Technology is something that many of us take for granted. From the moment we wake up to the time we go to bed at night, we use all sorts of different technology to aid our daily tasks and to help us become more productive. Without technology, life would be slower and difficult for many of us, especially where technology resolves the need to do repetitive, manual tasks.
When it comes to building security, technology plays a huge role in how we can effectively secure property from certain threats whether they be human or electronic. Here are some examples of just how technology can be used to increase security in commercial premises in 2014.
Video Surveillance
One of the oldest ways commonly employed to provide a visual deterrent to would-be thieves is to have video surveillance cameras installed.
Also known as CCTV (short for “closed-circuit television”), it enables security personnel to effectively monitor a number of key areas and helps to alert them to any potential problems such as suspicious activity by unknown persons in or around a building.
Internet-Based Monitoring
One downside to traditional CCTV systems is that they can only be monitored from within the vicinity of the buildings they are installed on. A popular way to monitor one or more buildings from afar (for example, from another location or even country) is to take advantage of Internet-based monitoring technology.
IP cameras can be connected to onsite networks which are then subsequently connected to the Internet. These cameras operate in the same manner as standard CCTV cameras, except that they have the ability to be monitored over the Internet.
Site Access Control
Although cameras do a great job of helping you to observe certain parts of a building, they are pretty useless at actually stopping unauthorised individuals from entering those premises.
Technology has evolved over recent years to enable all sorts of site access security systems to be utilised by various organisations over the world. Some of the common types of site access control include:
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Turnstiles – you could have turnstiles that operate in much the same way as the ones you see at railway stations, whereby you have a smart card that you flash over an electronic reader and they unlock, letting you gain access to the building or room you wish to enter;
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Road barriers – these help to prevent unauthorised people from driving into a road or car park. You simply insert a smart code into a reader (or type in a code into the keypad), and the barrier raises so that you can drive on;
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Electronic door keys – a 21st-century alternative to the traditional lock and key found on doors all over the world, you basically use a special key fob or smart card that you hover over a reader next to the door, which then unlocks once it has determined that you have sufficient access privileges to enter the room. You might also consider using automatic operated doors.
Biometrics
Some of the world’s most secure buildings utilise biometric technology such as fingerprint or iris scanners, or even voice recognition to determine whether you are authorised to enter a specific room or site.