Striking a balance between style and security: How to get entrance control right in corporate environments
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Understanding that visual impact is as important as the effectiveness of the technology is what differentiates Fastlane and Door Detective entrance control products from those of our competitors. We place the utmost importance on aesthetics, ensuring that even our standard models are designed to the highest specification using the finest materials, to complement the environments they are protecting.
So how can you strike the right balance between making a good first impression with visitors and staff, whilst also ensuring an organisation’s security responsibilities are met?
Drawing on our 30 years’ plus experience and, having installed entrance control systems in many of the World’s most iconic buildings, here we explore this topic and answer the common questions we get asked by architects when looking to secure corporate environments with entrance control.
British quality, global appeal
From high profile government buildings to the top social media companies, private and public organisations around the world choose Fastlane entrance control products to secure their people and assets due to our elegant design and market-leading technology.
Here are a few of the environments our turnstiles help to secure.
To ensure you specify an entrance control solution which is suitable for both your building and its users, you need to be able to answer a number of questions.
Top 5 considerations when choosing an entrance control system
How many turnstiles do I need?
Although Fastlane turnstiles are capable of processing up to 60 people per minute, in the real world – where users pause to get their cards or fobs out of their pockets – it’s realistic to base any calculations on each turnstile processing 20 people per minute. Think about the number of peak and off-peak users. Also consider where they are moving to beyond the lobby. There is no point in a system processing 200 people into a foyer with only one lift shaft, it will soon create a problem.
- What height barriers do I need?
If you understand the value of what you’re protecting, and the risks associated with an intruder gaining access, you can determine the level of security you require. The higher the barrier, the higher the security. But, the look of the turnstiles also needs to be in keeping with the environment they secure. You don’t want visitors to feel like they’re entering Fort Knox.
- Can I customise the design?
You want the entrance security to complement the style of the building you’ve created, but you still need it to provide the required level of security. For those looking to reflect the style of their building perfectly, consider bespoke finishes such as metal type, paint colour, natural wood, glass etc. If you’ve got the vision, we can help you to create the desired look. You can even feature a company logo or graphics, or colour-match with a company’s brand palette.
Who uses the area?
Consider permanent staff, people with reduced mobility, delivery drivers etc. Should everyone entering/exiting have access to all areas beyond the turnstiles? Or will you also need to secure other more sensitive areas of the building beyond the lobby, such as a server room.
Does your client need to easily allow temporary access to visitors?
What other functions are required?
Through third-party product integrations, turnstiles can perform a variety of other functions beyond just allowing or denying access to a building. Connecting existing disparate systems such as HVAC, CCTV or lift destination displays can deliver time, space and energy efficiencies, improving the overall performance of a building and helping you to meet LEED or BREEAM energy efficiency targets.
As you can see, when specifying entrance control for a corporate environment, there are many elements which require careful consideration to ensure you select the right turnstile for the task in hand.
Beyond the lobby
One area which is commonly overlooked is securing internal doorways. Having a bank of security turnstiles at the main entrance will prevent unknown individuals from moving beyond reception, but this won’t prevent authorised users within the organisation – or approved temporary visitors – from being able to access more sensitive areas of a building, such as the executive suite or server room.
A belt and braces approach is the most effective way to minimise any opportunists looking to access these areas with harmful intent. This is where Door Detective comes into its own. Installed either side of a door frame to monitor the throughput of access-controlled doorways, corridors and passageways, Door Detective prevents deters and alerts tailgating events and ensures that the ‘one person one access’ rule is met, monitoring the number of people passing through an internal access-controlled doorway and in which direction. This additional level of security provides management with the reassurance that only authorised visits are being made to these high-risk areas and that sensitive information will not be compromised through a physical breach.
Making specification simple with BIM
To ensure that we provide easy access to data on our entrance control products, in a format which is compatible and accessible for our architect and specifier customers, our most specified turnstiles are featured on BIMobject, the world’s largest and fastest growing digital content management system for BIM objects. This makes comparison of products much simpler and speeds up the specification process.
Need further guidance? We’re always happy to share our expertise.
Visit: www.fastlane-turnstiles.com
Get in touch: info@fastlane-turnstiles.com | +44 (0)208 890 2444
