It’s never boring in the boardroom. At the later part of the 1990s, “paradigm shift” emerged as the buzz phrase, popularized as business speak until it was overused to the point of becoming meaningless.
No matter lessons learned from previous incidents, healthcare facilities continue to embarrassingly report laptops and flash drives containing patient information misplaced, lost and stolen, even in the face of increased regulatory procedures demanding more and better security through the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 and the more recent Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act.
When every single credential has to be read correctly – in the snow, rain, heat and gloom of night – a strong reader is necessary to handle high-security applications in extreme weather and rough environments.
Security officers are generally regarded as the face of security. Officers present a professional appearance at company entrances, patrol and tour facilities and grounds. But without tools, how effective is that officer? What value is a security officer’s presence bringing to the organization? And when cutbacks hit an organization’s security department, how can security directors maintain the same physical presence with fewer faces?
Smart cards, like other steps along technology’s ever-evolving pathway, biometrics and megapixel cameras to name two others, share ingrained challenges. New stuff is often more expensive than existing stuff. Bring something new in and, often, you have to upgrade other gear that is part of the total system to make it all work together. Then there are design, installation, maintenance and training costs as something new comes through the door.
I was searching my email outbox archives the other day and I ran across a column that I’d written a few years ago about the use of video and integrated security systems. I was adamant that a camera be ruled out for an access control solution versus considering it as an optional feature. I still maintain that assertion. I’m not saying that every door should have a camera – every door should be considered for one – as an integrated component of your access control system.
