Access Control

Your security system is the first step towards physical security you can rely upon with confidence. What can you do to further secure your business after having a basic alarm system installed, alongside heavy doors and good locks? A more comprehensive access control system can assign individuals unique access cards that allow physical access to your building or a secure room or storage area and can monitor access to a much higher degree. Access cards are the gold standard for security checkpoints and site safety in the modern age, allowing for quick, personalized access from whole facilities and manufacturing sites to individual doors in your local office. 

w“Physical Access Control” refers to restricting entrance to a property, a building, or a room to only authorized persons by technological means. Commonly controlling physical access revolves around an existing alarm system, allowing only authorized persons to disarm the alarm and access the protected space. This can be accomplished with personalized codes or security cards that help you keep track of who is accessing the space, and when. 

While all security systems provide physical monitoring to some degree, it is equally accessible to everyone with a code. An access control system can do a lot more to protect your building. The main difference between physical access control and traditional security systems is the added capability to monitor and control access to parts of your physical space without having to alarm the entire building. With the selective control of a physical access system, you have the option to alarm individual doors so you can add an extra layer of security to areas where sensitive data and money are held. Such a solution is perfect for a managerial office for a local small business, providing total peace of mind. 

With a physical access control system, you can limit who has access to inventory, for example, to restrict access within a manufacturing facility or warehouse. Making sure only authorized personnel have access to your operations floor and office spaces, and only during their working hours, can help protect your inventory and mitigate your liability for stored materials and personnel safety. For sensitive manufacturing projects and office security we have the option to install additional physical access control points between sections of a facility. This security is particularly helpful when protecting sensitive client information; helping your clients feel confident that their records are safe behind multiple levels of physical security. 

In industries such as the technology sector, some of the most important security considerations revolve around data. However, digital data security is meaningless without physical security. The best firewalls in the world can’t protect data from physical infiltration. Restricting access to sensitive information and computer systems using physical access control is a necessary step in taking data security seriously. 

The benefits go beyond simple peace of mind for your employees and your clients, physical access control can be required in some industries and under some circumstances to be compliant with regulations such as HIPPA or PCI, or may be required in contracts with clients requiring data or information security. Like many other aspects of your security system, physical access control can help qualify you for significant business insurance discounts, making the system more affordable than you might expect.

Panic Buttons & Medical Pendants

The key feature of any security system is the ability to summon help when you need it.  While your basic security system will do this when it’s armed and subsequently triggered, this typically means you aren’t home, or you’re asleep, or it may alert authorities in response to other dangers such as fire or alert you to flooding, but this may not always cover your needs or unexpected emergencies.  

If there is an intruder when the system isn’t armed because you’re home, your security system won’t be active.  Though this isn’t common, it is a terrifying scenario. However, many business security systems have been designed to deal with this exact situation for many years.  Silent alarms in banks have been a mainstay for decades, allowing tellers to quickly and safely alert the authorities to an emergency. 

To this end, installing panic buttons near registers, safes, and any other likely targets, as well as at reception desks and any other ‘gatekeeper’ post is a wise way to keep employees safe.  Even with on-site security personnel, arming them with panic buttons to alert the authorities when a situation arises reduces their personal risk and the risk to any other employees, customers, or other vulnerable parties.

Even in cases where armed robbery is unlikely, panic buttons allow your staff (or your family) to get help when they are unable to make a phone call or must have assistance as immediately as possible. 

This same concept is available for home alarm systems in the form of wearable and static panic buttons. These panic buttons alert the correct authorities as fast as possible through the Central Monitoring Station.  Wearable panic buttons are generally designed to be worn as a pendant or bracelet that is easy to activate in an emergency.  By integrating these buttons into your existing security system, you give yourself an instant way to make use of the substantial resources tied to your security system.  The 24/7 Central Monitoring Station can be made aware of emergencies your system simply can’t recognize on its own.

This technology may sound familiar.  Medical alert systems have been advertised on television for many years, allowing you to call for help immediately if you have an unexpected fall or other medical emergency. They operate under precisely the same principles, but are focused specifically on medical emergencies, whereas a good security system will summon whatever kind of help you need.

In many ways, the widespread use of this technology in homes through medical alert systems has been excellent for helping to make these systems even more reliable and safe through extensive testing and innovation in real world settings and scenarios.  The buttons and systems available today typically involve more redundancies and digital monitoring than in the past, helping to ensure they will work properly when you activate them, or that you will know when such a system is in need of maintenance.

In these troubled times, protecting yourself, your family, and your employees from violence and other dangers is more important and challenging than ever.  Being proactive in addressing these risks requires you to prepare today for the problems you may face tomorrow.  Installing panic buttons in strategic locations and/or offering wearable panic buttons to your employees will help to keep them safe by getting the right emergency services involved as quickly as possible.

