How to Manage Your Building Access Control System

Regular Maintenance and Upkeep

First and foremost, managing your building access control system requires regular maintenance. It’s the cornerstone of ensuring the longevity of your access control solution. By investing in routine upkeep, you can prevent minor issues from escalating into major problems, minimize downtime, and enjoy all the benefits of an optimized system. Here are the key aspects to focus on:

Cleaning and Inspecting Hardware: Regularly cleaning access control devices, such as door readers, keypads, and controllers, is essential to prevent dust, dirt, and debris from interfering with their functionality. Additionally, routine inspections help identify any signs of wear, damage, or potential malfunctions.
Battery Replacement: Batteries are a critical component of many types of access control devices. To avoid unexpected failures, it’s important to replace batteries according to the manufacturer’s recommendations or when they show signs of weakness.
Calibration of Readers: Over time, access control readers can become misaligned or their sensitivity may fluctuate. Regular calibration ensures that they are functioning accurately and consistently, preventing unauthorized access or unnecessary access permission denials.
Troubleshooting and Repairs: If you encounter any issues with your building access control system, it’s important to address them promptly. This may involve troubleshooting to identify the root cause of the problem or seeking professional assistance for repairs.

Software Updates and Patches

Another best practice for managing your access control solution is keeping its software up to date. Regular software updates and patches are crucial in ensuring the system’s security, functionality, and overall performance. Let’s take a look at the benefits in more detail:

Improved Security: Software updates often address vulnerabilities that could be exploited by malicious actors. By installing the latest patches, you can protect your building’s access control system from unauthorized access, data breaches, and other security threats.
Enhanced Features: Software updates may introduce new features or enhancements that improve the system’s capabilities. These updates can provide additional functionality, streamline workflows, and enhance the overall user experience.
Bug Fixes: Software updates often include fixes for known bugs or glitches. By applying these patches, you can address issues that may be affecting the system’s performance or reliability.

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Security Audits and Assessments

Regular security assessments are key to ensuring the ongoing effectiveness of your building’s access control system. By conducting thorough evaluations, you can identify potential vulnerabilities, assess compliance with security standards, and take proactive steps to mitigate risks. Here’s why each of those aspects matter:

Identifying Vulnerabilities: Security audits can help uncover weaknesses in your access control solution, such as hardware or software vulnerabilities, that could be exploited by unauthorized individuals.
Assessing Compliance: Audits can ensure that your building’s access control system complies with relevant industry standards, regulations, and internal policies. This helps protect your organization from legal and financial consequences.
Evaluating Effectiveness: Audits can assess the overall effectiveness of your system in achieving its intended security objectives. This includes evaluating the system’s ability to prevent unauthorized access, detect security incidents, and respond to threats in a timely manner.

Staff Training and Awareness

Effective staff training and awareness are also essential components of a comprehensive access control security solution. By providing employees with the necessary knowledge and skills, you can empower them to play a proactive role in protecting your building and its assets. In training, be sure to cover:

Proper Use: Train staff on the correct procedures for using access control devices, such as card readers, keypads, and biometric scanners. This includes understanding the proper use of credentials, reporting access issues, and following lockout procedures.
Identifying Security Threats: Educate staff on how to recognize potential security threats, such as suspicious individuals, unauthorized access attempts, or unusual activity. Encourage them to report any suspicious incidents immediately.
Reporting Security Incidents: Provide clear guidelines for reporting security incidents. Ensure that staff know the proper channels for reporting and the importance of providing accurate and detailed information.
Following Access Control Policies: Train staff on the importance of adhering to access control policies and procedures. This includes understanding the rules governing access to restricted areas, visitor management, and credential management.

Compliance With Regulations

Ensuring compliance with relevant regulations is important for protecting sensitive information, maintaining trust with stakeholders, and avoiding legal and financial penalties. Building access control systems ensuring compliance. Here’s how to get it right:

Conduct Risk Assessments: Conduct regular risk assessments to identify potential threats and vulnerabilities. This will help you prioritize security measures and allocate resources effectively.
Implement Strong Access Controls: Implement robust access controls to restrict access to sensitive data based on user roles and permissions.
Encrypt Data: Encrypt sensitive data both at rest and in transit to protect it from unauthorized access.
Monitor and Review: Regularly monitor your access control system for signs of unauthorized activity or security breaches. Conduct periodic reviews of access privileges and user activity.
Incident Response Planning: Develop and test an incident response plan to address security breaches effectively.

Responding to Security Incidents

Despite your best efforts, a security breach can happen. By having a clear and concise incident response plan in place, you can minimize the impact of incidents, protect your assets, and restore normal operations as quickly as possible. Key steps to consider include:

Containment: The first step in responding to a security incident is to contain the breach to prevent further damage or unauthorized access. This may involve isolating affected systems, disabling compromised accounts, or implementing temporary security measures.
Investigation: Once the breach has been contained, conduct a thorough investigation to determine the root cause, the extent of the damage, and any potential impact on your organization.
Eradication: After the investigation is complete, take steps to eradicate the threat. This may involve removing malicious software, patching vulnerabilities, or restoring compromised systems to their original state.
Recovery: Once the threat has been eliminated, focus on restoring normal operations. This may involve restoring data from backups, reconfiguring systems, and implementing any necessary security enhancements.
Lessons Learned: After the incident has been resolved, conduct a thorough review to identify lessons learned. Analyze the incident to understand how it occurred, what could have been done differently, and how to prevent similar incidents in the future.

Effectively Manage Your Building Access Control System With Conquest Solutions

No matter the level of assistance you require, Conquest Solutions can help you fortify your building security—from offering advice to acting as your access control manager. We leverage industry-leading technology from Avigilon to provide access control solutions tailored to your specific needs, including innovative door readers. These tools come with video and intercom capabilities, end-to-end encryption, and more. If you’re looking to integrate your building systems, Avigilon’s door control panels and units help you connect them seamlessly.

Contact us to get started, and work with peace of mind knowing that your building’s security is in good hands.