Commercial/Building Access Control System Integrator: Design, Sales, Installation & Service

Building Access Control System Services -Summit-Argo, IL 60501

Protect your organization from costs involving: Employees, Inventory, Theft, and more.

Andromeda sells, installs, services, and supports a host of recognized, top-quality access control systems in order to provide the best possible solution to your office and building security needs. We focus on Access Control installations for local, medium-sized businesses like yours in Summit Argo, IL.

By integrating an electronic building and office access system with security camera and burglar alarm systems through your computer data network, your business can reap many additional rewards beyond basic security/protection functions involving your employees, your inventory:

• Comprehensive intruder deflection & defense (including detection, restriction)
• Audit-trail and automated attendance reporting (to greatly improve and simplify other aspects of your daily, weekly, and annual tasks!)

Keyless Entry
No need to change locks, make or replace keys

Time-Controlled Access
All devices can be programmed by time-of-day and day-of-week on a "per entry-way" and "per employee" basis

Audit-Trail Reporting
Know who goes where and at what time - all the time!

Time and Attendance Reporting
Paperless time cards with break and lunch verification

Alarm Notification
Produce Email alerts and phone/camera system responses to entry breaches

Dual Authentication
Require two access methods for entry to sensitive areas

Anti-Pass Back
If someone does not enter legally, the same person is unable to exit.
No Tailgating!
Disable access entry at a moments notice.

Telephone System Control/Monitoring
Link 2-way intercom & door control to your phone handsets!

Andromeda Technology Solutions is a technical services provider offering 24/7 emergency response to areas like yours in Summit-Argo, IL 60501 with remote access converging voice, data, surveillance, and access control systems. 

^
Let's Get Started On YOUR Access Control System in Summit Argo, IL

Contact us or fill out the Request form on this page now to ask us to contact you!

We provide Building Access Control system design, installation, help, setup, repair, and tech support throughout Chicagoland and NE Illinois.
Besides the immediate Chicago metropolitan area, we are pleased to provide Access Control services to most of the surrounding suburbs.

AndroPedia Tech Library

As part of our service, it is important to keep our client-partners well informed on Access Control system developments, news, and best practices. Here is just a sampling of typical items from our AndroPedia^SM library archive:

Professional integrated security systems are important to every business. We’ve shared the different features burglar systems provide that have nothing to do with a break in , the top five reasons you should replace your traditional lock and key with an access control system, and other educational materials over the last few months. Many times, customers consider security systems as separate components:

• Security Cameras
• Access Control
• Burglar Systems

With integrated security your solutions can work together to improve security, reduce risk and even improve productivity. That being said, we’ve decided to dedicate the next few Security Blogs to this topic.  Thru our next blog posts, we will be covering different scenarios/features that can be maximized with integrated security solutions.

Integrated Security – It Does A Whole Lot More Than You Thought

Environment Regulation – your burglar system can be equipped with special temperature sensors that will alert you if specific areas – a server room for example – exceed or dip below assigned parameters. This can save you from a great deal of hardware trouble and headache. Imagine though that with integrated security you can take this concept to an entire office building or warehouse. With integration, you can set up your facilities to monitor activity via security cameras and configure automatic lighting, heating or cooling settings for when people are present/absent. This can reduce your utility costs greatly and is an eco-friendly option for your business.

Improved Productivity – increased productivity is something everyone benefits from both personally and professionally. Traditionally, employers depended on security cameras or time clocks to monitor productivity. This was a start but hardly a way to collect data or truly motivate staff. These days software can be integrated that monitor’s user activity via the network. Keystroke logging software, web traffic logs, firewalls and other software applications can track productivity. On top of this, the data gathered show user/department trends, and any number of additional data points a company wants to gather. While some employees may grumble at the idea of close monitoring, this data can be a way for business owners to dole out promotions, bonuses and other rewards.

Visitor Management – with integrated security, visitor management for professional buildings and residential buildings is managed with software and closely monitored. No more sign in sheets, lost badges or calling up for an escort/permission (of course you can still do these things if desired). Integrated security reduces labor requirements and demands while also increasing security and protocol. A proper solution can automatically register visitors, print passes, give instructions on where to go and alert appropriate staff/persons of visitor arrival. There are even components that can be used to manage traffic flow within a facility to avoid wandering (both by foot and behind the wheel).

The post Integrated Security – It Does Much More Than You Thought Part 1 (2 Part Series) appeared first on Andromeda Technology Solutions.

If you’ve made the decision to install CCTV Specialty Cameras at your office or facility, chances are, you’ve got some specific reason in mind.

For some, that reason may just be that you want to make sure that your offices are as secure as possible. For other individuals, camera installation comes as a direct response to an incident on site.

We believe the most important question when it comes to security will always be ‘why’. Until you answer that question, it is very difficult to gain a true understanding of the full scope of work. On top of that, we want to make sure that the basic motivation for any installation is exceeded.

Sometimes that ‘why’ is going to mean that a business needs something beyond a basic camera installation. Sometimes the ‘why’ points towards more advanced integrated security options or training.

