Access Systems
Access Control
is often controlled by a security alarm system, although stand-alone systems are available. When integrated to home automation, they add convenience and ease of use. In a commercial environment, they can offer greater security, ability to control and monitor who is in a building at any time, as well as help ensure health and safety. Most systems will log the users, so their entry and exit times can be tracked which, can be useful both for security and for attendance / hours of work calculations.
Mechanical locks have always been effective in controlling access, but very ineffective in controlling who has permissible access. Security is increased when there are no keys to lose, have stolen or copied, and by linking to a security or automation system, lights, locks, and security can all be adjusted and controlled automatically for you as you arrive or leave.
Proximity Sensors
These are a 2 part system consisting of a sensor, or reader, and a card or fob that is held near the sensor. If the sensor recognises the card, it signals a controller that can then unlock doors and send a signal to other equipment. Cards can easily be issued, replaced, or cancelled.
Biometrics use sensors to identify a part of our body such as a fingerprint, a hand, or an iris. Biometrics verifies who you are, not what you are carrying!
Advantages include no password to remember (or forget!) and no need to carry keys or proximity cards, which is handy if you want to go out for a jog and not carry anything with you. It is easy to cancel users from the system, but to add them, they must be enrolled by being scanned into the system.
Pin Pads consist of a keypad instead of a sensor and the user has a PIN number that is unique to them. Advantages include nothing to carry and easy additions to the system. On the downside, they can be easily passed, or stolen by other people, hence, the warnings by banks to protect your PIN's. From this point of view, biometrics are the best security, then proximity, followed by PIN.