Henderson Engineers — Access Control: Strategies & Tactics for Successful Upgrades by Paul Villotti

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ACCESS CONTROL: STRATEGIES & TACTICS FOR SUCCESSFUL UPGRADES E FF EC T I V E U P G R A DE S O F D O OR HARDWARE AND SECURI TY TE C H N O LO GY R E Q UIR E S UN D ERSTANDI NG OPTI ONS AND MAKI NG SM ART S PE C IF ICATIO N DE C ISI ONS. Authored by: Paul Villotti & Mark Maurer | October 26, 2018 Effective control and monitoring of door locks serve a fundamental role in any organization’s safety and security plan. The toughest challenge for maintenance and engineering managers is avoiding common problems when upgrading security and access control systems in an effort to improve the protection of occupants and assets from inside and outside threats.

AREAS OF IMPROVEMENT Before beginning a security and access control upgrade, managers need to meet with key stakeholders in the process to establish well-defined goals. User groups, key maintenance personnel, security, information technology, consulting engineers and management all need to be part of the discussion that addresses the costs, inconvenience, and potential changes in operational procedures.

Common goals for any upgrade should include an increase in functionality, features, and flexibility. Beyond this, managers specifying products and planning upgrades should look for reductions in these key areas: Vulnerability. Reducing vulnerability means reducing exposure to the possibility of being successfully attacked. Upgrades should include the incorporation of smart access credentials to replace legacy proximity card credentials that can be replicated easily. This step usually necessitates the replacement of all card readers. If a facility has never installed access control technology, moving to such a system reduces the potential for unauthorized key duplication while allowing managers to identify people used a particular door and at what times.

Operational costs. Battery-operated, wireless locksets with integral card readers reduce initial installation costs, but batteries require replacement, resulting in ongoing material and labor costs. Wireless locksets generally introduce additional complexity and points of potential failure.

When specifying new equipment, managers need to ask for the operational life expectancy to determine the annualized installation cost. When deployed using lock-and-door position sensing, access control systems can reduce the need for security staff to check doors, thus reducing labor costs.

Training needs. Intuitive graphical user interfaces with alarm handling automation can greatly reduce training for most users. Ask manufacturers for software demonstrations, and allow staff access to those demonstration stations. Give them a task to complete with no training and see how long it takes to complete the task. The benefits of intuitive interfaces will be apparent. Identify how many of your operational, maintenance, and IT staff will require training and include this in the project’s soft costs.

ACCESS CONTROL: STRATEGIES & TACTICS FOR SUCCESSFUL UPGRADES Maintenance tasks. The first step in reducing maintenance tasks is to understand routine maintenance the chosen system requires, the life expectancy of the components, and whether the system can report lock and door cycles to assist with predictive maintenance.

Can technicians monitor power supplies and backup batteries for health? How often do batteries require replacement? How robust is the hardware? Will the system generate texts or emails to staff when an anomaly is detected?

Managers also need to get clear definitions and estimate the time technicians will spend maintaining the system. Including this information in the system’s cost to operate can be helpful when comparing the desirability of different systems or bids.

Downtime, false alarms and complacency. Any system that is not reliable creates an environment with a weakened security culture. Valid alarms are indistinguishable from false alarms, so as more false alarms occur, staff attentiveness diminishes, as does policy execution. The new system should have minimal downtime and false alarms.

SPECIFICATION BASED ON FACILITY NEEDS The overall challenge for managers planning upgrades to access control and security systems is matching the available door hardware and related products to the needs of the facility.

Electricity to door hardware can be wired from remote or local low-voltage power supplies, from network cabling via power over ethernet (PoE), or by batteries. Wired systems are the easiest and lowest cost to maintain, but they have a higher construction cost.

PoE locksets with integral card readers can be the most expensive of the wired lockset options, due to the cost of the power-transfer hinge connecting the power and data from the reader and lockset to the network.

While batteries can lower initial costs by allowing the deletion of power supplies and cabling to doors, they require replacement proportional to their use. Wireless connectivity to the battery-operated lockset also must be established using WiFi or a proprietary wireless hub system, which adds costs and complexity.

The use of smart card access, mobile credentials, and biometric readers eases facility access for users, and they provide a record of when the doors were used and by whom. Mobile credentials allow occupants to use their smartphones or other mobile smart devices to authenticate themselves to gain access.

Biometric readers allow users to enter a facility based on their fingerprints, iris patterns, and facial and voice recognition. Each biometric reader device has its own set of integration and licensing requirements that managers should fully explore. Deciding on the type of authentication desired will help managers determine the most appropriate system for installation in a particular facility or location.

