Building access control: 10 solutions to protect companies and their employees

IT access control differs from physical access control:

• On the one hand, the company manages user access rights to software, online documents and hardware (such as computers), and protects them using IT security solutions;
• on the other hand, it implements protection solutions to ensure the safety of people, buildings and spaces under its responsibility.

It is only in the latter case that we talk about door access control, biometric access control systems, or autonomous access control systems. appvizer helps you to better understand your security challenges and to grasp the full value of global supervision software for your equipment, securing your assets as well as your employees and visitors on site:

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Equipment, people and real protection needs

Today, it is unthinkable to leave an industrial site, a bank or a laboratory unprotected. By reading the following points, you will become aware of the risks, the feeling of insecurity among French employees, and the many consequences.

Damaging risks for the company

Careless security management and poorly or inadequately protected assets can have damaging consequences for companies:

• without access control to a building site, a laboratory, a bank or an administration, vandalism leads to operating losses, incurs disaster-related costs and can bring a business to a complete halt;
• the lack of access control to buildings encourages acts of sabotage linked to intrusions into sensitive areas in certain sectors such as the food industry;
• There is also the theft of materials and equipment, representing a direct additional cost, often accompanied by the loss of potential customers, or even markets, as in the logistics sector;
• the absence of access control to an office can lead to attacks on your employees, work stoppages, unwanted staff turnover and a deterioration in the social climate;
• the absence of access control in a company exposes the entity to data theft, the worst possible nightmare in the age of the RGPD.

If you accumulate a series of claims, not only will you suffer financial losses, but your insurance company will also increase the amount of your underwriting. The worst-case scenario is the permanent closure of a site when the profitability of the operation is no longer viable.

Insecurity: consequences for employees

When no access control system is in place, a feeling of insecurity develops and becomes omnipresent in the minds of your employees, but can also be perceived and experienced by your customers and all visitors:

• verbal and physical aggression lead to work stoppages and a general loss of motivation,
• thefts of personal property damage the working atmosphere and make everyone suspicious,
• The threat of terrorism hangs like a sword of Damocles, disrupting productivity.

37% of employees are assaulted or threatened by intruders on company property.

Source: opinionway survey on employee security, January 2018

Survey revealing the need for access control in PDF

Download the results of the opinionway survey "Safety and security of French employees, between feeling and reality", January 2018.

You can see in figures the consequences of the lack of access control in this PDF, as well as the urgency expressed by employees:

48% of employees expect their employer to do more to improve safety!

Source: opinionway survey

In view of the financial losses and problems caused by a feeling of insecurity, it would appear more realistic and more advantageous to equip yourself with an access control system:

• your employees feel protected, and the peace of mind makes them more productive and strengthens team spirit,
• your customers and visitors to your site will enjoy a hospitable welcome, conducive to a relationship of trust,
• in the long term, you make substantial savings.

10 physical access control solutions

Let's take a look at the essential concepts, starting with a simple, clear definition of access control, then look at the possibilities, accompanied by a few examples.

Access control: definition

Physical access control refers to all the solutions used to control and regulate the entry and exit of people, with or without vehicles, and their movements, in a building, in rooms, in a car park, on an industrial site or on a building site, in an area housing infrastructures that are crucial to the business or in so-called sensitive areas. The security objective is based on identifying the people authorised to enter or leave, to prevent any intrusion.

Solution 1: RFID badge access control

Access control using magnetic badges or barcodes, which were used for a long time, are virtually non-existent today.

Professionals are now implementing access control solutions using RFID badges, because this technology offers many advantages:

• a standardised technology supported by many market players,
• easy to read for users, who need only hold their badge a few centimetres away from the reader,
• high durability (no mechanical wear),
• significant scope for personalisation,
• opening up to other internal applications (photocopiers, company canteens, works councils, .....),
• a high level of intrinsic security (Desfire® card for Mifare® technology, for example),
• good resistance to environmental disturbances and constraints.

