Access Control for Small Businesses: Doors, Badges and Who Got In

Keys are a problem every growing business runs into. An employee leaves and you don't know who still has a copy. A contractor needs access for one week. Someone propped the back door open overnight. Electronic access control fixes all three.

What Access Control Does for a Business

An access control system replaces keys with credentials: cards, fobs, PIN codes, mobile phones or, on some systems, face recognition. Each door knows who is allowed in and when, and every entry is logged.

• Remove access in seconds. When someone leaves, you disable their credential. No rekeying.
• Schedules. Doors unlock for business hours and lock themselves after.
• Temporary access. Give a vendor or contractor access for a set window.
• A record. See who came through which door, and when.

Tied Into the Rest of Your Network

Access control works best as part of a managed network, not a standalone box. As a Ubiquiti UniFi Professional Integrator, we often deploy UniFi Access alongside UniFi networking and UniFi Protect cameras. That lets an entry event line up with camera footage, and we can manage doors, Wi-Fi and cameras for every location from one place.

Because access control runs on your network, it has to be designed with security in mind: on its own network segment, with updates applied and admin access controlled.

Gates and Exterior Entry

Many businesses also need control over a gate, a loading area or a parking entrance. We look at how gate entry fits into the same system, so the people who can open the front door are the same people who can open the gate.

Planning a Project

A good access control project starts with a walkthrough: which doors, which people, which hours, and what happens in an emergency or a power outage. From there we recommend hardware, wiring and a rollout plan, and we leave you with documentation and admin access in your name.

Thinking about replacing keys? Talk to Safire Business Services.