Door and lock monitoring creates a record of who accessed a door and when, and managers can gather this data from door-position sensors and lock-status indicators. Not all applications require this level of detailed monitoring. Knowing the goals of the project beforehand will help ensure that the selected system is the best for the application.

INSTALLATION CONSIDERATIONS The key to any successful upgrade of an access control system can be summarized as, “Know what you have. Know what you want.”

Managers can select from among many types of card readers, so asking the right questions is important in making a successful selection. Is the one to be installed compatible with the credentials and control system in use at the facility? Does it have the desired features? Can it accommodate future upgrades, such as mobile credential reading? Managers should not assume it can. Make sure bid documents clearly spell out the features to be included.

ACCESS CONTROL: STRATEGIES & TACTICS FOR SUCCESSFUL UPGRADES

Managers using wireless locksets need to confirm that the new system can integrate with the existing wireless system. This approach helps avoid the cost of replacing the current system. Managers also must be aware of the cost implications of deleting or extending wired systems before committing to a path.

Door -locking devices use magnets, electric strikes or electric locks, so find out if the new system will replace the existing hardware or supplement it.

A magnetic lock will not allow traditional key-operated locks to remain. The use of magnetic locks introduces safety code complexities, including required fire alarm interfaces and override exit buttons near the door. A magnetic lock must have constant power to remain locked, so operationally, managers will need to consider the consequences of a power outage and the impact to a facility’s security posture.

Using electric strikes generally allows for the reuse of the existing door locking hardware. Installing electric locks is the most expensive option and requires extensive door and frame modification, as well as all new door hardware.

Because changeovers in systems can create gaps in coverage, managers need to ask if the new system can be brought online before it is complete. If not, they will need to decide the most effective way to address security and locking during the installation period.

A system that can operate on a piece-by-piece basis can address the need to maintain facility security during conversion. This generally requires that the old and new systems operate in parallel as devices gradually move to the new system.

Other options for this situation include requiring installation during building downtimes, providing extra security staff to monitor doors, and temporarily relocating high-security functions or contents.

Proper project scheduling during construction is essential for minimizing disruptions. Scheduling a time during which technicians can convert critical doors helps minimize disruptions to facility operations, and it keeps installation costs from escalating.

To help maintain security during the installation of the access control system, managers have a variety of options, including posting security guards, scheduling work during open access times, and requiring each door to be complete before leaving for the day.

Commissioning the new access control system is essential to ensure hardware and software are properly installed and programmed. Having a knowledgeable party review the installation and perform thorough testing can help managers identify flaws, resulting in a more reliable system.

Finally, operational and maintenance training for staff is essential for a successful project. Without it, users resort to past behaviors and misinterpret system messages. Effective training minimizes the learning curve and identifies the most efficient inspection, maintenance and troubleshooting methods.

ACCESS CONTROL: STRATEGIES AND TACTICS FOR SUCCESSFUL UPGRADES DOOR HARDWARE THAT PERFORMS After installation of a new access control system, managers can show top executives door-activity records that will help them understand the return on the investment from the project. These records allow a better understanding of the building’s circulation patterns and help identify suspicious use. They also help determine when timed unlocking and locking should occur to allow efficient building entry. More focused deployment of security personnel can result, since infrequently used doors can be identified, and managers can send tight resources busier locations.

Data on system use also can assist in implementing predictive maintenance activities. Knowing use patterns allows maintenance staff to focus inspection and upkeep on the most heavily used doors and justifies less attention on less frequently used doors and hardware.

Managers also can use the data to reduce equipment and material losses, especially when an upgraded access control system is integrated with a security camera system. The use of door-position sensors can alert security staff monitoring cameras of activity at critical doors.

A properly executed security and access control upgrade can result in a safer building for the occupants, visitors and contents, as well reduced personnel and maintenance costs for managers.

PAUL VILLOTTI PE, FELLOW SFPE Paul Villotti, director of life safety at Henderson Engineers, is an industry-renowned fire protection and life safety expert. He has more than 35 years of experience helping venue managers, operators, and facility owners with code requirements and principles. Passionate about mentoring the next generation of fire and life safety experts, Villotti often leads AIA-accredited code classes.

MARK MAURER PE Mark Maurer has more than three decades of electrical construction and engineering experience.

As the director of security design at Henderson Engineers, Mark has helped transform electronic physical systems for sports venues, correctional facilities, educational facilities, and other structures nationwide.