Scaling Access Control for Growing Businesses

You’re highly mistaken if you think that your business needs to stay the same always. No, they don’t. Your business security needs grow with your business. 

A small office setup requires only a few keycards, but when your small office grows, it may also require mobile access, centralized control, and multiple levels of permissions. This requires you to scale the access control systems. 

It is a non-negotiable for modern businesses that are expanding their team, opening new branches, or operating in a hybrid model. This makes it vital for you to partner with an access control service provider to scale your access control systems. 

Read this blog till the end to understand how to scale the access control system for your business and make the most of it. 

Scaling Access Control For Businesses

Many businesses have no idea about scaling the access control system and wonder what it is. It is not simply adding doors or issuing more badges, but more than that. Scaling an access control system means building a system that evolves with the business. 

The business’s demands regarding the number of users, locations, devices, and integrations must be met by the system, without affecting the security or the performance at all. 

This is crucial because, as businesses grow, their security needs also grow. The businesses require new employees, and the remote managers require real-time visibility into the entry logs. A scalable access control system means centralizing management, automating workflows, and supporting cloud-based access. 

This ensures that the facility has no security risk at all. This is not an add-on expense but an investment for the future, especially for small businesses. 

Signs Your Access Control System Needs to Scale 

It’s not only you but many businesses out there who have no idea when it’s time to scale the access control system and when not. But worry not. Check out these signs that tell you that your access control has outgrown your business and needs to be scaled. 

Credential management

The foremost comes the credential management. It’s clear that your system has outgrown the setup if you need to manually onboard or offboard employees across multiple systems. This is not only inefficient but also brings security risks. 

No remote access

Another notable sign is the lack of remote access. The businesses these days have offices across multiple locations, which makes remote access crucial. The administrators need to manage the permissions from anywhere and at any time, but if your access control system is not able to do that, it needs to be scaled. 

Not able to track audit logs 

The next thing to see is whether you’re able to track the audit logs from the access control system or not. The growing businesses required detailed reports for the investigations and compliance purposes. 

Compliance gaps

Then comes the compliance gaps. Industries like healthcare, finance, real estate, and others require you to comply with the industry standards. But there’s no way you can comply with the standards without the scalable system in place. 

Components of a Scalable Access Control System

One thing businesses need to realize is that not all access control systems are meant to scale. The ones that scale have the following components. 

Cloud-based management

The foremost component of the scalable access control system is the cloud-based management. You can manage users, permissions, and hardware from a single dashboard with the cloud platforms. This makes scalability effortless for you. 

Mobile access credentials 

Another crucial component is the mobile access credentials. This not only adds to the convenience for the large teams but also reduces the physical keycard costs for the businesses. 

Role-Based Access Control

The next component is the role-based access control. Everyone has a different role in the office. The access control system must be the one that enables you to allow access to the employees depending on their roles. 

Automated Reporting and Analytics

Another trait of an access control system is its automated reporting and analytics. The access control system must generate compliance reports, monitor usual activity, and identify trends across locations. 

Smart, PoE, or Wireless door hardware 

The modern hardware supports the remote updates and expansions, but without making any changes to the infrastructure or wiring. 

Scaling Access Controls Across Multiple Locations

Admit it or not, but it becomes complex to manage access when you have offices across multiple locations. It is because each office has its own doors, entry rules, schedules, and staff. But here’s the thing. Your business requires one unified system. 

So, have a look at how you can scale the small business access control systems. 

Centralize everything 

The first thing to do is to centralize everything with a cloud-based system in place. A cloud-based platform brings all locations to a single dashboard. With this, you can: 

• Add or remove users from all locations
• Manage door schedules
• View real-time activity
• Push system updates

The administrators can work from anywhere, and the managers get to see all locations at once, which makes the governance easier as the company grows. 

Use a unified user directory 

Inconsistent user management is what results in security risks for businesses. This happens whenever an employee leaves the company or moves to another branch. A unified directory gets integrated with Azure or Google Workspace. 

This integration with the user directory ensures:

• Each user has a single identity. 
• No outdated user credentials remain active. 
• Access permissions follow the employee across locations. 

This is a key for businesses that have remote teams, multi-tech staff, and rotating technicians. 

Standardize Access Policies

The next way to scale the small business access control systems is to standardize the access policies. Every location must follow the same security rules so that there’s no confusion and no gaps. The standardized policies are as follows. 

• Who gets access to what doors? 
• The access permissions depend on the role. 
• Authentication methods such as PIN and biometrics. 
• Time-bound access rules for the contractors. 

This protects the businesses from the weak spots. 

Deploy scalable and easy-to-install hardware 

The hardware flexibility is key when expanding into new sites. The businesses need to choose the equipment that: 

• Goes well with cloud systems
• Supports PoE for quick installation.
• Can be added door by door if required. 

This cuts down the infrastructure costs and avoids the need for you to replace systems every time you need a new location. 

Manage all sites via a single dashboard

The businesses that have more than one location need visibility into everything the most. This is where the centralized and single dashboard helps. One single dashboard helps businesses with the following. 

• Real-time status of all doors. 
• Visitor logs and occupancy reports.
• Remote locking/unlocking opportunities. 
• Proper alerts for the unusual activities taking place. 

This eliminates the need to call the site managers, and instead, the security teams get to see everything right away. 

Automate permissions

You cannot scale the access control system if you manually give the permissions every single time or whenever someone changes location or roles. The alternative? You can automate access permissions with role-based access control. 

The role-based access control is where you assign the access permissions depending on the user’s role. The access automatically gets applied to all the locations when the user is assigned a role.

This eliminates errors, saves time, and ensures each user has access to what they truly need and not otherwise. 

Implement consistent monitoring and reporting

Another much-needed thing to do to scale the access control systems is to implement consistent monitoring and reporting. Compliance and visibility matter the most when businesses expand. 

A scalable system has reporting features that enable teams to: 

• Track the access logs across every location.
• Identify unusual behaviour
• Generate compliance reports
• Analyze traffic trends
• Use occupancy data

The result? The businesses get to see everything happening in their operations across different regions, which is something on-premise systems cannot provide. 

Remote Troubleshooting & Maintenance 

Then comes the remote troubleshooting and maintenance. It is expensive and inefficient to manage hardware physically at multiple locations. It’s best to use the cloud-based systems. The cloud-based systems should enable:

• Updates
• Door resets
• Credential changes
• Troubleshooting without on-site visits

Phased Deployment Strategy

This is common to every business. Every business requires adding new sites as it expands. The phased deployment strategy happens to be the best when adding new sites. For instance, this is how it needs to be:

• Phase 1: Standard policies and selecting hardware and software
• Phase 2: Upgrade the risk locations
• Phase 3: Add new branches to the system
• Phase 4: Make use of the advanced features 

Final Say 

This is how businesses can scale the access control systems and make the most of the advanced features of the access control systems. The only thing is to hire an experienced access control service provider to scale the systems and ensure that everything is perfect to bring the optimal performance. 

FAQs

What to look for when hiring an access control service provider? 

Take note of the following factors when hiring an access control service provider. 

• Years of expertise
• Proven track record 
• Market reputation
• Pricing 

Is hiring an access control service provider a must? 

Yes, hiring an access control service provider is key as it ensures: 

• Professional installation
• Optimal performance
• Best ROI

Is scaling an access control system expensive? 

Not really. But not scaling the access control system is expensive, as it might require you to spend on its maintenance and replacement after some time. 

What features should to take note of in an access control system? 

The following features are a must in an access control system. 

• Customizable access levels
• Role-based access control 
• Integration with other systems