These RFID badges are read by readers connected to Local Processing Units (LPUs). These UTLs enable several reader heads to be connected to the computer network (acting as a concentrator) and they generally have the local intelligence needed to authorise or refuse access authorisation. This functionality is essential in the event of a server or IP network failure, as it ensures continuity of operation.

Solution 2: Access control to a specific door

Door access control is essential in many sectors. To do this, you need to assign rights to an employee (or visitor).

The rights can specify which door or doors are authorised, at what time (of the week, of the day), and even under what conditions, such as having previously passed through a given door to access it (path control).

The RFID badge given to the person enables the access control system to identify the person and ensure that they have access rights to that specific door.

Applied to visitor management in your company, you can prepare badges for your visitors in advance, with controlled access.

Solution 3: Stand-alone access control

Let's take the example of a hotel: the person who has booked a room is given an RFID badge that allows them to open their room door and no other door.

The room door is fitted with an autonomous lock - also known as an electronic badge lock - capable of recognising the badge configured to open it for a specific period of time, the length of the guest's stay.

This type of system is ideal for businesses, particularly when you need to control a large number of doors within a site. These stand-alone locks operate without any electrical or computer wiring.

They are battery-powered, and access rights are carried by the badge. This is a cost-effective and efficient solution.

Solution No. 4: personalising orders

The RFID badge can be configured as a simple key to open a single door, or it can be set up as a keychain to open several doors.

The University of Paris Descartes, for example, has configured badges and access to its doors according to the people and nature of its rooms.

Students, administrative staff, lecturers and researchers have different access rights depending on their roles and responsibilities.

Access to the 13 sites - including 82 laboratories, 10 libraries and 6 research institutes - accommodating 40,000 students and 10,000 professionals is tracked and secured.

Solution 5: video surveillance

Video surveillance is designed to improve security:

• at pedestrian and vehicle entrances
• in sensitive areas
• on the outskirts of your site.

An IP camera system, video recorders and file storage are needed to act as a deterrent to thieves, vandals and other malicious intruders.

Video surveillance also makes it easier to identify the person who committed the intrusion.

3 access control systems are considered effective in ensuring security:

• 53% of French employees prefer a badge-based access control system,
• 49% a video surveillance system,
• 46% an alarm system

Source: opinionway survey

Solution no. 6: Securing a car park

To guarantee secure access to your car park, you can supplement your video surveillance measures by controlling access by motorists.

You can authorise access to the car park for vehicles, cars or vans, by badge, long-range badge or simply by reading the number plates.

The barrier will rise automatically for drivers with entry authorisation. A gate is sometimes preferred as a reinforced security measure.

You can also restrict access at certain times and optimise the management of your car park by allocating spaces intelligently, depending on the type of vehicle or the disability of an employee, for example.

It is also advisable to install speed bumps or retractable bollards on the path leading to the car park entrance.

Solution no. 7: Obstacles to make pedestrian routes safer

You can force people to pass obstacles - such as gates, drums, fast lanes or tripods - to establish a compulsory route to follow.

This makes it possible to trace access, ensure that only one person passes through, and comply with the rules governing your activity.

These installations are very useful, if not essential, in certain places where business is regulated, where valuable equipment is stored, such as company servers, or in sensitive areas.

Les Délices de Saint Léonard, a food company subject to compliance with the IFS food standard, has set up an access control system to quarantine its sensitive production area.

To comply with health and safety standards, employees can only move in one direction.

Access control to the cloakroom and a dual-control turnstile make this one-way traffic system possible.

Solution no. 8: the biometric access control system

Biometric access control makes it possible to identify a person on the basis of their physical characteristics.

The most commonly used body parts are the eye for optical iris recognition and the fingers for fingerprint recognition.

To install a biometric access control system, you need to apply for authorisation from the CNIL and demonstrate that the use is proportionate to the degree of risk.

This type of system can be found in banks, sensitive areas, and particularly in places where only people with high-level professional authorisation are allowed to handle dangerous products or work on electrical installations.

Solution no. 9: An alarm system to detect intrusions

There are several types of alarm:

• conventional sirens, which emit a very strong audio signal,
• fog generators or strobes to unsettle intruders,
• silent alarms, to make it easier for security guards to intervene discreetly,
• the technical alarm, used for goods in particular, is triggered when there is a deviation from the reference data,
• the technical intrusion alarm detects the presence of an unauthorised person.

An alarm system includes detectors to be installed in strategic locations, which must remain discreet and out of reach of intruders to prevent them from being neutralised.

The detectors operate by infrared, microwave, laser or motion detection, thanks to an electronic security device.

When the detectors are triggered, they automatically send a signal to your access control solution.

Solution 10: "Physical" IT access control

As stated in the introduction, the term IT access control is all too often misused when looking for an IT security solution designed to protect software, data shared in the Cloud, the Internet and all the associated user access rights.

However, there is a solution for controlling physical access to a computer: a configurable badge, associated with a person for access to a specific computer, for example.

The badge acts as an identifier and password, or just an identifier, depending on the level of security required.

See all software Security Guard

Supervision of security equipment

The first step in any security project is to draw up an access control specification.

To simplify the task, you can call on an access control installation company, access system suppliers or simply your usual electrician.

Wherever possible and within the scope of their expertise, they can supply you with the products you need and advise you in advance of your project on :

• choice of manufacturer
• enclosures, cabinets and sockets if required,
• differential switches, circuit breakers, transformers,
• connectors, badge readers,
• power requirements,
• home automation and interoperability with your IT system,
• choice of box and optical fibre,
• plastic or metal accessories, suction cups,
• mounting,
• lighting and safety issues in relation to electrical current,
• the distribution of equipment according to the routes envisaged,
• the corresponding signage,
• etc.

You'll need to make a careful selection from the offers on the table.

The advantages of a global management solution

If you're not a technical specialist, it's hard to make the best choices.

To make sure you implement the best security system, you should choose a global solution, because it offers a number of advantages:

• it considers and organises your access control system as a whole,
• It identifies all the vulnerable elements and possible interactions that could lead to security breaches,
• It covers all the potential risks on your site,
• it provides a level of security adapted to each weak link identified,
• It allows you to install, coordinate and control all the equipment (readers, cameras, locks, perimeter protection, etc.).

Protecsys 2 Suite: comprehensive software and customised protection

Horoquartz manufactures and installs security equipment and supervises your access control system using its Protecsys 2 Suite software.

Discover this comprehensive security solution on video:

The solution helps to reduce the costs generated by insecurity by providing a range of solutions to many problems.

Let's take a look at the benefits of the solution already implemented in the following organisations, SMEs and companies: Université Paris Descartes, Institut Imagine - Hopital Necker, Fibre Excellence (Seveso site), Les Delices de Saint-Leonard (agri-food), La Préfecture des hautes alpes (a project supported by the IP network), Alstom, Arkema, Ifremer, CIC, Groupama, Danone, and AT Internet.

Identifying risks and safety measures

A toy factory will not have the same safety equipment requirements as a Seveso site or an OIV, both of which are subject to very strict safety obligations and standards. The risks are not the same for all entities.

What is an OIV?

An OIV is an Operator of Vital Importance: it is a public or private organisation or company identified by the State authorities that produces products or services essential to the nation, and for which certain dangerous products are used. These entities are subject to very strict safety obligations. The list of OIVs is kept by the State and not divulged to the public for obvious security reasons.

What is a Seveso-classified site?

Seveso-classified sites are most often industrial infrastructures presenting a potential danger to the environment or the population. There are two danger thresholds: the low threshold, which presents a significant risk, and the high threshold, which presents a major risk. These sites are placed under close surveillance by the public authorities and must comply with strict safety obligations.

The modularity of Protecsys 2 Suite means that you can draw up specifications for an access control system that is tailored to the risks involved, and that meets the security measures required or demanded by law.

Choosing the right modules

As an example, Horoquartz has deployed an access control system on the 15 sites of TIGF (Transport et Infrastructures Gaz France), all of which are subject to the high security requirements of the Seveso 2 standard, due to the PIV (Point d'Importance Vitale) category of certain sites.

Horoquartz's global solution is adaptable both in terms of its technical architecture and its software to any situation.

So you can implement the modules you need or want to cover the risks specific to your business:

• video surveillance for the most exposed areas, especially those open to the public,
• intrusion detection to detect attempted intrusions,
• Visitor management to integrate visitors into the access control system,
• supervision to control all the security system's equipment,
• biometric readers, readers with keypads (access control with digicode),
• etc.

To comply with the most stringent security rules, such as those required by the military in terms of screening and physical movement, Horoquartz can also install obstacle courses: people must first pass through point A, then B, then C. And if they try to access C without having passed through B, they are blocked.

Mastering the IP network, IT technologies and services

Horoquartz has an advantage that makes all the difference in the security market: control over IT integration without any risk to the IT infrastructure.

It's the ideal solution for CIOs and IT security managers:

• Horoquartz controls the IP network to which security equipment such as cameras, detectors, sensors, etc. are connected,
• perfect interoperability with servers, an LDAP directory or time management software.

Horoquartz is well ahead of security companies, which are less familiar with integration and communication issues related to IT and IP networks.

For example, Horoquartz helped the Hautes Alpes Prefecture set up a secure system based on the IP network, incorporating the national directives of the ANSSI (Agence Nationale de Sécurité des Systèmes d'Information).

Standards and certifications for a professional control system

Legal standards to be complied with

As we mentioned earlier in connection with OIVs and Seveso-classified sites, this is a very wide-ranging subject! Legal standards and obligations vary depending on the sector, whether it's food, airports, etc.

Protecsys 2 Suite is demonstrating its ability to provide practical solutions for high security measures. Horoquartz is also fully aware of the obligations imposed by the CNIL and the RGPD concerning the implementation of video surveillance and biometric access control systems .

You are not free to install whatever you want, however you want.

2 important certifications

Horoquartz has obtained 3 certifications testifying to the seriousness of its professionalism:

• APSAD certification, which confirms that the supplier has the skills, resources and services to reduce the risks associated with fire and malicious acts;
• MASE certification , which attests to the company's skills in organising and ensuring the safety of procedures used on customer premises, in accordance with a set of standards that require suppliers to continually update their safety measures.

Testimonial from an SME: AT Internet

AT Internet is an SME based in Bordeaux, with offices in Germany, Singapore, the United States and other countries around the world. Initially a simple digital agency, it has changed its business to specialise in website audience measurement.

The SME's security issues:

• The head office is a 2,530 m2 building on 3 levels;
• 2 floors are reserved for company employees;
• The top floor is a shared space with a break room and a restaurant accessible to 4 other companies and their employees;
• Approximately 450 people will have configured access.

The aim is to secure the entire site with an access control system, taking into account :

• multi-company access management,
• Car park access control,
• visitor and staff access management at the entrance,
• the need to protect machinery, which is essential to the company's operations,
• securing the landing doors on the upper floors,
• the unauthorised presence of former employees in the offices.

The balance tipped in favour of Protecsys 2 Suite. Although slightly more expensive, the Horoquartz offer was able to provide a global response to our problem that the other service providers we consulted did not offer. And in the end, in a building project costing several million euros, the cost of access control is not significant.

Cyril Mazeau, CFO and project manager at At Internet for the security project

Horoquartz provided the required enhanced security solutions:

• badges set up for each employee of each company, including authorised time slots and access to the car park,
• specific badges for cleaning teams,
• temporary badges for visitors, giving them access only after a certain time,
• badge readers on the doors,
• an anti-intrusion system with motion detectors,
• an alarm system.

In terms of traceability, we have an event log that enables us to track access, monitor alarms and see what has happened.

Cyril Mazeau, Protecsys 2 Suite user

The supervision solution also allows you to change the authorisations on a badge in just a few clicks. This is another great feature that makes life easier for the security manager...