7 Steps To Improve Fire Safety In Your Home

Keeping your family safe from a house fire requires common sense, planning, preparation, and an understanding of the main causes of a catastrophic house fire.  While we all have the peace of mind a basic smoke detector system offers, there is so much more you can do to both reduce your risk of a fire and equip yourself to respond quickly to a fire to ensure the safety of everyone in your home.

1)    Make a Home Evacuation Plan
We’ve all heard this one before, but how many of us actually have a plan in place?  Making sure everyone is completely aware of the best and safest ways to exit the house in case of a fire can be the difference between life and death.  Try to have at least two ways out of every room. Having a designated family meeting place in case of an emergency helps to ensure that your family members can be accounted for quickly.

2)    Follow This Simple Preparedness Checklist:
Of course, you should always follow manufacturer guidelines for safe use and maintenance practices for all equipment, but these are some especially important examples.

▢ Test all Fire alarms monthly, replacing any dead batteries.  Make sure that you replace your fire alarms every ten years, to reduce the risk of equipment failure.
▢ Check monthly that your fire extinguishers don't need service or replacement.
▢ Update and review your Evacuation Plan with all household members twice a year.
▢ Always clean your dryer’s lint trap before using it and clean out its exhaust system at least annually, more often if you’re using the dryer more than 4 times a week.

3)    Remodeling or Building Your Home Soon?
Look into installing a sprinkler system for the most vulnerable rooms in your home, such as your kitchen, workshop, garage, and any rooms that contain a furnace or fireplace. These can dramatically reduce the damage caused by a fire.

Even if a Sprinkler system isn’t right for you, reconstruction is a great time to assess your needs for appropriate fire extinguishers, new hard-wired alarms, and any other prevention and mitigation equipment you may need.

4)    Be Vigilant
Be sure that you visually inspect and deal with likely causes of fire at least once a year, call in a professional for assistance as needed.  Here is an example checklist of major fire risks.

▢ Grease: Beware build up in your kitchen (for example, under your burners or behind your stove).
▢ Radiators: Cobwebs and dust must be cleaned out following manufacturer guidelines every Autumn before starting up your furnace for the first time.  Inspect the radiators for any damage or signs of failure when cleaning them.
▢ Furnace: Check for rust, cleanliness, and any signs of a potential leak or other problem.
▢ Chimney: Follow the recommendations of your furnace or wood stove manufacturer, but generally your chimney should be inspected and cleaned by a professional every year depending on the type and quantity of fuel you burn during winter.
▢ Wiring: Try to always keep an eye out for fraying or bare patches on the power cords on your appliances and any wires visible in an unfinished basement or other room. Electrical fires are a serious danger.

5)    Always Keep Heaters Safe
Make certain that radiators, baseboard heaters, and space heaters are at least three feet away from any easily flammable object such as upholstered furniture. Avoid leaving heaters on when there is no one home to monitor them. Take a look at this article for more general information about how to keep your radiator use safe.

6)    Protect Your Children
Keep matches, candles, lighters, and accelerants well out of the easy reach of children, ideally lock these up or childproof their containers.  Teach your children to respect fire and not play with it.

7)    Consider a Monitored Fire Alarm System
Even if you do everything right and have all the prevention and mitigation available, there is still a risk of fire.  Your best choice to reduce the consequences if a fire occurs despite your best efforts is to have a monitored Fire Alarm system.  Most security systems also contain devices for the detection of fire conditions. 

Here at On Pointe Security Systems, we pride ourselves on doing everything we can to help you keep your business, home, and family safe.  Call us today at 207-509-3531 to schedule a free estimate.

Protection Against Basement Flooding

When you hear “security system” you probably think of solutions like our Burglar Systems. However, there is a lot more to protecting your home than simply stopping human intruders.  Especially in winter, the environment itself can be a much more likely and devastating threat to your home! Frozen pipes, flooded basements, and accidental fires are more common in our Maine winters and can be protected from with a security system.

It happens often that we have our first warm day and the snow begins to melt, but the ground is still frozen.  Where can all that meltwater go if the ground is frozen? It usually ends up in your basement! Even if your basement usually spared, eventually the water makes it to our waterways, which rise high and sometimes overrun their banks.  Unless you're situated on top of a hill or have an expensive system to actively keep your basement dry with pumps, all that water can flood your home with no outward sign.

Getting early warning from a flood sensor can save you from disaster.  Early action allows you to save important property and deal with these seasonal menaces before they're a problem.  Most flood sensors will alert you when the incoming water is just a trickle.  Not to mention, if you have a burst or leaking pipe, these systems can make you aware of them long before serious damage occurs.

Another function that offers great peace of mind in winter is temperature monitoring.  Don't worry about your furnace's pilot light going out or any other kind of HVAC failure. You will be notified if your home's temperature ever drops below 40°F.  These systems can also warn you if your summertime air conditioning fails and your house gets too hot, a real lifesaver for any pets left at home.