| Surveying |
| An electronic access control system is the collection of various components that work together to control access to a building or site. There must be a clearly identified purpose for installing the system and what role it is to play. The client must also understand the benefits and appreciate the demands that are made and will be achieved after installation.
The access control system must rely on users, but surveyors must understand their customer and needs to ensure that the proposed system has a correct purpose. There is an important need to get the correct balance in the system as a whole. Several factors must be taken into consideration in order for electronic access control engineering to influence in the ways all properties are to be secured, including perimeter protection and door protection. The decision to manage the electronic access control system via a local-hosted computer or to use a cloud-based system relies heavily on the users’ outlook. Although a cloud-based system works better than a local-hosted computer, surveyors on the other hand must first understand their customer’s ability and demand before proposing the most suitable solution. On the contrary, it should be known that a local-hosted computer software is simple to operate but is instead restricted within the local area network while a cloud-based system allows access from anywhere at anytime and can be combined with a smartphone application for further ease of usage. |
| System Design |
| Consider the design of the access control system as it is the practice to hold the data on information sheets and drawings for reference. Finalize a drawing or floor plan of the full site, then identify the individual areas that require protection. |
| Cabling |
| Consider voltage drops in large installations, as this is a vital part of the cabling system design. Additionally, there is a need to determine the standby capacity of power supplies and if there is a requirement for any additional remote power supplies to support ancillary equipment or distant equipment current loads.
It is important that the cables carrying power circuits must not have a quoted resistance that creates a problem for supplying distant loads. It is not always an option to double up the supply cores to reduce the resistance of the supply conductors. Judgment to distance must be made in order to fix the voltage at the terminals of the supply, for example, measuring the distance or the size of the cable. |
| Security Level |
| Interlock accessories that are used to make the installation of security door systems must be identified on the data sheets. Whether they are used with monitored or unmonitored releases, provision will be made to detail. In line with the needs of the client, the security level can be established and classed as high, medium or low.
The second concern regarding security level, is to restrict different levels of administrators in accessing and managing the system. This can be done by configuring the various system roles within the software. The third concern about security level is the protection of database. Local-hosted computer storage is the most common solution but can be affected from the occasional physical damage. Therefore, the best method is to store the data on a cloud server, where there will be no worries of physical damage. In case of a malware/hacker attack, rest assured that a cloud server’s defences are better than that of a local-hosted computer. |
| Breakdown |
| Prior to the breakdown, centralized systems will have all operations terminated and perimeter devices will remain in their state. Distributed systems will be degraded and rendered offline, but certain functions that can be performed will remain depending on the system and component sophistication. Some examples include granting access using a site code and storing events in a memory buffer. |
| Emergency Access |
| In order to gain entry to the site, high security manual overrides are used and the location of the site should be specified on the working drawings. The use of firebreak relays will enable release of locking devices from the fire alarm signal, but reset separately from the fire detection system. This will avoid accidental reset during an emergency. |
| Number of Staff and Turnover |
| A crucial influence on the system is tallying the number of staff and the turnover rate for an office. This is usually recorded at peak periods, such as start and finish times, when large numbers of staff must pass through the readers at the same time, as well as if all events are to be recorded. For a quicker mode of verification, contactless recognition systems such as facial recognition and RFID card readers are recommended over passwords key-ins and card insertion systems.
A high staff turnover or temporary labor can introduce additional complexities. Therefore, a budget must be introduced in order to solve issues involving new credentials and system programming. Besides using quicker mode of verification/contactless recognition system, let’s not forget that the smartphone application can also be considered as another alternative. Likewise, the speed to verify and grant access depends mostly on the amount of credentials and access rules within a single device along with its hardware limitation. Hence, by segregating credentials and access rules into each user’s profile and downloading it towards their individual smartphone application, users can now login to the mobile application for speedier review of door accessibilities. As such, all door access rules processing mechanism takes place inside the mobile application. |
| Software |
| Most operators increasingly use the PC, an essential component in the operation of any business, and software to control elements used in the access control and security industries. Through a range of iconized menus will commands be accessed and the administration will provide access to the overall system control and programming. Real-time monitoring can be achieved to interface with most reader types and the use of a PC-based system or the future introduction of one should be catered for at the design stage.
Traditionally, the software installation and requirements (computer specifications and OS type) must always be determined before any system deployment. Subsequently, the usual system scheduled maintenance and upgrade is also a must in order to ensure a system’s functionality and stability. However, a cloud-based system does not require any of the aforementioned procudures as the cloud-based system works within any Internet browser all without considering the computer OS. Additionally, the cloud-based system always receives updates from time to time to ensure that you are consistently with the latest version. |
| Integration and Upgrading |
| The location of all readers should always be included on the design information chart together with the number of units employed at the controlled point. Two readers are needed in the event of a roll call, anti-passback or time registration. Certain settings can also be specified, for example, using the right hand to address the reader and adjusting the height of the reader as a user-friendly device for all types of employees. For system controllers, the location of these devices is important along with the positioning of power supplies as there may be multiple units sited in areas that are not normally accessible. |
