Access Control Systems for Offices | Falcon Security Systems

Designing office access around how people actually move

Access control projects go wrong when they are designed around doors rather than around people. Before choosing hardware, walk the building at the times it is busiest and note who needs to go where, and when.

The critical distinction is between doors that control entry to the building and doors that control entry to a sensitive area. The first sees heavy traffic at two points in the day and must not create a queue; the second sees light traffic and must be genuinely restrictive. Using the same specification for both wastes money on one and under-protects the other.

Fire egress is not optional and is the detail most often handled badly. Every controlled door on an escape route needs a way out without a credential, and the lock must release if power or the fire alarm system says so. A maglock with no fail-safe release is both a safety problem and a legal one.

Finally, decide who administers it before you install it. An access system where nobody removes leavers is a list of people who can still enter the building, which is worse than a key you at least know is missing.

Plan these before choosing hardware

• Which doors control the building, which control a sensitive area
• Peak flow at the main entrance and how long verification takes
• Fail-safe release on every escape route door
• Who adds and removes people, and how quickly
• Whether access data should link to attendance