Integrating access control into your video surveillance system makes it easier to monitor your business and stay updated on everything going on around it. Learn more about this integration with Action 1st.
Integration is a security concept that is gaining a lot of traction in today's physical security business. While systems such as key card access systems and commercial key fob door entry systems were long considered a luxury reserved for the largest and most complicated installations, they are now considered a business for medium-sized and even small businesses and organizations.
Integration of keyless entry and video camera gives an exciting opportunity to build their businesses today and in the future. In this article, we will provide you with everything you need to know about commercial building access control and video surveillance integration to keep your business protected and secured for the future.
To learn more about how Action 1st can help improve your company’s access control and video surveillance systems, contact us today to speak with one of our experts about how we can assist you.
How Does CCTV Integrate with Access Control?
Methods for safeguarding access to digital and physical environments are always changing. Door access and video surveillance, two traditionally distinct components of physical security, are not immune. They're not only being integrated to provide a modernized, scalable, and highly secure strategy to defending entryways but they're also being moved away from exclusively on-premise systems.
Access control and video surveillance systems are made up of a variety of components and practices, and integrating the two systems is a more effective method to manage them and boost the security of your business. Understanding the separate systems and their components is the first step in understanding how integrated access control camera systems work.
There are numerous types of access control protocols, but most of them may be broken down into three steps:
Identification
Who is seeking to gain access to the area? Is this person a member of the organization or an outsider? Identification protocols, which are the first component of the protocol, are designed to address these issues.
Authentication
Are they who they say they are if they claim to be a member of the organization? In this phase, their credentials must be checked. Authentication is usually the most effective method for restricting access to people and entities who may pose a threat to the company.
Authorization
Once someone is on-site, they don't need access to everything, and in many circumstances, this is required for corporate security. Access control systems can also be classified based on how they are implemented and what role they serve.
Benefits of Integrating an Access Control System with CCTV
While these benefits of integrated access control have an impact on security management and other organizational initiatives, they also assist meet a basic need: safer buildings for employees, occupants, and visitors. So, why should a business invest in a camera-based integrated access control system?
Access control combined with video surveillance systems provides a number of important safeguards for your business.
Instant Visual Proof
Instantly watch and access footage from any door, in any location, reducing the time it takes to investigate and resolve security incidents. If facial recognition capabilities are available, you can use the management console to identify people on camera.
Always in Sync
Precision is non-negotiable while evaluating security footage. Integrated access systems operate both door security and video surveillance events on the same system clock, ensuring that video and access events match up to the millisecond.
Improved Visibility
Some integrated systems enable better visibility of door-based activity, allowing controllers to see who was at the entrance and how they got in and the ability to review footage and dig further into user activity.
Proactive Insights
It's one thing to be able to respond to problems, but it's even more important to be able to prevent them from occurring in the first place. When occupancy levels exceed a specific threshold, suspicious activity happens, or a person of interest appears, proactive notifications enable prompt action and communication with first responders.
Ease of Access
It's also about the end-user experience when it comes to access control management. Integrated systems make it simple to add and delete users and assign and deactivate swipe cards, key cards, and fobs that are used in combination with readers at each entrance. Each swipe sends important information to a central place in terms of management, which helps with issue response and proactive insights.
Who Benefits From Access Control and Video Surveillance Integration?
If you're still undecided about whether or not surveillance video integration with access control will be beneficial to your company, consider the following examples:
- Large sites with hundreds of personnel, where knowing everyone's face is impossible.
- Buildings with highly sensitive parts that require fast action in the event of a breach.
- Multi-tenant buildings where an unauthorized person can easily blend in with the crowd or piggyback through a locked entrance.
- Buildings in need of a professional, visible security solution to ward off potential attackers.
Some sites, on the other hand, may not require it, such as:
- Surveillance cameras may detract from cash that may be better spent on a feature-rich door control system at sites with a limited budget.
- Sites that use a combination of card readers and biometric scanners, as these scanners are less vulnerable to lost or stolen access credentials.
Access control and security camera solutions are also beneficial to the following industries:
- Apartment buildings
- Corporate offices and business centers
- Schools
- Banks
- Hospitals
- Convenience stores
- Government buildings
- Research Labs
Whether physical property or sensitive data needs to be protected, most businesses should have access control systems in place, but not every business necessitates the usage of security cameras. Circumstances change from time to time, and a business must adjust.
If your business is growing and you didn't have a camera system previously but now do, you may be asking how to integrate it into your current system. Knowing the components of each system and how they interact is the first step.
Choose Action 1st for Your Access Control Needs
As you can see, access control and video surveillance integration create a more layered and secure security system. With this extra layer of security, everyday users can easily monitor and operate the system while receiving precise insights into the space, ensuring the safety of all employees and company assets.
If you’re looking to upgrade your business's access control and video surveillance but aren’t sure where to start, Action 1st is ready to help.
At Action 1st, we have over 30 years of experience in providing our customers with the knowledge and technology they need to choose the best access control system for their company’s needs. We have the experience and ability to help your business with all of its commercial access control needs, from corporate offices to commercial buildings.
Contact us today to schedule a free consultation with one of our access control and security experts to learn more about how Action 1st can help keep your business safe.