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Web-based access control

Staying in control of your building wherever you are.

“The fundamentals of good security have not changed, even if the technology has,” says Ingo Mutinelli, national sales manager for Elvey Security Technologies.

Until recently, access control and security fell into one of two camps. If you are a large organisation and could afford a 24-hour manned central response centre you could reliably secure and monitor the sites within your organisation. If you could not afford this, you outsourced your monitoring and response to a third party. This can still be a relatively expensive option and involves a loss of control to the user.

The first consideration for most business, large or small, is preventing criminals from getting into the building. This need is best met today by an IP-based, integrated security solution that includes a strong access control element. While physical guarding remains one of the most popular forms of security, there is no escaping the human factor.

“Weak links in the security chain are created by the gaps left by honest guards on patrol as well as by bent guards persuaded to look the other way while criminals walk out with laptops, desktops and every other imaginable company asset,” says Mutinelli.

These events can be eradicated with a web-based solution which allows you to control and monitor your security requirements even if you have multiple sites. From one central point, names can be added, restrictions sanctioned and visitors granted access. The database can be managed from an office in, say, Johannesburg, and still control staff movement in Cape Town, which adds hugely to the system’s flexibility.

One of the most exciting aspects of web-based security is the capacity of the system to be the centre of an integrated solution that can manage most aspects of a building. It is possible to combine a number of security devices onto a single platform, which includes access control, CCTV, intrusion and fire, along with guard monitoring and is administered via a web browser giving the user the impression that they are on a single web page.

Building security and administrators can manage up to 64 doors in the building, print ID cards, run reports and view alarms using a standard web browser on any networked PC or laptop, giving the security manager more control over the building and not confining him to the building’s control room.

The user friendly system can be set up to simply advise departmental managers on the status of activity at their facility by sending notifications of alarms/events via e-mail, PDA (personal digital assistant) or mobile phone, keeping them in the loop in their absence.

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