Remember the days of swiping a key card over a square reader to get into your dorm or unlock a lab?
Actually, you don’t have to – those days are still here.
While key cards aren’t disappearing any time soon, it is still a good idea for colleges to take a look at their current access control strategies.
It might be time for your college to restructure its mass notification plans, or trade its old-school door bolts for modernized electromechanical lock systems.
Some colleges are even taking access control to another level by investing in apps for students to use to unlock doors with their smart phones, or upgrading their network to the Cloud for security data storage.
Other colleges are utilizing physical security check points, such as turnstiles and campus card offices to make sure their access control is up to par.
Gabriel Schonzeit, CEO of IDSecurityOnline.com says tight access control solutions are key to keeping colleges campuses safe.
He says he’s a strong believer in ID cards as a secure method of access control on campus.
“If you’re the only person walking around without an ID card on you, you don’t belong,” he says. “If you implement the technology, which is very easy to implement…I think that it can make a big difference.”
Schonzeit also says colleges shouldn’t get overwhelmed if they need to change their access control solutions. They might just need a dust-off from an access control company, or just a quick reconfiguration.
For colleges that have to install new technology, Schonzeit says that new access control solutions can be inexpensive, easy to install and maintained to have a long life expectancy.
“There’s a lot of technology out there that is scalable and you shouldn’t need to replace anything for five to seven years,” he says. “You don’t really need a whole system overhaul. You might just need to call someone like us.”
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