The Different Types of Access Control Locks and Their Uses

Through the years the only way that businesses could restrict access to a building or secure area of a building was by lock and key. This led to may problems because there were usually several working keys in circulation and no accountability as to who used them and when. That is no longer the case since much more sophisticated keyless access control devices have entered into the marketplace. Now businesses have a much easier time restricting access to buildings and secure areas and having some accountability to go along with that.

The Purpose If Access Control Locks

The main purpose of access control devices is to restrict access to a building or area of a building to only personnel that are authorized to be there. Businesses also had a goal in mind to be able to closely monitor this activity too. So they were looking for access control devices that offered accountability too. The procedure to authorize individuals access to restricted areas also had to be easy to implement. It also had to be set up so the access parameters could be periodically changed to enhance security.

Access control locks contain four key parts in order to make them work for a business. Three of these are the electronic control activation point, the keycard or magnetic access badge (or a combination may be required), and the working locking mechanism itself. All three of these parts must work in unison for a door lock to open. The fourth part is a means of recording lock data such as who opened a secure area door and when.

Different Kinds of Access Control Locks

Here are some of the main types of access control locks that are found in use at commercial properties toady:

Keypad locks

These were the second type of area control locking devices to come into widespread use. The fist was keyed deadbolt locks. They work by entering a specific code or combination into them. The biggest drawback with these types of access control locks is most everybody had to have the same code. This lowered the security that these access control locks offered and there was little accountability when using them

These locks are most often found being used in such areas of a business as on warehouse doors and

Keycard locks

These types of access control locks took user accountability to a whole new level never experienced before. With magnetic keycard locks, once a user swiped them or activated a lock with them, the system would record whose card was used and when. Keycard locks also were easy to control because they were simple to activate and deactivate. They are the most widespread type of access control locks in use today.

Businesses like them because they can be used in a variety of different ways. They are not only seen providing access to buildings and secure areas of buildings but they are also used to access such things as parking garages.