5 Ways to Prevent Unauthorized Access at Your Business

01/12/21

by Wayne Foreman

There were 340,857 burglaries reported at non-residences in 2019, according to the annual FBI Uniform Crime Report. While that was an improvement of 13.1% over 2018, it's still a significant number of burglaries at businesses for one year. Let's talk about unauthorized access, and how to avoid it.

Businesses are at risk of losing lots of money due to burglaries and break-ins. Not only can they lose cash and valuable items stored on location, but they also risk having valuable data compromised when unauthorized people access their building.

The continued threat of burglaries makes it very important for businesses to consider commercial building security systems. Here are five ways that every business can prevent unauthorized access.

1. Issue Employees Key Cards/Fobs

An effective business security solution is keeping most building doors locked at all times. While the front door and access to the lobby may be accessible by anyone during business hours, all other entries can remain locked.

Authorized employees can then access the rooms behind the locked doors using key cards or fobs. Physical keys aren't the most advisable solution anymore, as they can be easily copied and distributed to unauthorized people.

Key cards or fobs, meanwhile, can be created for specific employees. Managers can turn them off or on at any time, rendering them useless when an employee leaves the company. They are effective because they can allow access to only parts of the building you want employees to access.

2. Install Reliable Security Doors

One essential aspect of all commercial building security systems is reliable exterior security doors. Installing commercial steel doors is a great way to not only prevent unauthorized access to your building, but also to deter it.

These steel doors last longer than their wood counterparts and are much more difficult to break into. The doors come built with vandal resistance. In addition, they come with fire ratings that help prevent the spread of fire and smoke within a building. What's more, they are an inexpensive way to prevent unauthorized access.

3. Install Traditional Commercial Building Security Systems

The most common after-hours business security solution is a traditional security system. The security system will go off when people open protected entrances to the building unless they enter the correct key code within a certain amount of time.

If someone doesn't enter the code in time, the security company will contact designated appointees at your company to alert them. If they determine a burglary is in progress, the company will alert the local police department for support.

Modern commercial security systems come with alerts and controls on mobile devices to make them easier to administer. You can also set the alarm to activate automatically for specific hours and days of the week, or to protect particular entrances to the building 24/7.

4. Install Video Surveillance and Lighting

Cameras and bright lights are two of the biggest deterrents to burglaries. Burglars tend to shy away from even attempting a break-in at buildings with ample lighting and video surveillance.

You can limit attempts at unauthorized access to your business by installing a video surveillance system equipped with bright lights that people can easily see. When burglars see the cameras and lights, they will be less likely to attempt a break-in in the first place.

5. Hire Security Officers

Not all unauthorized access attempts happen after hours. The FBI UCR found that 36.83% of non-residence burglaries in 2018 occurred during the day. In these cases, the presence of lighting wouldn't be much of a deterrent since it's not dark outside.

One way to combat these daytime break-ins is to hire security officers to patrol entrances that don't have much traffic. Having people patrol the outside of your buildings during the day can help to deter burglars and catch them in the act if they try to gain access.

The security officers can also regularly patrol the hallways of your building. If they see someone they don't recognize inside, they can ask for an ID to prove that person should be in the building. The officers would provide you with protection both on the inside and outside of your building.

Start from the Outside with CDF Distributors

Commercial building security starts and ends with secure exterior doors. CDF Distributors has a wide selection of commercial security doors to help prevent unauthorized access to your business.