Restricting Access
While there are many reasons for needing access control, the keys to accomplishing this task aren’t always obvious. This is especially true if you have a large property and need to restrict access to a significant area or if you have many changing security concerns.
An airport is a perfect example of this. Airports are required to use various methods to protect passengers and property. Most airports are incredibly busy, meaning that there are likely thousands of people passing through the airport at any given time. As you can assume, this makes access control both very important and very difficult.
Airport Security
When it comes to airport security, it’s not just important to keep people safe, it’s also important that you do not cause significant slowdowns with your crowd control and access control methods. Flights leave at certain times and, if your security methods cause frequent delays, you will end up with either flights leaving late or passengers missing their flights. Neither of these are good options.
Airports have various different security concerns to keep in mind. One of the major ones is access control. There are sections of the airport that are off-limits to the general public, and these sections could change depending on the time of day or many other factors.
Typically, a lot of security at airports is handled by security guards. However, crowded airports make it very, very difficult for security guards to be able to monitor everyone. This is especially true during busy periods (such as the holiday season, summer vacation, etc.) Not only would it require an unreasonable number of guards to protect every area of an airport, but these guards would lead to increased slowdowns for many passengers if they had to check and direct everyone manually. In addition, bottlenecks created by many access control methods cause additional slowdowns.
Another issue is that security is often disjointed and inconsistent in many airports. This can lead to confusion, miscommunication and, in some cases, security lapses. For example, studies have shown that many people have been able to smuggle prohibited items passed security guards and search points. In many cases, this is due to concerns with the speed of searches (i.e. guards do not want to create unreasonable slowdowns and thus they conduct less thorough searches in order to save time) as well as inconsistencies between the level of detail shown by various guards at various stations (i.e. a guard at one desk could be looking for different things or conducting his or her job in a different way than a guard at another desk.) As you can assume, this is a problem.
It is not just a problem for airport security. Event security also suffers from these same issues.
Event Security
For example, consider how the above issues could apply to concerts, sporting events and other larger public gatherings. Like airports, these venues are often very large. There are typically areas where the general public is not permitted and these areas can change depending on a variety of factors. Issues regarding time and the thoroughness of searches are also applicable (you do not want your security set-up to slow down the public too much so that they miss the event and, obviously, you want to ensure that the quality of the security remains at a consistently high standard.)
One effective solution to these issues is using physical security tools.
Security Gates for Access Control
Physical security tools (such as security gates) are a very effective way to control access. They also solve many of the issues noted above.
- By installing security gates, you reduce the number of security guards and surveillance cameras necessary to monitor crowds and restrict access to an area.
- Mobile security gates can easily be moved, adapted and adjusted as needed to restrict access to certain areas or to open up various areas as required.
- By adjusting mobile security gates to account for the size of the crowd, you reduce bottlenecks without sacrificing security. For example, if a large crowd is taking a long time getting through one opening, you can easily open up the gates in another area to speed up the process without opening up the entire property.
- Since effectively using security gates means that you can employ fewer security guards, it becomes easier to enforce consistent standards.
As you can see, using mobile security gates is a very successful solution to the access control problems that many airports and public event venues experience.
Mobile security gates can also be stored and can quickly and easily be brought to a location in order to provide increased security.
Working with Quantum Security Gates
Since 1997, Quantum has been providing reliable and effective security gates and physical security solutions to businesses of all sizes and types across North America. We strive to deliver high quality security tools to our customers while always providing quality customer service and superior after sales support. We can work with your business to help meet your unique security needs and keep your property safe.
For more information on our company and our products and services, please contact us today.