NCJ Number
73379
Journal
Security Management Volume: 24 Issue: 11 Dated: (November 1980) Pages: 80-84,86
Date Published
1980
Length
6 pages
Annotation
Points to be considered in installing access controls are given and the advantages and disadvantages of varied systems are considered.
Abstract
Electronic access controls experienced a phenomenal growth through the 1970's because of the rapid increase in the crime rate, efforts to boost productivity by eliminating manpower, and advances in solid-state electronics. The article describes a range of electronic access control systems that combine guards and electronic devices such as the integration of closed-circuit television into the system and supplemental voice communication. It also describes electronic access systems that require action only by the person desiring access, such as digital systems which incorporate numeric touch pads, or button fields that accomodate a 3 to 6-digit code. Card (or badge)-activated access control systems are compared, including the magnetic stripe card, magnetically encoded cards, capacitively-coded cards, optical density cards, tuned circuit cards, and Wiegand effect cards in which a series of discrete binary pulses are emitted by the wire. The article also briefly reviews on-line and off-line systems for card-activated access control, card readers with keyboard options, degraded mode operation, the addition of historical data retrieval capability, and antipassback systems. Photographs, charts, and a list of questions an industrial user might need before buying a system are included.