As students are starting to return to school, campus security officials are working hard to ensure a safe and secure campus environment for the school year. With students constantly on the move from one building to another, and many scattered points of entry throughout a campus, access control technology is crucial for protecting not only the students, but the staff and school’s assets as well.
Card readers and alarm systems provide the valuable access control data required to keep intruders out and safeguard a campus, but with today’s evolving technology, modern campuses are using security and IT functionality to address more than just security. These top efficiency concerns can be tackled by using access control data.
Energy
When access control systems are integrated with other technology, the simple act of swiping a card can communicate to the building management system to turn on lights in a specific area of a building. Or, the same type of integrated system can record when the last person leaves a building and turn down the temperature once the building is no longer in use. Using access control data for energy efficiency can lead to a significant reduction in energy use and costs.
Event Management
Comprehensively monitoring every conference or activity that takes place on a college campus can be difficult. Access control technology that already exists to secure facilities can also be used to make building scheduling easier. One single reservation system can be used to allow students to reserve a meeting space or classroom quickly and easily without having to be physically let in the room. Additionally, this data can allow for the doors to be automatically unlocked for an event and relocked afterward.
Analytics
Data gathered from disparate systems, such as access points, building management systems and human resources software platforms, can be combined into a single platform to give officials a more comprehensive view of the campus landscape. This type of information can provide insight into how students are using a particular building, classroom or area of the university. This data can also help analyze traffic flow patterns that can streamline better campus-wide planning and operations.
Today’s access control systems are allowing campuses to do more than simply granting access: they’re integrating with other network-based platforms to add more value to their capital investments. While the safety and security of the students and staff is top of mind when campuses look to access control systems, they can also use the data obtained to address a myriad of efficiency aspects and in turn gain increased intelligence and save on expenses.
