As each day passes, we continue to see the far-reaching effects of COVID-19 as things slowly level out to a new normal. Yet, businesses still struggle to find lasting solutions to reduce the spread of the virus months after its onset. Thankfully, commercial video surveillance is one of the available solutions to help fight this invisible threat.

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Multi-tenant housing is a unique residential and business structure that requires a different approach to security. You need to balance the need for security restricted areas while still allowing residents the access they need to the property. An upgraded access control system from Openpath and Security Instrument provides the solution to better security for apartment complexes.

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As businesses everywhere struggle to create new security protocols to meet guidelines and regulations for COVID-19, social unrest across the nation continues to cause more security problems. Access control is a critical part of any security system, and now there’s a future-proof, scalable, and more secure access control solution- Openpath’s enterprise access control system.

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The extraordinary global impact of COVID-19 has affected all of us – and now, employers must determine how they can facilitate a safe return for their employees and visitors. Here’s how to get started, including one technologically advanced way to manage and trace who is onsite.

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A security system is an essential component of every business, and regular maintenance is vital to secure your company and assets as well as protect your employees and visitors. Your security system becomes ineffective as soon as you stop maintaining it. Essentially, it’s like leaving the front doors of your business open and putting a sign outside that welcomes criminals.

Here are three critical reasons why routine preventative maintenance of your access control should be at the top of your list.

1.      To Prevent Theft from Within

Unfortunately, you would like to think that all your employees are honest. However, that’s not always the case. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce reports that 75 percent of employees say that they’ve stolen from their employers at least once. Hiscox, an insurance company, found that 80 percent of these thefts occur in small businesses with under 150 employees. Internal theft is one of the reasons many small businesses fail.

Often, small businesses don’t have the right control in place, like access control systems. If they do, they don’t maintain them the way they are supposed to.

First, you need to identify those sensitive areas that need restricted access like data centers, storage rooms, and other places you keep sensitive information, expensive equipment, or machinery and tools. You must secure these areas and grant access only to those who need it. If you have access control and already restrict these areas, you must regularly check the components to make sure they work and that the locks function properly. Plus, it’s critical to make sure that everyone uses the access control system as intended.

2.      So that You Only Let the Right People Enter Your Business

Modern access control systems make it easy and convenient for the people you want to enter your business but extremely difficult for the wrong ones to enter. But the likelihood of a security breach increases significantly, if you don’t do maintenance on your system regularly and especially your access control.

Employees lose their access cards, and lock mechanisms break. Once that happens, people start propping doors open for convenient access. If you’re not testing your system and maintaining it properly, more components break, and it makes your business easier to break into. According to 2017 crime statistics, there were approximately 7,694,086 property crimes in the United States. Many of those stemmed from incidents where the wrong people gained access to the wrong places.

3.      So You Always Know Who Comes and Goes from Your Property

Today’s access control lets you monitor who comes and goes from your business. You can see reports on monthly, weekly, and even daily access to your business. But these reports are only accurate if you maintain your system.

Employees use each other’s access cards, so you’re no longer tracking who you think you’re tracking. This makes managers less sure about what’s really happening when they pull access control reports.

So, it’s important to remember that even the best access control system needs regular maintenance, or it can fail. For more information on maintaining your access control system, contact Security Instrument.

ABOUT SECURITY INSTRUMENT

Security Instrument is a full-service, independently-owned security integrator that offers numerous options for homes and businesses, including access control. A Delaware-based company, Security Instrument serves thousands of customers located throughout Delaware, MD, NJ & PA.

COVID-19 introduced many unique security problems for businesses world-wide. As they struggled to come up with adequate solutions, they realized that they needed better security options. Enhanced security would help prevent further spreading of the virus and ensure the safety and health of employees and visitors. That’s where new thermal cameras come in.

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We all know that the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way companies all over the world do business. Now that businesses are slowly opening back up, the health and safety of your employees, their families, and visitors are more critical than ever. Every business needs a solution that protects everyone.

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The banking sector regularly deals with security threats that lead to property loss and even endanger our lives. It’s one of the reasons that banking institutions have such stringent security protocols and innovative security systems to protect their customer’s money and property.

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COVID-19 pandemic has forever changed the way we do business and keep our families and employees safe. Companies around the world need to take a step back and re-evaluate things as we’re in uncharted waters now. With no clear path forward, the most important thing you can do is control the things that you can while taking preventative measures to ensure the safety and health of everyone.

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Facilities around America are throwing away their old lock-and-key systems in favor of digital access control systems that allow for keyless entry into their buildings. In fact, 56% of the global workforce has shifted to wireless access for employees. Is it because wireless access control is more convenient? Safer? Unquestionably, it’s both.

Cloud Access Control Explained 

Electronic access control uses cloud-based systems that supply or deny access to employees, vendors and other authorized people at an organization. At the facility’s entry points – most commonly, doors and gates – the user interfaces with a station that requires them to swipe a credential to gain access.

The credential may be a card, a key fob or some other connected device the user carries on them. If desired, the credential can even be a code on the user’s smartphone. Whatever credential an organization chooses to use, cloud access control is a convenient way for employers to streamline their building security and grant access to employees without accounting for keys.

Other than the stations that are installed at the doors, access control systems require no additional installation. They utilize standard internet communications protocols and can leverage existing WiFi or Ethernet infrastructure of the site.

The stations are managed via a web browser, allowing the authorized administrator of the facility to maintain the system easily through the subscriber portal. If an organization has an information technology department, that is where the access control system can be managed. Site managers, facility managers and other types of administrators are also good candidates for managing the access control system.

Deactivating Access in the Cloud 

During the time someone is employed at an organization, they will access the building via their activated access control credential. But what happens when that person leaves the job? If someone is terminated or leaves the organization of their own volition, the employer simply deactivates the access device via a web-based program.

Although employers should require the departing staff member to turn in the credential before leaving, cloud access control provides a safety net in the event of employees leaving under surprising or suspicious circumstances. If someone leaves the organization under the radar and takes their access control credential with them, the cloud-based model allows the employer to deactivate the credential digitally – which means it won’t work if the ex-employee ever tries to use it again.

If you wish to learn more about cloud access control as a way to update your organization’s building security, contact Security Instrument. We will be glad to schedule a complimentary security evaluation of your site and discuss your access control options.

About Security Instrument

Security Instrument is a full-service, independently-owned security integrator that offers numerous options for homes and businesses, including access control. A Delaware-based company, Security Instrument serves thousands of customers located throughout Delaware, MD, NJ & PA.