4 Ways Building Access Control Systems Can Help Prevent Loss

Loss can creep into buildings and businesses in a variety of ways. One way to help prevent loss is to boost the safety and security of your building with an access control system.

 

With a little planning and creative strategy, monitoring door activity can help you prevent all sorts of loss – and see a host of other benefits. Here’s a quick rundown.

 

 

Quickly identify threats to safety

We always need to make sure that in an emergency situation employees can quickly and safely exit the building through all doors. Your access control system should alert you when any door other than your main access points are opened.

 

Think critically about the many ways people can enter and exit your building. Every point of entry or exit holds risk for theft and product loss. The best way to prevent that loss is to think through your current setup, and design your building access control system to strategically close entry points that aren’t critical to your operations.

 

First, list out all the places people can enter and exit  your building. Then, select the main two or three points of entry, and limit building entry to those locations. Take into consideration the doors closest to your time clock and parking lot – the parts of your business that are mission critical to your employees or operations. This can help you avoid changing the way employees or contractors enter the building for work or to complete certain tasks. At a very basic level, taking care to limit the points of entry to your building can help you control who’s there and why.

 

Identify areas of product loss or theft

The next step is to put a camera at each point of entry. This will help you ensure your closed entry points remain closed, and monitor active entry points with video in addition to key cards. When you secure your doors, you can focus on who is coming and going. Combining your building access control system with video surveillance is incredibly powerful and can help you quickly identify areas of product loss or theft.

 

 

Improve employee accountability and safety

Video surveillance in general can help ensure that your employees are adhering to company policies. For example, you can make sure that only people with the right level of training are completing certain jobs. This can be especially important inside plants and warehouses with responsibilities such as driving a forklift that have inherent safety risks. Surveillance both at the door and in key locations inside your building can improve efficiency as well as safety in your building.

 

 

Keep employees engaged and happy

We often talk to managers and business owners who are concerned  about how their employees will react to adding cameras to the workplace. Whether it’s a fear of “Big Brother” or of accidentally setting off an alarm during the day by using the wrong door, adding surveillance to the workplace is an adjustment for everybody.

Monitoring door activity can help you improve perimeter security, prevent product theft, and improve employee accountability, and even keep your employees motivated. Adding the right security to your building access control systems can help you prevent loss and create more efficient operations.

Doug Jones
ITech Digital offers experienced security professionals who partner with organizations across the nation to design custom security solutions for industries like retail, restaurants, and commercial properties.
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