If you run a business, one of the biggest worries is the idea of unwarranted or unverified access to your premises. In the UK alone, it’s estimated there were around 600,000 crimes against British firms in 2018 alone – with over 100,000 break-ins. Sadly, in the majority of these cases, the criminals weren’t apprehended and the crimes remain unsolved.
Why access control could be the answer
While we never like to think the worst could happen, crimes against businesses are remarkably common. From criminal break-ins to insider theft by employees, there is any number of ways your company could be at risk. However, by fitting simple access control systems to your buildings, you could help mitigate the risks.
As a company owner, you need access to all areas – however, the same is unlikely to apply to all your staff. Using simple door access systems, you can limit who goes where in your premises – plus you’ll have an idea of where your employees are at any given time.
Security systems have come a very long way in a very short time and today’s modern access control mechanisms can be fitted easily and quickly to different parts of your premises, thereby giving you full control over who accesses what.
You already protect your data – you should take the same approach to your building
If, like most of today’s firms, your company relies heavily on its data, you likely already have bullet-proof security monitoring and restricted access to your most sensitive files. The same approach should be applied to how you allow the flow of people around your premises. While none of us like to discriminate, the simple truth is not all your employees need full access around your company’s building – and limiting those that do will give you better protection against potential problems.
Moreover, using access control, you’ll also reduce the risk of strangers being able to access your company – or, worse yet, breaking in.
The benefits of controlling access
There are several benefits to be gained from ensuring you limit the access around your company premises, including (but not limited to):
- Having the ability to remove access rights from previous or problematic staff
- Being able to reduce access to your most valuable files, data, equipment and tools
- Gaining the peace of mind that comes from knowing exactly who is where in your building at any time
- Knowing that your most important files or documents are fully protected from external (and, sadly, in some cases, internal) risks
- Being able to improve your regulatory compliance and rules regarding data protection (especially important if you deal with the sensitive information of clients)
- Reducing the risk from data-related crimes such as cyberattacks. If you improve your real-world protection, it will have an obvious knock-on effect on your digital assets
- Being able to quickly and effectively increase or reduce user access rights. For example, by simply changing an employee’s areas of access or password, you could effectively lock them out of areas where you no longer wish them to be.