What is Access Control?
Access Control is defined as the mechanism of limiting access to a location based on permissions. This has been a staple of the security industry for many years. Traditionally, physical barriers and an identification mechanism, such as a magnetic card reader, would restrict access to authorised personnel. Covid-19 has brought new challenges to many locations, where access needs to be controlled for social distancing, but access is not limited by authorisation. Anyone can enter the location, but only when the location is not too busy. This type of access control is uniquely suited to people-counting.
How we control access
In order to provide this function, it is necessary to utilise multiple technologies. Firstly, we need to collect count data in real-time, as the system must be immediately responsive. Next, we need to calculate the location’s occupancy and compare it to the customer’s chosen limit. We then need a mechanism to display or alert when the occupancy limit has been reached. We can do this visually on a screen or we can use digital IO to control other hardware, such as traffic lights.
Using our software
This technology works best on Xenometric systems that are locally installed. Cloud installations are not so well suited to real-time counting, as many busy counters can generate large numbers of count messages. X-Server and XenoView both support access control and have built-in traffic light screens that can be customised.
