When a corporation wanted to improve the efficiency of their security operations, they asked Automation Software & Engineering (AS&E) to develop a unique, mobile software solution for better access control management throughout their facility.
We designed this distributed application for the security department of a large industrial manufacturer with multiple pedestrian and vehicle access points across their facility. The application permits real time tracking of the number of people and vehicles on site, including employees, contractors and visitors, giving the security department the ability at any time to determine who is at the plant in case of an emergency or if someone needs to be notified.
This access control management application replaced paper logs that previously had to be stored and manually searched for any pertinent information. Each access control point utilized several paper logs every shift. Most security guards, many with poor handwriting, felt the paper logs slowed them down resulting in missed vehicles and incomplete records.
Before implementing this system, the security department did not have a good way to track lost or stolen passes. Managers resorted to publishing lists of revoked, lost, and stolen passes to each access control point, but many guards failed to check the lists on a regular basis.
Used primarily by gate guards, the AS&E developed tablet application allows rapid entry of vehicle information, vehicle passes, and visitor information. The tablets communicate with a central server that controls authorization, tracks people and vehicles, and provides reporting services. Tablet users can also record inspections and vehicle searches associated with entries and exits.
If a revoked, lost, or stolen pass is entered on the tablet, the guard is notified of the problem, and can receive special instructions on how to handle that particular case. For instance, if it is a revoked pass assigned to a terminated employee, they may contact HR. If it were a stolen pass, or someone who might be a threat to personnel or property, they may be directed to call the head security office or local police.
As a result of the improved communication between different shift personnel, the security department makes far fewer errors now, benefiting the safety of everyone on the property.
The system permits tracking of:
- The people results grid lists last name, first name, company and employee type.
- The system stores first name, last name, employee type, company, office phone, cell phone, employee number, and active flag.
- Employee Type indicates if the employee is full time, salaried, west side operations, or contractor.
- The active flag lets a gate guard disable a user by unchecking the checkbox. Disabled users cannot be checked into the facility through the tablet application.
- The pass results grid displays the pass number, type, who it is issued to, company, date issued, date revoked, and status.
- The system tracks pass number, pass type, who the pass is issued to, company, date issued, revocation date, and status.
- Passes with statuses of revoked, blocked, and stolen cannot be used to enter the facility.
- The vehicles results grid shows state, plate number, make, model, color, primary driver, company and pass number.
- The system tracks State, plate number, make, model, color, style, year, company, vehicle number, driver, status and pass number.
- Passes entered must be existing passes.
- Status indicates if a vehicle is active, sold, junked, or disabled.
The system also permits tracking and record keeping of:
- Visitors
- Pickups / Deliveries
- Rental Equipment
System reporting features include:
- All Traffic Report
- Daily Entry / Exit Report (matching entries and exits to calculate time on site)
- Company Vehicle Tracking
- Scheduled report delivery available in PDF and Excel formats
An Intranet site facilitates management of all passes, employees, contractors, and vehicles within the system, including issuing and revoking passes. Planned enhancements include material pass tracking, incident report tracking, citation tracking, and document workflow enhancements.
AS&E has helped numerous companies across all industries incorporate information technology into their daily operations to improve quality, efficiency and productivity. Contact us now to put our expertise to work for your company.