Access Control Systems vs. Lock & Keys

Access control enables you to control who has access to your building, store room, office, file room, parking area, elevator or any secured area that requires some type of control. More and more Maryland Businesses and Organizations are using some type of Access Control from a single proximity card reader to a large system using a combination of Proximity Readers, Keypads and Bio-metric Readers.

Locks and keys also allow you to secure your building, but when keys are lost or stolen, the inconvenience and expense of changing locks and re-issuing keys can be considerable. Keys may also be copied, creating even more security risks. This is what most Baltimore Businesses and Organizations are getting away from and switching to Access Control.

All businesses, whether small, medium or large, have assets that need to be protected from theft. There is also the issue of protecting staff and their property. It is common in buildings that are secured by locks and keys for doors to be left unlocked all day. This opens up the possibility of opportunistic theft and malicious damage.

Electronic access control provides the most efficient and convenient way of securing your building and assets. Installing an access control system means that you will never have to change a lock again. Once an access control system is installed, all doors controlled by the system will automatically lock when the door is closed. Anyone without access is unable to enter. If necessary, doors may be set to unlock during a designated time frame.

Access control can also offer flexible control over users’ access rights. For example, all staff can gain access through the main door of a building, but access to internal areas may be restricted to those who have a specific need to be there. Access may also be restricted by time, only granting access to particular users at certain times of day or night.
Contact ACS Security for a site survey and information. We can show you all the available options with this technology for your office, warehouse, distribution center, church, nursing home, store, restaurant and much more.

Prevent False Alarms in Baltimore County, Maryland

Most businesses and organizations experience false alarms not because of human error but by the one thing that they don’t normally consider and that is the alarm system battery. This is usually found locked up in the control panel so it is out of sight and out of mind for anyone to realize the cause of the problem.

When Baltimore County Police respond to an alarm call and find no evidence of criminal activity then it is reported as a false alarm and this can result in a fine if it has not been 1st or 2nd time the police have been out to the business address. One of the main causes of False Alarms is loss of power and a weak battery. Most security systems have a rechargeable battery that powers the system for a minimum of four hours in the event of a power outage.

If you have false alarms after a storm, it may not be the storm that caused the alarm. If your batteries are not up to the job, a false alarm may be generated when your alarm system powers up after a power failure caused by a storm. Even a short power failure of a second or less may be long enough to cause a false alarm.

Like all batteries, your backup has a useful life of about 3 to 5 years, but that life may be shortened if you have had several power outages. Your battery backup should be checked annually, or after any storm related false alarm, by an alarm technician and replaced when needed.

Other Steps to take to avoid false alarms.

• Make sure that your doors and windows are all locked before arming the system.

• Move objects that could move by heat vents such as balloons and hanging signs away from the path of a motion sensor.

• Make sure everyone has a separate code to track who armed and disarmed the system.

• Have the system programmed to alert you through the keypad of a low battery problem.

• Test your system monthly. Always contact your alarm company before you test the system.

• Have your system tested by a technician annually or any time you have an unexplained false alarm activation.

• Educate everyone who works at the alarm site on the proper operation of the system.

• Never give a code to someone who is not familiar with the alarm system.

10 ways to protect your company’s bottom line.

Most businesses have some type of security from a simple lock and key to a basic alarm system but has your business been exposed to Internal Theft, Fraud, Workers Compensation Claims, Production Losses, Burglary, Vandalism, Time Theft, Work Place Violence or any other threat to your bottom line. Security technology provides a wide range of benefits and applications especially to the corporate bottom line. A well-planned security application for a business can provide a significant return on investment and should not be seen as an expense or drain. Here’s a list of just a few benefit’s a security system can provide. Be sure to contact ACS Security Systems to set up you free no obligation Security Evaluation or email us for free Business Continuity Guideline
What can a well planned security system do for your bottom line?

1. Protect against internal and external theft.
2. Offer avenues to reach and reduce employee time theft as well as business shrinkage
3. Lower insurance premiums by minimize risk and loss due to accidents.
4. Automated tools for tracking people, places and materials.
5. Receive data and images for measuring business activities such as production and materials.
6. Identify and control access to the facility.
7. Real time and remote status of business operations as they occur.
8. Integrate of physical access control and logical database access.
9. Activity log of events to provide actual information as it occurred.
10. Security can provide a greater feeling of comfort for customers.

Tips on security systems

If you want to be certain you have a good security system, you should not only base this on the brand, but on the way it is installed as well. You should be sure you do all you can to install your security system to the best of your ability and you should try make sure you install it correctly.

By taking the time to learn how to install a security system correctly, it can save you even more time and money in the future. The way to get the most out of your security system is know what you are doing when it comes to installing it correctly.

Listed below are some ways to help you install your security system so it meets the all the requirements it should and will best suit your needs when it comes to it actually working in the event you need it to.

Mount it in the correct location

The key to getting your security system to do what you want it to do is to be sure that you mount the system in the right place. This includes avoiding placing the receiver or the receiver aerial near to electrical equipment such as televisions or computer equipment as these can generate background noise. You also want to try to avoid placing it too close to a boiler system or something that is very hot.

Make sure it’s in the correct orientation

You want to be certain you aren’t tempted to cut or alter the length of the aerial cable until you have checked the signal strength. Aerials are designed to a tuned frequency and tampering with the size of the aerial will affect the frequency and performance of the system. You want to take a look at the direction the cable is running and keep it running that way.

Consider the wall thickness in your property

It is very important that before you install your device, you should make an assessment of the thickness of your property’s walls. Sometimes in properties with very thick walls, you can struggle to get the right amount of signal strength. If the receiver or the receiver aerial can be mounted high up in an attic space for example so the signal path is through the floor boards this can make strength it.

Carry out a signal strength test in various locations

You will want to be certain before you mount your wireless security system to do a spot check of the signal strength and the background noise in your planned locations. If you find that a signal strength measurement is not available do a few tests to ensure that the alarm signals are received at the control panel.

This is a very important step because you want to be sure your security system signal is strong enough.

You want to be certain you have a security system to protect you from any type of theft as this can really be a great way to help protect you against someone breaking in your house.