HANDS FREE POTENTIAL

If we had an opportunity to explain the current situation to ourselves in 2019, it would seem farcical. Yet, we’re halfway through the year and adapting to the situation at hand. Social distancing, controlled access and sanitary stations have all been introduced as safety precautions throughout industries that are continuing to operate.

It is an interesting thought how many of these introduced measures will continue in the future, and how we progress. More specifically, how can the security industry adapt and meet the new demands with these new procedures in mind?

Access control has unknowingly helped, with fewer interactions needed to find keys and open doors. Yet access control using keypads and touch-operated will still pose a risk to individuals’ safety. So, where do we go from here?

Hands-free access control could be the solution of the future. Using a smartphone as the key alleviates the need to touch anything apart from your own phone. Already Abloy BEAT, launched earlier this year is utilising smartphones as a key.

The next step in safety would be contactless entry, which would combine the benefits of door automation and access control. A contactless interaction with the door operator would set the plan in motion to signal the door to open and notify when the door is secured, this would in-turn be compliant and offer an audit trail of the interaction.

Another solution is dynamic lockdown used for emergency situations. The technology can be repurposed as a measure to monitor capacity and reduce overcrowding. This would offer capabilities to allow egress with the use of an automatic door system and prevent ingress at a predetermined capacity.

Importantly, all solutions must not forget the importance of compliance. Hands-free escape doors would still require a compliant escape handle for emergency situations and fire doors would need to meet fire testing and ironmongery compliance.

If you would like to discuss anything about Abloy’s products or services, just call us on 01902 364 500 or email [email protected].