Page 74 - Security Today, March 2017

ACCESS CONTROL
By Robert Laughlin
MAKING YOUR DEMANDS
The two things you should expect from your security provider
n today’s highly competitive environ- ment, it is extremely important that providers have both the experience to deliver the right solution and the abil- ity to deliver strong customer service.
In the security industry, one solution in high demand is the use of mobile apps for critical functions such as credentialing, remote op- erations and alerts.
Mobile credentialing frees the user from having to carry physical credentials such as tokens or ID badges. Further, mobile access control solutions are well-suited to applica- tions that experience numerous spontaneous events such as lockdowns or weather related emergencies, or with a frequent need to ac- tivate/de-activate access card holders. Key points include:
Security. Security has always been a fun- damental part of mobile operating systems, and the encrypted security of smart creden- tials and/or door management apps makes them more secure and difficult to counter- feit. Mobile devices often require multifactor authentication while traditional access con- trol devices do not.
Convenience. Mobile users can control their facilities and access timely information from wherever they are. This is important for emergency situations, and convenient for other scenarios such as activating or deacti- vating credentials.
Mobile credentialing provides even more convenience, with new readers that can ac- cept both proximity cards and mobile cre- dentials speeding the transition to mobile technology.
Increased integration. With mobile technology, one credential allows access to doors, data and cloud applications, with se- curity and tracking incorporated into every user action. This high-level integration can also be used to trigger automated tasks like time and attendance recording.
Cost. Maintaining a physical and logical access control system with disparate appli- cations can be costly, particularly when up-
dates are implemented and integration must be performed across all systems. A physical access control system with mobile creden- tialing can be easily upgraded to add logical access control for network log-on. For card- based credentialing, material costs must be considered as well; digital credentials have no material cost.
Still, users may not get the most out of their system if the provider does not have a customer-focused culture. At a minimum, providers should offer flexibility, post-sales support, availability, expertise and training.
Flexibility. Recognizing that off-the-shelf solutions are hardly sufficient for addressing the specific requirements of every installation, customer-focused providers are willing and able to accommodate customization.
Post-sales support/training. The real- ity of access control systems is that—like any solution—they require ongoing service, support and training to provide customers with the continuous, reliable operation they need. One true measure of a vendor is what they can—and will—do to address and ac- curately fix any issues in a timely manner.
Post sales training is also key to assuring the customer knows how to best manage their system.
Availability. In today’s connected world, customers have a wide variety of ways to contact a provider, all of which are irrelevant if they can’t actually connect with the ven- dor. Delays compromise security, so custom- ers deserve a specific person they can rely on when they need help the most, often when something goes wrong and requires immedi- ate attention.
Expertise. The expertise and experience of customer-focused organizations can help end users make better and more confident deci- sions about an access control installation.
When combined, customer service and mobile technology offer tremendous poten- tial for maintaining the safety and security of people, places and assets. Your chosen pro- vider should be able to deliver to you the lat- est in mobile technology plus a commitment to the best possible customer service.
Robert Laughlin is the president of Galaxy Control Systems.
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0317 | DEALER STRATEGIES
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