Considering the serious security concerns affecting most companies and organisations nowadays, most of them need to set up specific restriction measures for certain areas of their site, ensuring the fact that solely authorised members of staff are allowed to access them.

Quite obviously, a standard “lock and key solution” is always perfectly possible, but a modern approach is to implement a role-based access control solution, assigning a specific set of clearances or access rights to each user of the system based on their security credentials.

However, an access control solution can do a lot more for an organization than simply restricting access through particular doors and offers a lot more advantages over traditional systems.

For example, most access control systems employ either biometrics or smart cards for access, which are a lot less difficult to lose than a pair of keys. Furthermore, it will keep an automated record of people coming and leaving the premises at all times. All entries and exits are logged, so it becomes easy to track staff that visit in non-business hours.

Using an access control system will also lower the risk of trespassing on your organization’s site, ensuring that only genuine employees gain access, and prevent unauthorized individuals from entering without getting detected. A direct consequence of the above is an improved level of security to crucial areas, as well as a higher level of safety for staff.

System can be monitored with a real-time graphical display that show doors opening and closing as they happens. All movements are logged, and the information can be analysed as required. Plus profiles can be changed within a minute if any suspicious activity is noticed.

Our access control system also include provision for an entry made under duress. A normal PIN can be programmed as a feature of a normal access permission, working in tandem with the smartcard, but there can also be a special duress code set up. When this is entered, the cardholder (and any potential threat) notice no difference in the way that the door opens for them, but it triggers a silent alarm and sends an alert to the necessary people.

These modern methods of access control should be the minimum used by all businesses, yet many premises still rely on lock and key.

Contact Simon and his team for more information on our products and services, or by using our contact form.

Our prefered Access Control system remains Paxton Net2.

This is a proven, robust and well supported software system for managing local or remote Access Control for doors and buildings.

As a Paxton partner we have used and deployed many systems accross the UK for a wide range of business with from 10 to 10,000 staff.

The latest release, net2online, provides access to the managemt portal via any web browser.

Open Door

Open a door directly from your web browser, wherever you are

• All doors you have access to will appear by default
• Visual feedback – green flash for opened doors and red for access denied
• Open door for default seven second door open time

User Administration

Add, delete and edit users for easy management

• Add tokens to users via Access Denied events
• Add & edit user photos from your device’s camera or album
• Manage Anti-Passback, Intruder Alarm and Lockdown user rights

Roll Call

Quickly establish whether users are safe in an emergency

• Mark users as safe/missing
• See users’ last known positions
• Call users via the app
• View a user’s photo as stored within Net2

Events & Reports

Real-time updates provide live information on users’ locations

• Default Net2 reports appear in your browser
• View live Net2 events
• Dynamically search events and reports
• Reports default to the last 365 days

To learn more about how SCS can help your security with Paxton contact Simon and his team.

There’s growing noise around smart homes and smarter security. You’ve probably heard it. But there is a place where access control and more have been smart for decades: the workplace. Home automation and IoT are still playing catch-up with the commercial sector. A new insights report from ASSA ABLOY and IFSEC Global — “The Smart Door Locks Report 2018” — measures just how fast consumer smart technology is running.

According to a survey conducted for the report, 61% of households now claim to own at least one smart home device or system. Energy monitors, home CCTV cameras, intruder alarms and smart door locks are the most popular, according to the report. All these functions, of course, have been available to businesses for years.

Educating The Smart Home Consumer

Paradoxically, report data also questions how much consumers really know about their smarter home. A surprising 42% of those surveyed, for example, were unaware they could control a smart door lock from their phone. In fact, many leading smart door lock models offer this feature, delivered by Wi-Fi or Bluetooth and an app.

Despite a wealth of features offered by the latest smart door locks — remote and location-based locking/unlocking; voice activation; timed access; emailed entry alerts; and integration with smart camera and lighting systems — most people still have limited knowledge of their capabilities. 

Only 14% of survey respondents described themselves as “very familiar” with what a smart lock can do. Even though most of them probably use smart access control solutions at their workplace.

Secure Homes Through Smart Technology

Monitoring and security are not the only drivers for smart home adoption. We humans also love convenience, and modern living presents us with problems that smart home technology can solve. Ironically, given the report’s findings, it takes a smartphone to really unlock the convenient possibilities of smarter living. The device that’s “always to hand” is central to the newest generation of smart door locks. A smart door lock is a convenient way for a landlord or agency to offer round-the-clock check-in and check-out

If homeowners wish to remotely manage property access for friends and family, many smart door locks oblige. You let in guests remotely, send them a virtual digital key, or provide a temporary or single-use PIN to unlock the door.

It is just as easy to revoke a digital key, if you don’t want its owner to come around anymore. This is a significant improvement over sharing physical keys — or hiding one under the doormat. We cannot be totally sure where a metal key ends up and have no way to track or cancel it once it’s “out in the wild”. Commercial access control offers such functionality as standard, of course. 

In addition, smart door locks offer more than just stand-alone operation and clever functions. In a domestic setting, magic happens when locks work in harmony with a home automation system, connected by protocols like Z-Wave, ZigBee or Wi-Fi.

“Smart” Security On The Move 

The smartphone is becoming a remote control for managing a connected life beyond just home (and even workplace) security. According to Accenture, the parcel delivery services market will grow by $343 billion by 2020. Just like home security, convenience is a major driver of change.

Vacation Rentals And Smart Home Tech

ASSA ABLOY research published in 2017 forecasts continued growth in the European vacation rentals sector (at 5.8% CAGR). Smart door locks are also making an impact here, at both ends of the market: for service providers — agents and homeowners — and for travellers.

A smart door lock is a convenient way for a landlord or agency to offer round-the-clock check-in and check-out, without creating extra work or staff costs. Both Intersoft, in Croatia, and Hoomvip in Spain have built vacation rentals management systems around an app and the ENTR® smart door lock. Agents issue, revoke, track and manage virtual keys for all their guests, saving everyone time and hassle.

For these visitors the smartphone is already an essential travel accessory. It is a boarding pass, a credit card, a travel guide, and a postcard home… why not a door key, too? And if this key is backed by a trusted home security brand — and a company with vast experience in the mature market for commercial “smart” security — better still.