How Smart Building Security Works: Access and More
Wednesday, 25th May 2022
Smart buildings use integrated and automated technologies and processes to improve efficiency and to optimise usability and accessibility. And while building security has conventionally been costly and limited, smart building security offers a host of new opportunities.
In this article, we want to show you how smart building security works. At Infogrid, we are a leader in building intelligence, using the world’s smallest IoT sensors to allow you to gain deeper insights into your site, while boosting employee wellbeing and health.
This way, we can help to create a building environment that is secure, efficient, and productive. But let’s start with the basics.
What is a smart building?
A smart building is a type of facility or space in which technologies are put in place to automate different processes. For example, these can drive efficiency, boost employee productivity, or ensure their wellbeing.
Typically, the Internet of Things (IoT) is the technology that powers building intelligence. IoT equips objects and systems across your facility—from piping to doors to lighting—with smart sensor devices. Feeding real-time data to a central dashboard hub, IoT technology delivers smart insights, to help you better understand your buildings.
This can help facilities managers and security personnel better able to monitor site access, control occupancy levels, and get a better understanding of your buildings in general.
Smart building technology ultimately enables you to ensure the safety and integrity of your facilities and safeguard the wellbeing of all of the people working in that environment. Let’s see how it can make that happen.
How can smart buildings ensure security?
Smart buildings can provide better security through a number of specific use cases. Here’s what you can expect Infogrid to provide:
Occupancy monitoring. To ensure a healthy, safe, and secure environment, you need to have clear visibility on how many people are using your facilities. IoT devices can provide this information simply, efficiently, and through complete automation.
Smart devices can tell you usage patterns for rooms across your office buildings, or even the desks or bike racks in your workplace. You can put this information to use to ensure safe social distancing, for example, or identify usage anomalies that may suggest a security breach.
Door and window monitoring. Door monitoring systems can provide alerts on when visitors and customers are entering your facility. These can enable you to get real-time insight into who is entering your site or building so you can better control unauthorized access.
Door monitoring technologies have other advantages too. For example, you can use them to monitor toilet cubicle usage, to optimize cleaning.
Access control. With the information you gain from access and occupancy monitoring, you can support technologies for access control too. As part of larger building systems, for example, you can verify and grant access to particular users of your site. Smart locks, too, which use smartphone identification or facial recognition to grant access, could be an indispensable integration here.
Preventative maintenance. Site security is not just security from intruders. As facility managers or building owners, you need to ensure security against equipment malfunction and risks too. Smart maintenance can help you prevent equipment downtime by tracking its health and intervening before maintenance is required.
Wider building insights. It’s often said that knowledge is power. The greater your understanding of the way that your building or facilities work, the better equipped you are to ensure its security and that of its users.
What else can smart systems offer?
But that’s not all smart systems can enable you to achieve. They can also help you to secure:
Efficient consumption. Pipe monitoring systems can help you track water leakages and minimize the risk of pathogens—to ensure a secure and healthy environment for all the users of your buildings.
Air quality and employee comfort. Infogrid’s Healthy Building System is designed to help businesses reduce the risk of sick building syndrome, which can negatively impact employee wellbeing and productivity.
Fuller insights into your buildings. IoT security systems can be integrated into your building to improve your administrative processes and drive operational efficiency.
At Infogrid, our smart solutions can help. Let’s show you exactly how they work.
How do smart security systems work?
Our smart building system works to help you understand and secure your facilities in three steps:
IoT sensor data. All of our building intelligence systems begin with our IoT sensors. We work with the smartest and smallest sensors in the world to provide you with insight into space usage, indoor climate, building access, and more. Our sensors are easily deployed and zero-maintenance, and they can start feeding data within moments after installation.
AI processes. Our proprietary artificial intelligence system turns raw building data into actionable real-time insights. This way, you can track usage and access trends, spot weaknesses in your security system, and provide strategies on how to improve efficiency and more.
Data dashboard. Data on your building health and integrity is delivered onto a single data hub. Accessed remotely from your device, it gives you an immediate and holistic view on your building security—from wherever you are.
Of course, security no longer just means physical security. And when we talk of smart security systems, the security of that data system is a priority. At Infogrid, we ensure that site security goes hand in hand with cybersecurity, by securing all building data with encryption best practices.
What benefits can smart security bring?
So, why bother with smart building security? Simply, because it brings some incredible benefits—both for facilities managers and the users of buildings.
Better security. Straightforwardly, smart building systems enable better security processes. With IoT technologies, you can track security threats and maintenance issues in real-time throughout the day and night—to ensure the wellbeing of your staff and all building users.
Easier risk assessment and management. You can get a better idea of potential risks too. With smart systems, you can identify and assess the likelihood of security issues before they happen—to enable more efficient compliance work and safer users.
Remote tracking. With smart security systems, you don’t need to be always on site to ensure the security of buildings. Instead, with Infogrid’s data dashboard, you can get insight on security issues from wherever you are.
Improve your ESG score. Part of your environmental, social, and governance performance will be measured by your ability to assess risks to your business. Security plays a big part here. FInd out more in our article on ESG reporting.
Integrated data with deeper insights. Ultimately, get a better understanding of your building portfolio—improving energy efficiency, staff wellbeing, and more.
Let Infogrid help
At Infogrid, we can help to make your workplace more secure, efficient, healthy, and productive. Book a demo to experience our smart building system first hand.
