Innovators of today seem to be more imaginative than those of the past. They have to come out with solutions for the unimaginably unique issues that keep cropping up day in and day out, thanks to more creativity displayed by people with nefarious intentions. If we take the field of security, we find that modern innovators are forced to come out with more appropriate systems for controlling access to buildings as well as into lifts and elevators. You may want to get such an access control and security system installed in your workplace also. But before seeking the help of a competent company, you must know the benefits you will derive by having such a system installed.
One company that provides many of such systems is ATT Systems. Most notable is their Queue Management System in hospital, which has managed to reduce waiting time and streamline crowds, which is especially important for prospective patients going to the Emergency Ward. Imagine the chaos if there were no modern system, and just a manual crowd control for a sudden increase in patient numbers. Not only would patients and their loved ones be agitated, but unnecessary delays will affect a patient’s survival chances.
Next, let us look at the benefits of using such a system.
1. By getting an appropriate access control system installed for your business, you can enhance the payroll efficiency of your company because the system will supply data that may be in a compatible format suitable for your payroll package. This means that you can completely eliminate errors that are likely to occur in your payroll department.
2. You can rest assured about the security of your building because the system will allow only the staff authorized to enter it. You should ensure that the lift and elevator operation is also integrated into the system.
3. An effective system that controls access can help in saving costs. For example, you can restrict the use of printers and photocopiers so employees will be able to use the devices only if it is absolutely necessary. Apart from saving costs, this move may help you in your efforts to reduce your energy bills and carbon emissions and protect the environment. You can also be certain that your confidential documents are secure.
4. Thanks to the proliferation of buildings, space available and more particularly for car parking, has become very restricted. You may face this problem in your business also. An appropriately chosen control system will help you in solving this issue by monitoring entry into and exit from the car parking area of your office building.
But how do you go about choosing a competent company that offers an appropriate access control provider of security management system ? The following tips may be useful.
1. When you do your research for choosing a competent company for providing access control or security system for you, you must check the track-records of the companies you have short-listed. You should also find out if the companies will be ready to help you in the process of constant reappraisal because your security needs will certainly keep changing. This means the companies you are considering should be ready to enhance the efficacy of the systems they make available to you so as to suit your changing needs.
2. The systems that are offered by the companies should help in enhancing the efficiency of your business. Apart from getting your business considerable savings in energy usage, administration expenses, and in payroll management, the systems the companies offer should come at reasonable costs also. Of course, there is competition in this field also and hence, the providers you are considering may be ready to negotiate with you and agree to lower their prices.
But you should be careful not to dilute your focus on the quality of the services you need because nefarious minded elements are waiting in wings to exploit even small loopholes in your security systems. They may create grave problems for your business.
This means that though you must give importance to the aspect of cost, you must afford more importance to the quality as well as the efficacy of the system. In other words, if the most appropriate system comes at a slightly higher cost, you must not hesitate to go for it.
Also, as an end-user, you need to be familiar with the system that the vendor trains you to use. Roger Grimes writes:
“If our end-user education policies succeeded, we would have defeated hackers and malware by now. And if recent trends are any gauge, end-user awareness is worse than ever. Social engineering Trojans, which trick end-users into running malicious programs, are the biggest threat by far. Most end-users readily give up all privacy to any application or social media portal, and they do it without any thought of the repercussions, which includes greatly increasing their likelihood of becoming a target and succumbing to social engineering.
I strongly fault the people behind most end-user education programs. In their hands, end-user education becomes a forced, unwanted childhood chore. Education is undertaken haphazardly, using spotty curriculum that usually doesn’t contain information relevant to the latest attacks. Let me ask you a question: If the No. 1 way end-users get tricked into running Trojans is through fake antivirus prompts, does your company tell your employees what their real antivirus program looks like? If not, why?
That type of disconnect puts IT systems in jeopardy. On average, it takes two years for the latest threats to show up in end-user education programs and only a minute for the bad guys to switch themes, putting us behind another two years.” Read more here.
On the other hand, if the vendor has trained your staff to use the system well, it is no excuse if your staff is not adept at handling it. When the system is operated on a daily basis, this should not be an issue. If need be, you can hire an IT support staff to help manage this aspect of your business.
Next, we find out how in the US, smart systems have even allowed an immediate lockdown in the event of gunmen attacking hospitals. CS Staff writes:
“Perhaps one of the most significant changes taking place at Rush University Medical Center is the recent introduction of a lockdown feature to provide greater security in emergency situations, such as if a gunman is reported near the hospital. Previously, hospital security officers had to manually lock down each perimeter door. Now, the new system offers a single emergency button and, with one push, security personnel can lock many doors at one time.
“They’ve taken it a step beyond what we’ve normally seen,” says Skwirblies about the lockdown mode. “By hitting a button to lock perimeter doors, they can catch the individual and provide greater security at the facility. We’re seeing more of that response by hospitals to these types of situations.” Read more here.
In conclusion, modern systems are a good thing to have, but one must be discerning in the quality of the system, the thoroughness of the setup, and the longevity of the system. On the user’s part, there also needs to be good know-how of using the system.
Only when all these factors come together, then the system will be able to value-add to your business. Its effect will be more than just an addition, it will be a multiplier effect in all your operations that will help your company in the years ahead.