News is coming in and things are looking bad for business. As of Q2, 2020, we’re sitting at 30%- 40% decline in the GDP and COVID-19 is still here. The economic crisis we’re facing makes the Great Recession look like a minor bump. Jobs will be lost, businesses will be closed, and buildings will be redefined for the new world.

Upcoming Security Challenges for Commercial Buildings

As a building owner, you may have to advertise for new tenants; or (on the brighter side) acquire more space for renting out to companies that need socially distant offices. You’ll also face new security challenges to bring your building in line with the expectations of your customers, regulators, and the society at large.

While economists say there’s no relationship between economic downturns and crime, criminologists disagree. A sharp rise in robberies, burglaries and thefts was reported by the police department in the wake of the Great Recession of 2008. We can’t overstress the importance of physical security after a crisis much worse.

Some of the COVID related security challenges can include:

·         Replacement of the unhealthful contact based security system or and equipment such as handheld friskers, fingerprint scanners, pin pads, and touchscreen displays with touchless unlock systems such as face recognition access control.

·         Video surveillance of the people entering the building for identifying unauthorized access and averting the risk of tailgating

·         Use of remote temperature scanners to find out if anyone entering the building has a fever and initiate subsequent safety procedures

·         Use of video intercom where necessary to minimize direct face to face contact, such as between the entrance and the front desk

Automatic Unlock Control and Building Security

An automated unlock system can be used to control physical access to rooms, elevators, entrance lobby, and any other part of the building where only authorized people are allowed. The access control system can play a pivotal role in implementing adequate security measures and make the building safer for everyone. However, legacy systems such as key cards, pin pads, contact based biometric scanners, or even the more modern smartphone access control fall short of meeting the diverse and complex security requirements of tomorrow’s buildings.

For example, contact based scanners, interactive displays, and keypads are unsuitable for post-COVID-19 buildings because they provide sanctuaries for viruses and bacteria to inhabit and spread infections. Key cards can be cloned quite easily and can be used by unwanted or infected people to enter the building.

Smartphones, though they were the new kid on the block before the pandemic broke out, cannot be used for unlocking doors if they have a dead battery, which might cause a security fiasco. Also, smartphone access control does not have built-in face recognition functionality and does not prevent tailgating.

With these pre-pandemic systems, it is hard to implement important security features such as two-factor authentication, video and photo surveillance, and multilevel access permissions. Some of these automated unlock systems work on your on-premises server and network and are a security disaster waiting to happen.

What Makes Touchless Unlock Control the Future

Touchless door unlock control is based on facial recognition technology. The last few years have seen significant advancements in artificial intelligence and machine vision technologies and now innovative companies are integrating them with physical objects to fuel the Internet of Things.

For touchless unlock control, latest computer vision cameras are wired to electronic locks and connected to a cloud controlled database. Swiftlane, a touchless access control startup in San Francisco, created a software application that unlocks doors using face recognition or mobile credentials. New users can enroll swiftly on their mobile phone by snapping a photo of their face to create a login. Then, all they have to do is look at the face reading terminal to unlock the doors to the areas they are authorized to enter. Security teams can monitor, grant, or revoke access to any part of the building from anywhere using their mobile phone.

The new generation of door unlock systems can read faces in 2D and 3D and can match face signatures with mobile signature to deploy effective two-factor authentication for sensitive areas of the facility. Face recognition unlock can also function as video surveillance and video intercom simultaneously for no extra cost.