Access Control System

1. What should you remember about one-way access control?
2. What should you remember about two-way access control?
3. How should the Access Control System behave in case of a fire?

What should you remember about one-way access control?

One-way access control is used to limit the possibility of entering rooms, buildings and other closed spaces for authorized persons, i.e. those with an access card or an authorization code (depending on the solution used – card reader or keypad) confirming access rights.

This type of control records only the entrance to the supervised area of an authorized person, it does not monitor the exit of the area by a given person, only that the door has been opened.  In this case, remember to:

1. It should be possible to evacuate people from the room / zone;
2. That the Access Control System has information about the correct opening of the door to exit;
3. It should be possible to open the door with a button or a handle (the handle should be monitored).

The door should be equipped with reed switches, one – to monitor whether the door is open or not closed (open permanently) and the other to monitor whether the handle is pressed in order to open the door. The second reed switch is not required in the case of using the door opening button to exit. The above configuration provides information to the system, it allows to distinguish entry / exit from the supervised area, taking into account the authorized opening of the door and unauthorized (burglary). Additionally, it makes it possible to monitor whether the door is locked (when the door open time is greater than that configured in the system – the time needed for the user to pass through).

What should you remember about two-way access control?

This type of control records both the entrance to the supervised area of an authorized person and monitors the exit of the area by a given person. In this case, remember to:

1. It should be possible to evacuate people from the room / zone;
2. That the Access Control System has information about the correct opening of the door to exit;
3. It should be possible to open the door to exit by means of a reader / keyboard and an emergency button or a handle (the handle should be monitored).

The door should be equipped with reed switches, one – to monitor whether the door is open or not closed (permanently opened) and the other to monitor whether the handle is pressed (if any) to open the door. The second reed switch is not required – it only provides information on how to open the door. The above configuration provides information to the system, it allows to distinguish entry / exit from the supervised area, taking into account the authorized opening of the door and unauthorized (burglary). Additionally, it makes it possible to monitor whether the door is locked (when the door open time is greater than that configured in the system – the time needed for the user to pass through).

How should the Access Control System behave in case of a fire?

If the facility or room is equipped with a Fire Alarm System, the Access Control System should be integrated with the Fire Alarm System. Depending on how precisely the Fire Alarm System is located, we can divide the rooms into groups according to fire losses, in order to define the behavior of the Access Control System to the area of the hazard. Thanks to this solution, the Access Control System will react only in rooms where there is a real risk, leaving the remaining rooms still under supervision. In case of a fire, the Access Control System should open passages from the area in order to enable quick evacuation of people and enable the operation of the fire services of the National Fire Service or the Company Fire Service (if such units are located on the premises of the plant). Additionally, the opening of controlled passages will enable persons (previously designated for this purpose) to check that all persons have left the endangered area.