Why Consider Access Control for Your Business?

Some business owners use access control entry systems to cover all exterior doors, thus keeping unwanted people out. However, some business owners find they need a door access control system only within certain areas of the business to restrict / permit access. Access Control allows you to identify when each employee enters and exits different areas of the building.  There are several different types of security access control systems to meet your business needs. When considering a door access control system, make sure to consider the three levels of access control options:

1. Card controlled access systems
2. Keypad access control & security systems
3. Biometric fingerprint access control systems

Card access controlled systems

There are many great uses for card controlled access to protect specific areas inside your business as well as the entire facility.  In my experience, I’ve seen several uses for access control in departmental authorizations, such as shipping/receiving, money room, computer room, and customer/employee records.  Basically, any sensitive area is an excellent target for individual card-controlled access.

Keypad access control & security systems

Keypad access control systems don’t require your employees to keep up with cards or security badges. However, they do require your employees to have a pin number to gain entry to your business. If you part ways with an employee or need to change a security access code, keypad access control systems allow you to immediately change your secure pin, without having to wait for a returned card or badge.

Biometric fingerprint access control systems

Biometric controlled entry systems aren’t as cost effective as the preceding solutions, but they’re the most secure if your situation requires top-notch security. These systems are usually expensive, but ultimately worth the high cost when it comes to protecting sensitive information. Biometric access control and security systems scan your employees’ fingerprints to ensure that employee has clearance to enter high security areas of your business – no cards or keypads are required.  These solutions are highly popular in government applications, casinos, banks, etc.

Regardless of your business model or scale of security, you can always find ways to utilize access control to increase security of your business for employee and business safety.

Why Choose IP Over Analog?

When choosing which type of cameras you’ll need for your security system, there are many questions to ask yourself:

1. What is my overall budget?
2. How much video footage (how many days or weeks) do I want to be able to store?
3. Am I replacing or upgrading a current system?
4. Does the current system already have existing wiring?  If so, what type?
5. How important is it to clearly see detail if the image is magnified (i.e. denomination of currency coming out of a cash register)?
6. Do I require the ability to manipulate the image later?
7. Do you want a large variety of cameras to choose from?
8. Do you need offsite recording?

IP cameras have increased in popularity over the years, but sometimes analog can be sufficient for your needs.  IP camera systems can get pricey for several reasons.  First, the cameras themselves generally cost more.  Also, you need to have a more robust DVR because IP cameras require much more bandwidth to operate, and they require much larger hard drive storage, a faster operating system, and more RAM, which can increase the price of the system.  Since video clips for IP cameras are larger files, the amount of hard drive space must be increased to handle your particular storage needs (depending on how far back you want to archive).

The benefits of the IP system may outweigh the difference in cost.  An investment in an IP camera system will carry you into the next generation of cameras.   You can do things with IP cameras that are virtually impossible with analog.  One of the many benefits is that digital images are compressed and allow you to zoom in (or blow up) a picture without degrading the image, as compared to analog cameras.  With a high enough Megapixel camera, you can electronically zoom on an image that was recorded well away from the camera and still get detailed information (what is the person typing?, what does the perpetrator look like?, etc).  Don’t expect a level of detail seen in unrealistic TV shows, but the results are nonetheless impressive.

With an analog system, you can get detailed (blown up) images only in real time if you have someone to manually operate a PTZ (Pan Tilt Zoom) camera (common in casinos and parking lots), whereas with IP, you can go back to a past recording and do it anytime.  Since IP cameras have not been around as long as analog, there is not as much variety in styles and types of cameras.  It’s also important to note that if you’re replacing a current analog system, it may be easier to replace another analog system if the traditional RG59 wiring is already in place.

Productivity and Distractions

Life is made of distractions.  Before you read this entire article, you will be turned away or distracted by an ad on a website, your phone, your TV, a colleague, pet, etc.  The point is, productivity can increase when distractions decrease.  This, mixed with applying the 80/20 principle, will allow you to accomplish massive gains in the areas that are the most important to you.  Below, find 3 steps to increase your productivity:

1. Turn Off Distractions. Email notification windows/sounds, messenger notification windows/sounds, cell phone ringtone, cell phone text message tone and more are set up to alert you of something happening.  In most cases, you do not need to drop everything you are doing and get to them right away.  Turning off these notifications can allow you to focus on your most important goals and tasks.
2. The 80/20 Principle. Focusing on your most important goals and tasks comes straight out of the 80/20 Principle.  To do this, you need to focus 80% of your time on the top 20% of your goals or tasks that will give you the highest (or best) return.  On the flip side, 80% of your goals and tasks will account for 20% of your success.
3. Email. A lot of people spend most of their day with their Email client window up.  Some, refreshing their email waiting for something to come to them.  To increase your productivity and get more things done, you need to limit yourself with email.  Some people can limit themselves to twice a day; some might need to limit themselves to once an hour.

Choose HDMI on Standalone DVRs

There are many benefits to having a surveillance system featuring a standalone (analog) DVR. For one, it gives you the power to remotely view your cameras from anywhere in the world via PCs or smartphone devices. And with the ability to add more hard drives, longer viewing times are easily accomplished. Plus, the normal way of viewing cameras through a standalone DVR is ever-evolving as well.

In the past, viewing your cameras may have been accomplished by using a standard CRT television monitor. However, LCD screens have started to become more commonplace as a way of viewing CCTV camera footage, as they offer the benefit of achieving a high-resolution picture with a low-profile body. This has usually been accomplished through a VGA output. But with high definition televisions and high-def cameras becoming more and more popular, we’re beginning to see an increase in HDMI outputs on DVRs.

HDMI supports standard, enhanced, or HD video, plus multi-channel digital audio. Because HDMI was designed specifically for consumer electronics applications, it offers an array of additional enhancements. Standalone DVRs with HDMI will allow you to view your security cameras via a high-definition TV in true HD, so I’m sure you can just imagine the benefit of having a standalone DVR with HDMI output. With HDMI, it’s now completely possible to integrate your home security system into your home theatre system with the same crisp image as if you were watching high definition television.

If you are in the security market, and looking for a major enhancement amongst standalone DVRs, I highly recommend you try one with HDMI; you’ll see why it’s soon to be the future of video output.

Which Analog Security Camera Resolution Should I Choose?

When considering the type of resolution necessary for your surveillance system, it’s necessary to ask yourself what is most important to view.  If you are wondering things like, “Is someone at the door?”; “Has someone tried to get into my home or business?”; “Is someone out messing with cars in the driveway?”; “Did my dog knock over the magazine rack or was it that no-good son of mine?”,   then you may not require more than a simple 420-480 TV Line (TVL) analog camera to do the trick.  Also, it’s usually fine to use a fixed lens camera with a wider field of view (a common size is a 3.6mm).

In a case where you need to see more detailed information, other questions may arise:  “What was that car’s license plate number?”; “Whose face was that?”; “Was an employee dipping into our register?”  It then becomes necessary to get a higher resolution camera with 600 or 700 TVL.   It’s also helpful to have a varifocal lens which allows you to zoom in on a specific location to help get the better quality picture.  Note that a manual varifocal lens should not be confused with pan/tilt/zoom (PTZ) camera.  It is usually manually set and then left alone, whereas a PTZ camera will allow remote lens maneuverability.