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Have you ever wondered about access control? It sounds so ‘official’ like something from a spy movie. What exactly is access control and how does it affect you; or does it? Relax; access control is just a fancy phrase for just that; controlled access. You see it and experience it every day, no matter where you go. Do you valet park? It’s access control when the valet attendant parks your car in a special, roped off area, and keeps careful track of your keys. It’s access control when you go to get your driver’s license renewed and can’t go behind the counter where the officials are working. It’s access control again when you visit the movie theater and stay on your side of the concession stand. You see? Access control dictates where you are supposed to or allowed to access. This can be indoors or outdoors; it can be in a government building or at a business. It can even be in your home. Have you ever visited an open house and seen a locked and closed door? The owners or the realtor prefer that you stay out of those rooms and have closed the door, locked it, and maybe even posted a sign to that effect.
Now you’ll start noticing access control all around you. It’s much like when you buy a new car and suddenly notice that same make and model in parking lots, on the road and seemingly everywhere you turn. The cars don’t magically start appearing; they are just more noticeable now that you are aware of them. It’s exactly the same with access control. You’ll find it almost everywhere from funeral homes and libraries to public parks! Here at Locksmith Pros Schaumburg we offer various forms of access control for our local customers, but you don’t have to live here in the Schaumburg, IL region in order to take advantage of the many benefits of access control. Read on and if you could use a little restricted access in your home or business life, consult a full service, licensed locksmith shop in your city and take advantage of your new found knowledge and their access control expertise.
Look at your home’s front door. It closes and even has a lock on it. Why? Because closing and locking your door gives you, and your loved ones privacy, and security! You don’t want strangers or burglars walking in and making themselves at home; that would be offensive and quite ridiculous. The same goes for jewelry stores, nursing homes, museums, hotels, restaurants, schools, hospitals, post offices, grocery stores, veterinary clinics, movie theaters, call centers, apartment complexes, universities, sports arenas, art galleries and hundreds more! You can’t give people credit for common sense and decorum because as soon as you do, someone will violate it. Access control in any form is basically the controlled access to any area, be it public or private.
Access control can be achieved by using signs, ropes, lights, locks, and other methods. Something as simple as a paper sign with words written by a marker can indicate a closed off area. As far as locks and locksmiths are concerned, access control can consist of panic bars, keypads, biometrics, video surveillance, swipe cards, badges, cam locks, padlocks, slide locks, deadbolts and literally dozens more.
You often see keypad locks used when access control is needed. If a closed door won’t open and you see a keypad lock on it, you pretty much know that you aren’t supposed to access that area. Is this foolproof? No; nothing is but the vast majority of people will not try and guess the number sequence needed to bypass the keypad. Most keypad locks are designed to lock up after a certain number of wrong number sequences are entered. Often, an alarm will sound or even a call to the police or security is made. A good example of this type of lock is on autos where it’s better known as keyless entry systems.
These forms of access control use plastic cards that can be shown, swiped and held up to a card reader. Badges and swipe cards can be used in place of keys and even as a form of identification. You can find these commonly used in call centers, banks, conventions, hotel management, security staff, post offices, motor vehicle offices and even public and private schools. Swipe cards and badges are often used with video surveillance to add additional security features and in identifying an employee or designated badge holder. This is helpful as cards and badges can be stolen, lost or lent out to the wrong party and video backup can help identify an unauthorized user and provide evidence of the crime or of the unauthorized entry attempt.
These are also known as push bars, crash bars and exit bars. You’ve seen and used them dozens of times as they are used almost everywhere in schools, hospitals, retail stores, restaurants, movie theaters, hotels, government offices, convenience stores and hundreds of other places. Panic bars help with easier and faster crown flow as the horizontal, spring loaded metal bar on the door is simply pushed and the door simultaneously is unlocked and opened. Most panic bars are installed on one way doors so that the exiting crowd doesn’t have to push past oncoming foot traffic. Also, no door knobs with locks are usually found on the outside of the door. Everything is designed to give the persons leaving the room or building, easy and unobstructed access to the outside. In case of emergency like fire, bomb threat or armed intruder, the people can rush out of the building much faster and without having to unlock a door, turn the knob and fight incoming foot traffic.