INTRODUCTION

There is a rapidly growing emphasis on workplace safety being driven by regulatory bodies such as OSHA in the USA and the Canada Labour Code. In addition, the introduction of Bill C-45 in Canada established new legal duties for workplace health and safety, and imposes serious penalties for violations that result in injuries or death.

The unrestricted use of dangerous machinery on the shop floor constitutes a significant liability issue for employers as evidenced by a $190K fine paid by Walmart in August 2013 for, amongst other things, “unsafe trash compactor procedures”. Under the settlement, trash compactors must remain locked while not in use, and may not be operated except under the supervision of a trained manager or other trained, designated monitor.

Clearly, hanging a sign on a piece of dangerous shop floor equipment which says “To be used by authorized personnel only” is not adequate.

Access systems have been used for many years to manage physical access to restricted areas. However, they can also provide a cost effective means of insuring that dangerous machinery is only used by trained and authorized operators.

Which is best?  A two reader access control panel or a four reader access control panel?

Answer: YES

If you need two readers, a two reader controller is best.  If you need four readers, a four reader controlller is best.

The MAP1 Modular Access Panel provides a simple solution to this problem.  A standard MAP1 can be provisioned for two readers or four readers.  The MSRP when provisioned for two readers is $1,083  When provisioned for four readers the MSRP is $2,000.  You can even upgrade a two door MAP1 to a four door MAP1 in the field for MSRP $1,000 - no additional controller hardware required.  Simply load the new provisioning code into the MAP1 and you are done.

In addition to being provisioned for the number of readers supported, the MAP1 can be provisioned to work with Cansec's Cloud Lock subscription based service or Cansec's First Access software (a traditional client/server solution.

You have probably noticed the tag line "Cutting edge simplicity" on every piece of product literature we produce.  It is also on all Cansec business card and is a registered trade mark in North America.  Ongoing advances in technology make it possible to develop products with ever increasing functionality.  There is a huge temptation to keep adding anciliary functions to new products to fully exploit the capability of the latest technology.  The key word here is "anciliary".  We have all experienced the frustration of using a product where it's primary functions are burried under a smothering layer of anciliary functions which will likely never be used.  "Cutting edge simplicity" is not just a tag line at Cansec, it is the guiding principle behind everything we do. - Fred Dawber CSO (Chief Simplification Officer)

In the begining, not to sound biblical, access control manufacturers published specific card reader and carholder capacities.  Life was good.  Sixteen readers and 1,000 cardholders.  The competition would be compelled to better these capacities and would release a system which doubled or tripled the card reader and cardholder capacities.  The spec war which ensued saw these claimed capacities grow by leaps and bounds.  Until a marketing genius somewhere came up with the idea of claiming "unlimited" card reader and cardholder capacity.

I have been involved in the design of card access control systems for close to 40 years.  Being a very simple, old fashioned  person, I established capacities of new systems by testing them under real and simulated loads and capacities.  Sometimes we found that, although a system was theoretically capable of handling say, 512 card readers, with 65,000 cardholders each using their cards several times every hour with many operators all concurrently managing cardholders and running reports, performace suffered badly.  We either found a way to make it perform better or we rolled back the claimed capacities.

Now, most new access control systems are claiming to support an unlimited number of card readers and an unlimited number of cardholders.  I can't help but wonder how they are testing these new systems?

If you are currently installing card access control systems and are looking for better profits and recurring revenue, you may want to consider becoming a  Cansec Cloud Lock Partner.

Cloud Lock is a true SaaS (Security as a Service) access control solution consisting of MAP1 access control panels connected to the Cloud Lock server which is hosted at an IBM data centre in Toronto, Ontario Canada. Since there is only one instance of the Cloud Lock software, every user always has the latest version. The system is managed via web browser from a desktop, tablet or smart phone.  The service is subscription based and very competitively priced. MAP1 (Modular Access Panel) controllers can be provisioned for 2 or 4 doors and can be upgraded easily in the field from 2 to 4 doors by simply purchasing an upgrade provisioning code. 

Cloud Lock Partner Benefits 

Integrator - "Hi. This is Bob with Tesla Security. I want to quote your ABC100 system for a project I am working on and I need to know how far the readers can be from the controllers."

Manufacturer - "Well that depends, Bob."

Integrator - "Of course it does. I understand. Assuming I use the cable that you recommend and run it correctly, what is the maximum distance?"

Manufacturer - "Well it could range from 30 feet to 300 feet. It depends on a lot of variable conditions at the site."

Integrator - "Exactly WHAT kind of conditions? The job is in Kimmirut in Nunavut and I am quoting the job from a set of floor plans."

Manufacturer - “Things such as the ambient RF noise and the thickness and construction of the interposing walls and floors must be considered.”

Integrator - "How the heck am I supposed to know ANY of those things without going to the site and spending DAYS doing a site survey? And what's more, the facility hasn’t even been built yet! I need you to give me the exact number of feet that the reader can be from the controller so I can submit my quote by noon today!"

Manufacturer - "I would love to do that Bob but I just can't. It depends. Is there anything else I can help you with today?"

Integrator - "Goodbye!"

When you think of line of sight, you probably, and understandably, assume that if you could draw a straight line from one wireless device to the other with no obstructions, you have line of sight between the two devices. After all, Merriam-Webster defines line of sight as: