PCM Systems & Services

Access control systems are secure authority systems governed by people or computer based systems, and they control access to certain areas, information and assets within a building.

On a basic level, access control has been employed since the days of moats being built to defend our ancestors against intruders. Moats and barbed wire may deter intruders, but it probably wouldn’t provide the most inviting welcome to your visitors and staff.

Fortunately for us, we no longer have to dig moats to keep our assets safe, as advances in technology let us safeguard our property through our computers if we want to.

Access control is apparent in many areas of our daily lives. Not only do many of us have to ‘swipe’ a card or fob past a reader when we arrive at work, but we have key fobs to operate the central locking on our cars, and pin numbers to pay for goods when we shop and withdraw money from cash machines. Even our online banking has been further secured by our banks sending us our very own card reader to use to make secure payments online.

‘Access control’ is used to describe the process of restricting or allowing entry to a building, or perhaps a room within that building to authorised people only.

Access control monitors who goes where, and when. It controls who is permitted to enter and exit, where they can enter and exit, and when they can do so. This can be determined through locks and keys but mechanical locks and keys will not restrict the keyholder to specific times and dates. Mechanical locks and keys do not allow you to keep a record of the key being used on specific doors, and who used it.

Electronic access control utilises computer technology to eliminate the need for traditional locks and keys. In their place are a wide range of credentials such as pin numbers, swipe cards and fobs which all communicate with the access control system and allow the appropriate assigned access.

When the correct credential is presented to the reader, the reader sends the information to a control panel. In turn, the control panel then studies the credentials and compares them to its programmed list, and will then allow or deny the access request. A transaction log is then sent to a database.

The reader usually displays a visible sign of the access level granted such as a green light for permitted entry, and a red light for denied access. Sometimes a ‘beeping’ noise accompanies the lights.

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