One of the most asked for items from customers when they have an access control solution in place is “can we integrate the access control system with the visitor management system?
The simple answer is yes, a better question is why?
Initially, when asked by a customer if we can integrate the visitor management software with the access control system we always ask why do you want to integrate? What is the purpose?
There are 3 very common reasons asked for by customers to integrate with the access control system.
- When an employee or contractor signs into the location through the access control system can the employee or contractor be placed in the evacuation reports in the visitor management system so they do not need to sign in twice?
- When a visitor signs in they need to receive a QR code or bar code that can be scanned at a turnstile or speed gate
- When a visitor signs in they need to be given a temporary access control card to swipe at the turnstile or lift.
Typically access control data is not as consistent as visitor management data in that visitor management data is designed to capture the entry and exit of every person. Access Control often will miss an entry or exit if an employee or contractor walks into or out of the building during normal office hours where they do not need to swipe in and out of the building to gain access or leave at the end of the day. The best data from an access control system perspective is when turnstiles or speed gates are in place with single-user access forcing every person to swipe in and out their presence on-site each time they come and go.
There are a number of access control systems that are commonly mentioned by customers
Inner range includes a number of access control systems including Integrity and Inception. Customers who have integrated Integrity or Inception with the visitor management software include Boral and BOC.
