Secured Entry Solutions - Closing the Security Gap.

Choosing the Right Secured Entry Solutions

To protect your company against the risks mentioned above, your physical security plan should include effective measures for addressing physical access. Security solutions range from hiring security guards to implementing cameras and access control devices. And while these measures have their place in an overall security strategy, alone, they are ineffective in mitigating unauthorized access.

Guards get distracted and cameras will only alert you after the incident has happened. Access devices on swing doors do not address or mitigate tailgating.

Security entrances, such as turnstiles, security revolving doors and mantrap portals, never get distracted. So, what security entrance solution should you choose?

Security entrances keep intruders where they belong - outside. If an intruder can infiltrate a building’s entry points, then all other security measures are simply reactive. Security entrances are the only proactive solution that address the risk of unauthorized entry via tailgating or piggybacking.

Tailgating

Tailgating is one of the most common security breaches. The definition of tailgating is “an unauthorized person who follows an authorized person into a building.” In the case of a swing door, once the door has been opened by the authorized user it is possible for someone else, or multiple people, to enter. In the case of a security revolving door, “tailgating” is used to describe when someone attempts to follow an authorized user in the next, trailing compartment.

Piggybacking

The term “piggybacking” is used to describe an act of collusion, either voluntary (two “friends”) or forced (someone is threatened with a weapon to cooperate) by two people attempting to enter through a security entrance at the same time, using only one authorized credential.

Related to security entrances, piggybacking is when two people attempt to enter together in a single compartment in a security revolving door, or inside a security mantrap portal. High security doors work to combat piggybacking through the use of a sophisticated overhead detection system that can differentiate between one and two people based on shapes and contours.

Creating a secure entry involves granting and managing access to areas within a building, ensuring that only authorized individuals can enter. To do this, companies use biometric devices, such as fingerprints, four-digit codes, hand or facial geometry, and so on. Once a digital identity is created, they can manage each user’s access to areas or zones within a building.

While the devices mentioned above are highly sophisticated, if placed on a swing door, the risk of unauthorized entry is still present. Biometric devices alone cannot prevent piggybacking or tailgating.

But when identity is coupled with a physical security barrier, instances of tailgating and piggybacking are addressed up front, and the risk can therefore be accurately managed.

Not all secured entry solutions are equal. Depending on your situation, you may need to PREVENT, DETECT or DETER Unauthorized Entry.

1. PREVENT Tailgating / Piggybacking

When security is critical, high security revolving doors and portals prevent intrusion. Virtually impenetrable, these security solutions allow for the elimination or reallocation of guard supervision, providing owners with a quick ROI. Also, by examining metrics gathered by sensor systems in the doors, owners can predict and quantify their actual risk of infiltration. Used often at employee-only entrances and to secure areas containing sensitive data or personnel, these solutions are a breed of security entrances unlike any other.

2. DETECT Tailgating / Piggybacking

Optical turnstiles provide a strong visual deterrent against intrusion, and also feature detection sensors that can tell when someone tailgates behind an authorized user. If this infraction occurs, an alarm is issued to alert nearby security staff to confront the intruder. As optical turnstiles do not prevent tailgating from happening, manned supervision is required to deal with intrusion attempts effectively. Optical turnstiles are ideal for lobbies in buildings, both small and large where a reception desk is close by.

3. DETER – Monitoring or Controlling Traffic (“Keeping Honest People Honest”) 

Full height and waist high turnstiles do not have sensors or alarms to alert guard staff of infiltration. Therefore, their presence serves as a deterrent against casual attempts of gaining entrance by climbing or crawling over. These security solutions are appropriate for building perimeters, supervised locations, or any location that needs to control the movement of large crowds. They are often used as a “first layer” in a layered physical security approach where higher levels of security entrance are present in more sensitive locations on the premises. Finally, waist high and full height turnstiles are excellent choices for “exit only” needs.

Thus, we have three levels of security:

• Prevention
• Detection
• Deterrence

As the level of security increases, the amount of supervision required decreases, which has a financial benefit if not an operational benefit. As a result, you can achieve an ROI by the reduction of supervision staff or allocate them to other areas of need in the building. In addition, you can  mitigate physical violence opportunities, loss prevention risks, and provide superior evidence collection capabilities. To determine which security solution best fits your needs, you must ask yourself: "What is my goal?"