.  

With biometric access controls, access credentials are granted to only one person and cannot be shared, lost, or cloned. This makes them very popular with modern businesses with high-security requirements. 

Though the equipment costs more than keycard systems they tend to be a cheaper alternative to implement and manage especially if you have a large number of employees.

Face ID biometric access is a great option if you want to have touchless access control. If your workplace is a high health protocol area or you want to keep up with COVID protocols, this is the best option as employees and occupants don’t need physical contact to get access.

This is a relatively new technology that is gaining popularity thanks to smart mobile devices. This is by far the most convenient form of access control authentication. Also with smartphones and other mobile phones also using smart biometric credentials like fingerprints and face ID to unlock mobile devices mobile access is a highly secure option to consider. 

Mobile access control systems allow employees and approved occupants access to all or part of a building depending on their mandate via a secure smartphone app installed on registered mobile devices. The convenience of mobile access is that you can create and share temporary single-credential access with approved visitors. 

Remember modern access controls can use more than one access credential. These are known as hybrid access controls. With a hybrid access system, you can issue different access credentials to different users and have different access hardware installed in the same workplace. 

For example, you can have all employees and occupants use biometric credentials and at the same time, issue keycards to visitors and suppliers to facilitate their movement in the building and then have them returned on exit.

With access control what comes first to mind as extra use and advantage of the system is maybe staff time and attendance. Using access control HR and management can easily collect staff time, attendance, and movement from access logs for payroll and performance evaluation purposes. 

Is that all? Well, no.

The beauty of modern smart technologies is in integration. You have multiple independent security technologies and devices in your workplace. What if they were to work together? You will be able to get more from your investment. 

The good news is you can use smart integration to integrate your access control with other smart security systems such as CCTV cameras, alarm systems, and more to have a more complete security system and make it hard for illegal security breaches to happen.  

Integration with smart CCTV systems allows you to have video verification to identify and verify a person attempting access. Your access control can also raise alarms to alert your security team every time an illegal access attempt is made by integrating it with a smart alarm system. This can come in handy during emergencies to facilitate the safe evacuation of employees and visitors. 

Modern access systems manufacturers such as Hikvision and Dahua have simplified management systems that allow you to integrate their technologies. They also have mobile apps you can use to get access notifications even when away from the office. This means you can proactively monitor your workplace around the clock.

Now that you know what your business access controls requirements are and you have a good idea of the right technology to meet the needs, the next step is to bring in a professional installer.  

A professional installation services provider with experience in access controls can remove the headaches that come with selecting the right solution and also the financial and security risks. 

Most of the time, an installer has the expertise to help you through the whole process. They will visit your workplace to understand your business requirements, help with solutions selection, design your system, and advise on integrations and management of access credentials.  

Most likely, a seasoned professional installer will recommend access control system solutions that are feature-rich to meet all your needs yet cost-effective enough for quick implementation and migration from a traditional access control system to a modern system.

Access controls are technical and need expert installation so having your professional installer on board is critical. A well-trained installer will do better installation work which will increase the long-term performance of your business access control system. 

DIY installations or set up by inexperienced technicians can only get poor technology quality and exposure to security risks. 

A good installer like easyLive will help with sourcing the right access control hardware and accessories while making quick installation fast and less disrupting our employees’ work. They will also help you with to address quality assurance, flexibility, and future growth. 

Typically, an access control project can take a few hours but this depends on the size of the project or the amount of work required. To help save time, money and hassle engage your electrician to have the main power supply ready and also your cabling specialist to provide network points.

Your professional installer will train you and your security team on how to manage access credentials upon completing installation using access management software and or app. The administrator training should cover;

• Administrator roles and permissions 
• How to enrol new users
• How to create, add and remove access credentials
• Reports retrieval and data management
• Device status 
• Event tracking 
• Custom event classification
• Remote management
• Basic maintenance 

Modern access management software will be simple enough so you can easily add, delete, edit and assign access credentials to employees and occupants in a simple process. 

The process of setting up credentials and the speed at which users start using their credentials to get access will differ depending on the access control system you have installed. 

For cards, it’s a simple keycard or fobs allocation and issuance. For biometric credentials, you need the employees to be physically present to register their face ID or fingerprint. For mobile credentials, you will just send credentials to users and have them download and install an app on a registered phone.

However, to make the investment worthwhile it’s good to have everyone in the workplace onboard. To do this, you need to first prepare a good access control policy. 

Then you should train your staff on how to comply with it to ensure your project is successful. Your access policy should address issues like authorization levels, safeguarding personal credentials, and reporting a loss of credentials such as keycards. 

For employees and occupants, training should cover procedures for proper access, as well as improper activities, such as sharing a card with someone else, propping doors open, or tailgating which is allowing multiple people to access a single access log.

Congratulations, now you have a brand new access control system installed professionally. The next step is to future-proof your investment by ensuring it runs smoothly, stays reliable to prevent security breaches, performs at full potential, has no downtimes, and lasts long enough to fully get back your investment. 

Daily usage will have even more powerful access control systems needing to be inspected, adjusted, and upgraded if necessary – from hardware to software to ensure around-the-clock security.

A reliable maintenance provider will have scheduled regular maintenance done on your system to be able to prevent common faults and to quickly respond to breakdowns. They will also upgrade equipment firmware and constantly evaluate for cybersecurity threats such as hacking.

It’s never too early to consider having a modern access control for your business. It is prudent to have a proactive approach to ensuring the safety of your assets, workplace, and the people working there. Setting up modern access control and creating control rules will guarantee it. 

As trusted access control experts we can help make it possible by having an installation process as stress-free as possible. At easyLive, we have years of experience in the security industry and our access control experts specialize in enterprise access control installations and integrations that will have you using the best new technologies in no time.