Access Control Systems, the Heart of Every Secure Entrance

Access control system secure, grant and monitor access to certain areas and zones of a building.

04:34 07 February 2022

Since the invention of the key, numerous technological advancements and progress has been made. Access control systems were imposed as an essential means towards assuring the safety and security in organizations, enterprises and buildings all-over the world. These systems guarantee peace of mind and safety for millions of individuals. Integrated in systems with physical entrance, they offer the most reliable solutions to grant access and reduce the risk of entrance by non-authorized people.

 

Access control system secure, grant and monitor access to certain areas and zones of a building, while the secure, physical systems dissuades, deters, detects or prevents unauthorized access.

 

What is an access control system?

An access control system permits to control the access at your building, establishment or at specific zones of your building. An access control system comprises, generally speaking, of the following elements:

 

• Access control devices such as access cards and card readers
• Access management dashboard to monitor and control access
• Physical solutions such as access control panels and access control servers

 

Access control systems reduce the risks associated with stealing your data, documents and products and contribute towards reinforcing the safety and security of your employees. These systems commonly apply a two-factor authentication procedure or authentication using multiple factors. Generally speaking, they require the use of a card or a token together with information such as a password.

 

Five basic components of an access control system

Every time you need to deploy an access control system in a certain site, this will need to comprise generally of five principal components:

 

• Identifying elements: a unique electronic key that is used by an individual for access in a site through a door that is secured by the access control system. The system that is currently used in its majority are electronic access cards but you can use also PIN codes, digital prints, face recognition, barcodes or QR codes that are included in a mobile application, etc.
• Readers of identifying elements: devices that are placed in the exterior of a building and/or entrance and are used to read the identifying elements electronically.
• Locking equipment: locking equipment that are used to lock and unlock electronically doors or access points in secure zones.
• Smart controllers: panels installed in buildings and used to treat the activity of control access. Readers of identifying elements, electronical and electrical locking equipment and other devices for access controls are all connected with panels.
• Servers and computers of access control: this is the head of the access control systems playing the role of a central database along with the role of a file manager that is in charge of registering the system activities.

 

Once all these systems are implemented, a security officer responsible for the installation can personalize access privileges for each computer taking advantage of a certain amount of factors such as access levels of any given worker, work hours (full-time work or part-time work) and many more. With all these into consideration, an access control system is your best solution to monitor access.