Are you considering implementing more security technology to protect your office space and employees?
You need to know about the top security solutions for offices and the security solutions that will help to futureproof your office in light of the modern threat sphere.
Keep reading as we discuss the 5 office security tech tips to protect employees, create a safe working environment, and protect your company’s physical and digital resources.
Implementing Access Control
Access control is at the heart of any commercial building security strategy, and you need to choose a top-tier access control solution to provide the following assurances:
- Convenience – your employees must be able to enter the building easily and quickly daily.
- Agile security – you need an access control solution that will provide your security team with more accessible security management and visibility.
- Hygiene – in light of the recent pandemic, it is essential to provide security technology that does not require touch, which can lead to the spread of germs.
Touchless and cloud-based access control is one of the most sought-after technologies in the access control sphere. It provides all the above benefits and is a highly user-friendly solution for your building’s security strategy.
Touchless access control does not require fob or keycard locks; your employees can download access keycards to their mobile devices. This allows you to reduce losses on keycard and fob replacement while making the onboarding process much smoother for new employees.
Touchless access control improves daily security operations in the following ways:
- It allows users to enter touchless – rather than touching a button or pin pad when entering the building, employees can simply wave their hands. The motion sensor in the access control reader will trigger remote communication with the user’s mobile device to unlock the door quickly and contactless.
- It enables remote security management – with touchless access control, your security staff can manage security remotely using their mobile devices. They can view access logs and the status of door locks for complete visibility. They can also lock and unlock doors remotely for more agile and convenient security response procedures.
- First-time entry – touchless access control comes with a first-attempt unlock feature. The solution ensures quick entry without failure by using three modes of communication (WiFi, cellular, BlueTooth) to detect a user’s mobile credential. This way, access will be more convenient for users, and traffic will flow smoothly into your office building.
Cloud-Based Surveillance Systems
In addition to providing access control to prevent unauthorized users from entering your offices, you must provide security camera systems. This is for a few reasons:
- Security cameras in clear view help deter crimes such as employee theft, property damage, and intrusion.
- Security cameras provide evidence of incidents on your property to aid a police investigation or company insurance claim.
Cloud-based surveillance systems quickly become favored in the security sphere due to convenience. Rather than sit in a control room all day, monitoring surveillance feeds, your security staff can maintain visibility while attending to other on-site tasks. They can view security camera data from anywhere on their mobile applications.
Integration
Cloud-based security solutions like the ones listed above provide numerous benefits for your security strategy – including open API integrations. Below are some of the best integrations for your security system to help you understand the benefits of open API integrations.
Access Control And Video Surveillance
One of the major flaws in any access control system is the potential for an intruder to enter the building using someone else’s access credentials. To prevent this from happening, you need to implement identity verification processes at your building’s entrance. To do this, you can integrate access control and video surveillance, which will provide the following benefits:
- Your security staff will be able to view access control logs and video surveillance feed on a single interface, allowing them to identify users quickly without correlating timestamps from different platforms.
- Your security team can implement facial recognition software to automate identity verification, ensuring that all building users are authenticated.
Visitor Management Software
Visitor management isn’t just crucial to your admin and appointment scheduling processes; it serves an essential function in keeping your employees safe. Keeping accurate visitor logs will aid in a security investigation. It will provide more safety for building visitors during evacuation procedures – informing building security teams of precisely who is inside the building.
Visitor management software is a solution that automates the visitor management process. It integrates with access control, providing building users with digital visitor registration forms they must fill out before entering the building.
Once they have completed the form, the visitor can enter the building using temporary access credentials, which will be revoked when they leave. The system will keep records of your visitors’ entry and exit times for accuracy and proactive security management.Wellness Verification Software
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, keeping your employees safe at work no longer concerns their physical safety from security threats – it also affects their health. You need to take measures that prevent symptomatic individuals from entering the workplace and causing an outbreak.
Wellness verification software helps you to achieve this by providing users with digital symptom surveys they must complete before entering the building. If they are symptomatic, the system will block their access to the building, and your company can handle the incident at your discretion, according to your COVID-19 workplace policy.
Alarm And Emergency Evacuation Systems
Emergency evacuation procedures are the cornerstone of building health, safety, and security. You need alarm systems to meet industry regulations and health and safety standards. The more agile your emergency response strategy is, the more likely you will mitigate the impact of a security breach, natural disaster, or fire in the building.
Below is a list of some of the alarm system options at your disposal to improve your emergency response procedures:
- Fire alarms – you need to know if your building has a fire to escort employees to safety.
- Carbon monoxide detectors – you should have measures in place to detect a gas leak in your building that could result in an explosion or severe poisoning.
- Glass break – If broken glass is in your building, this could indicate an intruder has entered the premises or that your building’s secure perimeter is breached.
- Gunshot – violent crimes in your office could lead to devastating consequences for your employees. Gunshot detection alarms allow you to respond quickly and escort employees to safety as soon as possible.
By opting for cloud-based alarm systems, your security staff can directly receive alerts based on alarm triggers on their mobile devices. From there, they can use other remote management features in your security system to initiate lockdown and emergency evacuation procedures and investigate the issue using your surveillance system.
Summary
You are directly responsible for your employee’s health and well-being as an employer. By implementing agile and effective security solutions, you can ensure that you take every possible measure to keep your employees safe. Consider the security tools listed in this article and which solutions might reduce vulnerabilities in your current security system. Placing security as a priority will enable you to prevent security breaches, harm to your employees, and losses for your business.