And other times, the ‘why’ simply means that a customer needs a speciality camera or program setup to get the job done.

With that in mind, we’d like to introduce you to three CCTV Specialty Cameras and their uses.

Three CCTV Specialty Cameras

Traditional PTZ Camera

A PTZ Camera simply stands for Pan Tilt Zoom Camera. This means that the CCTV specialty camera can pan, tilt and zoom around in its assigned field of view. These cameras cannot see EVERYTHING but they are very useful in situations where you have a lot of ground to cover but desire the ability to zoom in on specific fields of view from time to time.

These cameras can also be programmed to constantly move across a designed view path to deter criminals or wrong doers.

Example: Often we install these cameras to look over parking lots or busy staging areas for businesses. By installing a traditional PTZ camera in a parking lot, you can zoom in on suspicious activity or trespassers at any time. It is important to mention though that the PTZ camera can only capture the field it is currently monitoring. This means that if the camera is panned over to the left of its field of view, the right side of the field of view may not be recorded. To avoid blind spots, Andromeda recommends to place fixed CCTV specialty cameras that will cover the whole desired view at all times. That way, no matter where the PTZ camera is pointed, you never miss a thing.

PTZ Cameras With Tracking

A PTZ Camera with tracking has the same functionality as your traditional PTZ camera. It is able to pan tilt and zoom to capture the frames you desire. The neat thing about these cameras though is that they are able to utilize new technology to automate image tracking. This means that with proper programing, your camera is able to spot abnormal activity in its frame, zoom in and even alert assigned contacts (either you or even the authorities).

The first thing we should mention when it comes to ‘tracking’ cameras is that these come in a variety of optional setups. Some tracking cameras have pre-configured software that gives them the ability to ‘track’ for movement or pattern disruption, other cameras will simply need additional programming to enable this function.

Example: Continuing the example from before, if you install a PTZ camera with tracking in a parking lot, the camera can be programmed to monitor movement outside of business hours. Or, you could have the camera monitoring for movement during the day. You could even have the camera track and zoom in on every person approaching the building during the day to alert security or reception of visitors etc.

Options are really open to your needs and desired outcome (within reason of course!)

License Plate Cameras

License plate cameras are probably the most common request Andromeda sales engineers receive. And that makes sense. If you are looking to monitor who comes in and who leaves your facility, what better way to do that than with an image of their license plate right?

Absolutely.

But, these CCTV specialty cameras do come with a pretty hefty price tag. This is because the high quality images required to capture a license plate AND make sure that the characters on the plate are legible cannot be attained by just any camera.

These CCTV specialty cameras may also require special programming for license plate recognition if required.

Example: A busy warehouse or fulfillment center has trucks coming and going all hours of the day and night. For security purposes the facility manager wants to alert the staging area and the office to who is on their way for pickup of goods. So – a license plate camera is installed at the gated entrance of the facility. The camera captures an image of the license plate for security to review and validate. Once the truck is cleared by security, the driver may enter and have goods loaded. This allows for a more secure facility and even increases productivity because the staging area is able to be organized in anticipation of trucks already on site.

These three examples are only a few when it comes to specialty cameras. There are also options with enhanced night vision, 360 degree field of view, ultra HD image capture, extreme weather proofing and more.

Every camera installation is different and has its own set of needs. Once you really nail down the needs, it is easier for your technology and security partner to provide a solution that will not only meet them but will exceed them as we’ve outlined above.

If you believe that you have a specific need or a unique request, feel free to reach out to us and let’s see what our engineers can come up with.

We love a challenge!

The post How To Secure Your Professional Building With Three CCTV Specialty Cameras appeared first on Andromeda Technology Solutions.

Hackers around the world didn't waste any time. New Year's celebrations have barely ended, and already, we have our first reports of a new malware strain to help ring in 2021. Dubbed Babuk Locker, the strain is aimed squarely at corporate networks.

Based on an analysis of the code, security experts have concluded that the software was designed by mid-level hackers.

It's a bit of an amateur effort, but the malware is competently designed and the encryption function is rock solid, so if you fall victim to this ransomware, there's no unlocking the files. You're either going to have to restore from backup or pay the ransom in Bitcoin.

Babuk has only been used in a handful of attacks thus far this year. Then again, this year is only a few days old at this point, so we could be seeing the beginnings of a significant campaign. As ransomware goes, however, the creators of Babuk don't seem to be overly greedy. The ransoms they have been demanding have ranged from $60,000 to $85,000 USD, payable in Bitcoin.

Given that the average last year was just over $110,000 USD, that's not awful. Make no mistake, having to pay any amount of money to access your own files is unacceptable, but if you do fall victim to some type of ransomware, this is one of the least expensive strains out there.

In any case, the best case scenario is not to fall victim to a ransomware attack in the first place. Given that these types of attacks have become many hackers' go-to option, it pays to review your current security protocols and see if there's any room for Improvement.

Most people make at least a few New Year's resolutions on December 31^st. It's certainly not too late to resolve to make your network security a top priority this year.

Aggregated