Next-generation access control system – more information about visitors.
The author of the article, Tracy Ting, reflects on ways to improve the efficiency of building management. He emphasizes that one of the key points here is the control and tracking of everyone entering and leaving the building. To do this, it is necessary to install and integrate physical and logical access control systems, video surveillance systems and security alarms. At the same time, as the expert notes, the demand for cost-effective solutions continues to grow.
“Visitor management technology has only been around for about five years,” says Eric Assouline, head of exports at CDVI. “The most common applications are residential, commercial, industrial, office, banking, education, healthcare, military and critical infrastructure.”
«The global market for access control systems in 2009 is estimated at US$ .7 billion,» noted Assolene. «Integrated access control solutions provide greater security and more efficient visitor management. For optimal access control to protected areas, it is essential to integrate various subsystems, which will ensure building security at a high technological level, using proactive measures.»
The Latest Technologies
To ensure the security of a building, it is essential to monitor who enters and who leaves it. To prevent unauthorized access, proxy cards at the entrance alone are currently not enough. To protect especially important objects, a higher level of security management is required, which is provided by visitor management systems.
Systems with visitor control features allow owners to manage employee rosters, register visitors in advance, and customize badge designs on their computers. “In addition, management software can process information and track valuables that come in or out of the reception area as packages,” says John Murzycki, head of marketing at EasyLobby. “In addition to identifying unwanted visitors, the systems identify VIP visitors based on internal lists of special visitors with exclusive access rights.”
Visitors may have access rights only at certain points and for a certain period of time. “The management department can issue long-term and short-term badges,” says Sandra Blersch, head of marketing at Primion Technology. “The badge numbers issued to long-term visitors are selected from a pool of pre-assigned numbers that are specifically allocated to such visitors. For certain visitors or contractors, the organization can grant short-term access rights directly by activating a proxy card with a randomly assigned number.”
Special registration of a visitor not included in the list is also possible. After registration at the checkpoint, security personnel issue a proxy card that grants specific access rights to the building.
«Visitor control modules are additionally equipped with electronic signature identifiers. In this case, the operator, having required the visitor to put his signature on the handwriting input panel upon entering and exiting the building, can activate or block the access card, which ensures greater security,» emphasizes Eric Assoli. When using such a system, the program must store a photo of each visitor, as well as his name and the name of the person he came to see, the date and time the visitor was added to the list, and the expected time of his departure.
Another option is visitor pre-registration. Authorized workers pre-register visitors before they arrive, which simplifies the process of identifying them upon arrival.
“This option,” says Sandra Blersch, “also simplifies the registration of visitors who have arrived in a group. Authorized workers can log in remotely and generate a request to visit the building. If the necessary information about the visitor is available in the database, security personnel can perform the necessary preliminary checks and create badges for visitors in advance.”
“In addition to providing visitor information before the visit, some software platforms send access codes or badges to the visitor via email,” said Urs Andrin Lampe, vice president of marketing and business development at Legic Identsystems. “This option allows the system to grant access and track contractors and other visitors who need to enter the building after hours, when the security personnel issuing the access cards are no longer on duty.”
Access Cards
The detection range of the card readers is set during setup. In addition, the badges have been significantly improved.
“Currently, there are a wide range of cards available: 2.45 GHz active cards, UHF-900 passive cards, RFID, proxy cards, Mifare cards, and three-in-one cards that combine these different technologies,” said Minghua Zhuang, president of Bluecard Software Technology.
The detection range of 2.45 GHz active cards is 3 to 80 m. They are ideal for tracking visitors and determining their location. UHF-900 passive cards are used for close-range detection (the maximum detection range is 10 m).
«Since the detection of passive cards can be affected by the human body, they are mainly used as access control cards or for parking access control,» Zhuang explains. «Mifare cards are used for elevator access control, and three-in-one cards can be read at both long and short ranges. If a visitor has not yet entered the building and is within 8 meters of the door, they are detected by sensors and profile information is displayed on the software interface for security personnel to review before the visitor is granted access.
If the visitor is a high-ranking official or a VIP, the visitor control system avoids the awkward situation of being stopped by security personnel to establish their identity. The security personnel are shown the relevant information on the display – and they do not perform any checks.» According to Urs Andrin Lampe, thanks to modern advances, users who have a multifunctional card or identification token at their disposal can choose the optimal means of identification, into which the application is loaded.
«Contactless smart cards currently perform various functions (used as credit cards, SIM cards and logical access cards), combined in one card. This is possible because the applications of card providers are capable of mutual integration, which is what the main card does,» said the vice president of marketing and business development at Legic Identsystems.
Elevator access control
“The additional option of elevator access control is very important. After all, if the elevator access is not restricted, visitors will be able to exit freely on both the “free access” and “restricted access” floors without having to present any means of identification,” emphasizes Peter Boriskin, Senior Product Manager at GE Security. “Such access is especially undesirable if the elevator doors open directly into the owner’s area, and not into the lobby.” According to Peter Boriskin, the integration of elevator access control and general access control lies primarily in the openness and availability of the data generated by the systems. Among the technological advances in this area, the GE Security manager names open and secure databases, a published schema, and documented application programming interfaces (APIs). Currently, such a system supports many auxiliary systems, such as evacuation and mobilization systems (in emergency situations), and also allows for the management of certain real estate objects, parking lots, and shops.
“There are different approaches to integrating elevator control and access control, depending on the type of facility. One common method for upgrading older elevator access control methods is to interface with the cabin controller via a PDA-type relay logic circuit. In new buildings where an application interface is needed, a fully published API is used for application-to-application integration, and to further develop the technology, we are going to integrate several higher-level APIs directly into the software product,” says Peter Boriskin.
Integration
The advent of IP has made it easier to distribute information and sensor signals among the various subsystems and controllers, which in turn has made integration possible.
“In some systems, small pieces of software are freely programmable and define the operation of the controllers,” says Nancy Wanders, head of business development for the Asia Pacific region at Nedap Security Management. “The interactions between the controllers can be quickly tailored to the user’s requirements.” The IP protocol also enables remote management.
The comprehensive access control solution integrates video technology, fire detection, intrusion detection, elevator, turnstile and parking control subsystems. In addition, such a system can integrate time and attendance recording, alarm management, visitor control, total person counting, mapping and location detection subsystems.
«Moreover, if a specific situation requires it, for the convenience of visitors there are special booths designed for self-registration. And security personnel located in the lobby can automatically call any person with just one press of a button on the phone, without the need to look up their phone number,» explains John Muzycki from EasyLobby.
«These integrated access control features clearly demonstrate that access control is no longer just about controlling access through a door without keys – it provides better interaction with the visitor and a higher level of security,» emphasizes Eric Assoli.
Data Communication
To integrate the various subsystems, an IP-based control platform is required that enables direct interaction between the various network controllers. Data input to one controller directly generates data output from one or more other controllers, ensuring system operation and the required level of security.
“This means that a decentralized system with peer-to-peer communication between subsystems provides a fast and reliable solution,” says Nancy Wanders. The communication protocols used are TCP/IP, Ethernet, and BACNet. SSL, often considered the fastest IP-based data transfer method, is used to secure data flows, especially in online banking applications. Security levels are set by the end user’s IT staff.
Options such as anti-passback, face counting and parking management are all decentralized and do not rely on a single server. “Moreover,” John Muzycki emphasized, “since PCs are usually connected to a network, the integrated access control system uses a central database, supporting SQL, Oracle and MSDE.”
Rules and Regulations“Under health and safety regulations, every organization in the world is fully responsible for every person on its premises, both employees and visitors,” said Siresen Naidoo, Product Specialist at Ideco Biometric Security Solutions. In some countries, it is a legal requirement that if a person cannot be proven to be a visitor to the organization, that person will be considered an employee of the organization in the event of a natural disaster. “This is one of the main reasons why organizations should establish effective visitor screening systems,” said Naidoo.
As for the hardware, Eric Assoli says there are no rules and regulations governing its development. Where necessary, the regulations of different regions are followed, such as CE (Europe), FCC (USA), VdS (Germany) and GOST-R (Russia). However, different regulations apply in different areas depending on the environment. Visitor management systems must provide a special level of security at government and military facilities. For example, real-time online control of blacklisted visitors is a must. Access control systems must identify and process identity verification of HSPD-12 and TWIC cards using OCR (optical character recognition) scanners, and read CAC (common access cards) with 2D barcodes.
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