Guides
Access control: cards, fingerprints and who gets in
Access control decides who can open which door and at what hours, using a card, a fingerprint or a code instead of a key. Every entry is logged with a name and a time. Unlike a lock, access can be granted or cancelled in seconds without changing anything physical.
The real advantage over keys
When someone leaves, you cancel their card. With keys you either change the lock or hope. For a business with staff turnover that difference is the whole argument.
Fingerprint versus card
Fingerprints cannot be lent or lost, which matters for attendance. Cards work better with dirty hands — workshops, kitchens and mills — where fingerprint readers frustrate everyone.
Time windows
A cleaner can be allowed in between six and eight in the morning and at no other time. That is far more useful than a key, which works at three in the morning too.
Linked to the cameras
Door events on the same timeline as footage means you can jump straight to the moment a specific door opened rather than searching video.
What is an access control system?
What happens in a power cut?
It depends how the lock is specified. Fail-secure keeps the door locked, fail-safe releases it. Fire escape routes normally require fail-safe. This is decided at survey, and it matters.
Can access control double as staff attendance?
Yes, and that is often what makes it pay for itself. The same reader that opens the door records arrival and departure, which feeds a payroll sheet without anyone re-typing anything.
Need this doing?
Business CCTV covers the till, the stock room, the entrance and the delivery door — the four points where losses actually happen. Systems are sized to your retention needs and can be linked to access control and point of sale. Expect PKR 70,000 upwards depending on premises size.
Business CCTV systems — what it costsRelated pages
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