Page 30 - Security Today, September 2017

Getting Access Best practices for multi-tenant buildings and facilities
BMy Bruce Czerwinski
ulti-tenant buildings present security challenges not found in single-user facilities. Tenants may come and go at different times. The numbers and types of visitors needing access will vary, and then there are differences between commercial and residential
multi-tenant buildings.
An experienced commercial integrator said one of his biggest
challenges dealing with a multi-tenant security project was balancing the needs and desires of tenants that often don’t align.
“Professional service tenants who receive many clients and visi- tors daily prefer a more open, welcoming and accessible environ- ment,” said Dario Santana, president of San Diego-based Layer 3 Security Services. “Tenants who rarely receive visitors tend to be comfortable with more restrictive security in place.”
That forces building management to make tradeoffs. While no ap- proach will completely satisfy every tenant, Santana said the right mix of systems and policies will provide a high level of security to please the majority.
Determining who—and how—tenants and visitors get into the building is another major challenge. Santana said the solution lies with the best security practices he uses in virtually any commercial facility. He recommends keeping main entries locked whenever pos- sible and then using a combination of an access control system and a video intercom to let people in.
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Tenants use key fobs or individual codes at access readers or key- pads mounted outside the main entry to easily access the building. Visitors locate a tenant name on the display or posted directory and enter the corresponding number into the intercom keypad to call a station in the tenant’s suite. The system lets the tenant see visitors and have a two-way conversation with them. Once the tenant identifies them and feels confident to permit them in the building, the tenant can buzz in the visitor by pushing a button.
Santana said buildings needing to be open during business hours can use these systems when doors are locked at night, during week- ends and on holidays.
Matthew Arnold, president of Hicksville, N.Y.-based Academy Mailbox, said he’s used the same access control/video intercom ar- rangement in the many security projects his company has completed for Metropolitan New York multi-family residential buildings.
“The gateway product is the video intercom,” Arnold said. “It lets tenants make informed decisions about who they let into the building and act as a deterrent to criminals. The unit’s built-in cameras can also record images which may be useful for later identifying people who came to the door.”
Arnold said many buildings now create entry vestibules inside the main public entry. This can help control the problem of tailgating— people rushing into the building along with an approved visitor. A second video intercom inside the locked vestibule gives tenants an-
MULTI-TENANT FACILITIES
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