Access Control In The New Normal: 8 Trends In Workspace Safety

Modern entrepreneurs embrace technology to make their organization even more efficient, comfortable, secure and safe.

Covid-19 has given an extra dimension to the latter: in The New Normal you want to ensure that employees and visitors can not only move around your building easily, but above all safely.

With the right technology you not only increase safety, but you also enhance the experience and well-being of your employees and visitors.

We have identified a number of trends that organizations will find on their path when adjusting their workspace to The New Normal.

 

What are the 8 technology trends for access control in The New Normal?

 

1. Space planning and time recording are becoming a necessity

Many organizations now have rules for maximum occupancy. It is therefore essential that you know how many people are in your building. This also helps you to plan your workflows and productivity and improves your insight into the use of your space.

The combination of an access control system and a space planning or time registration tool will assist you in this. The right solutions give you real-time insight and allow you to find out which people are in which rooms and for how long.

This insight is vital for people’s safety in the 1.5-metre office.

 

2. Visitors will register online in advance

You can send visitors a personal invitation to register in advance as a visitor via their PC or smartphone. This minimizes physical contact with the reception desk, visitor lists or a check-in tablet. There are numerous applications on the market for this.

3. Dynamic access control regulates the number of people in the workspace

You can combine your access control with your building management system, space planning tool or time registration system to regulate and monitor the number of employees and visitors in your building or in specific spaces.

Do you have the right technology? If so, it’s easy to adjust authorizations for digital keys of employees and freelancers remotely and in real time and to quickly shut off rooms or buildings.

4. Doors are open by default

Where possible, you can also leave doors open by default. A simple solution, though it is important that your workspace continues to meet the (fire) safety requirements.

A smart interface between your fire alarm system or AMOK function and your access control system makes it possible to automatically close all important doors in case of alarm or only within certain periods of time.

Of course, professional advice on technology and regulations is important here.

Besides, the contactless opening of doors is also quite comfortable and prevents coffee stains on clothing and floors ;-).

 

5. Automatic doors and contactless access become the standard

Whereas at the beginning of this year we still firmly grabbed the door handle, we now use elbows, shoulders and feet to prevent any skin contact with this potential source of infection.

That is a major obstacle for employees who are gradually returning to the working environment. For them, hygiene is an important condition to feel safe again.

No one will be surprised by a door that opens and closes automatically, yet this technology is up-to-date and hygienic.

Especially when combined with biometric access control.

6. Biometric access control is increasingly accepted

Our customers increasingly ask for our advice on thermal cameras and facial recognition.

It is still a sensitive subject, but it seems that more and more people are open to biometric security. We are getting used to it, partly because we use it to unlock our smartphones countless times a day.

Covid-19 gives this trend an extra push. We are no longer surprised when someone points a thermometer at our forehead at the entrance of an office building or institution.

The next step is a message at the entrance telling you that the automatic door only opens when your temperature is normal. A heat-sensitive camera with a link to the access control system does the rest.

Acceptance for this will grow. We are becoming accustomed to privacy-sensitive technology and that same technology is increasingly responding to regulations and social resistance. The latest facial recognition cameras, for example, no longer store images, but convert them directly into anonymous data and then automatically destroy the images.

 

7. The need for storage space for company and personal property is growing

Working in shifts, shared workplaces, more flexible employees and a clean desk policy: we walk in and out and we want as little items as possible in the workplace.

As a result, there is a growing need for storage space for personal belongings and company property in the vicinity of the workplace, as long as it is not in the workplace.

Secure storage in lockers or cabinets requires a locking system that is an integral part of your access control system. Only in this way you can ensure the safe and practical management of keys and space.

 

8. Employers will be helping remote workers with the security of data and goods

We increasingly work from home, via the cloud. This means that at home there is more to arrange with regard to the digital and physical security of information and hardware.

That of course is a task for management and the employees themselves, but together with your technology providers, you can stimulate better security through programs.

We regularly offer specific, inexpensive home packages with digital locking systems for our customers’ employees. Odds are that your partners for IT, telecom, and access control are also open to this.

Let us know if you wish to discuss how access control can help your organization move towards The New Normal.