A local electrician (let’s call him Dave) needed to fit access control in a posh new office development and had purchased an easyopen networked controller and door control hardware from us. The building had four doors so one controller was all he needed and because easyopen is so simple to install it should have been a piece of cake – but guess what …
A few days later I received a call from Dave saying that he couldn’t get the system to work. I ran through the standard checks with him over the phone but couldn’t find anything wrong. As the job was local I decided it would be quicker to jump in my car and go and have a look for myself. An hour later I was on site. Two of his doors were fitted with shear locks and two with maglocks but out of the four doors only one was actually locking. I checked through his wiring and connections but found no faults. When I looked at the installation of the locks on the doors however – let’s say, whoever had done it was no joiner. The rebates to house the shear locks looked like they had been chopped out with a spade! The maglocks too, were badly out of alignment and clearly stood no chance of locking. Unless they are fitted correctly, electronic door controls will not perform reliably or as in this case, work at all! Even though Dave had got all his connections right and installed the software correctly the system had still failed because the physical installation was shoddy.
After an hour or so packing and out refitting the locks I managed to ensure that they had the correct clearances and would line up properly. The system was now ready for testing but unfortunately we couldn’t open the database Dave had created because he had forgotten the password! Luckily, it only took me about ten minutes to rebuild a new one and after a few tests the system was up and running and performing perfectly. Job done.
If you need help with access control ACI provides a quality installation service to ensure you get a discretely fitted system that’s perfect for your needs www.controls4access.co.uk
October 6, 2009
A Quality Installation
August 28, 2009
Away from it all
It’s that time of year again when installing access control has to take a back seat in favour of a relaxing away-from-it-all holiday. So for the next two weeks there will be no more talk of door control systems or networked 4 door controllers, maglocks, strike releases or touch sensitive switches and definitely nothing at all about cables! It’s been a demanding year with its fair share of excitement so I think I deserve a rest. The sad thing is, I know that at the airport I’ll still be looking at the security systems from a professional viewpoint. Luckily, I’ll have my long suffering wife there to keep me on the straight and narrow and by the time I get to the resort, access control will be a distant memory. See you all in two weeks!
July 27, 2009
Opportunist Theft
In my previous life, before the days of fitting access control, I worked for a shopfitting company as a technical designer and project manager. The company, based in rural Lincolnshire, was housed in large premises originally built in the 1960’s. During its lifetime the building’s layout had been modified on many occasions, producing a labyrinth of offices and corridors leading from reception at the front of the building. As with many companies, staff members, included the receptionist, were expected to cover many different roles. Unfortunately this type of multi-tasking often meant reception was left unattended. The front door, unlocked throughout the working day, had no door entry system or any form of access control installed. Security was handled by a simple reliance on people being honest. Big mistake!
One day, Bob the Burglar, “Can he nick it – Yes he can!” walked into reception. With nobody there to challenge him he carried on through to have a look in the main office. Nobody there either. But instead of feeling sad and lonely, Bob quickly made friends with the contents of the petty cash tin and a top-of-the-range laptop computer that fitted very nicely under his arm. He then climbed out of the window at the rear of the office and ran away across the fields.
I suppose that down the pub, Bob got fifty quid for the laptop to go with the fifty from petty cash. The company, on the other hand, got a bill for replacing the laptop, replacing the software, a couple of day’s lost productivity and inconvenience, not to mention the loss of all that sensitive data (most of which was not backed up).
If only they’d had access control fitted! A simple Coastform system fitted by Access Control Installations costs a lot less than a laptop. The access controlled door allows authorised staff members to simply walk in, but poor old Bob the Burglar gets firmly locked out!
July 13, 2009
A Real Head Banger!
I was at a large factory that makes glass bottles, fitting an access control system to the door of one of the maintenance and engineering workshops. The management had found that the workshops were prime targets for the theft of hand tools, equipment and parts. What was needed was a simple stand-alone system using RFID tags that would allow only authorised staff to get in. The job had gone well. I’d been left on my own without being interrupted and had made good progress. The easyopen controller, HD maglock, touch sensitive exit switch and the emergency breakglass switch were all in place and working correctly and I had a bag full of user tags ready for the manager to distribute to the engineers. I was just tidying up my tools, collecting up all of the packaging and those annoying little off cuts of wire that get everywhere, when I heard an almighty bang on the door. This was immediately followed by a tirade of profanities and half a dozen well aimed kicks at the door. Clearly, the management hadn’t told staff members that access control was being fitted and some poor chap had just walked at full pace into the locked door expecting it to open. It didn’t! I touched the exit switch to release the maglock and opened the door to see if he was alright. He was holding his nose and didn’t seem too pleased to see me, muttering something along the lines of – “I say old chap, I rather think you may be responsible for this dashed unfortunate pain I am experiencing”. The words may have been different and there was perhaps a bit more swearing but you get the idea. After a few minutes, when he realised there was no lasting damage, he began to see the funny side of it. Just goes to show, without an authorised card or tag you can’t get passed an access controlled door.
July 10, 2009
In the dog house!
I knew the installation at the kennels was going to be fun the moment I noticed the Pomeranian dog sinking its teeth into my trouser leg. Fitting access control, you meet all sorts of characters and this little chap was certainly making a big impression on my Wranglers! The job was to install a four door access control system at a busy kennels that was experiencing problems with unwanted visitors. No problem I thought, I just need to remove this dog first! I was fitting Coastform’s easyopen networked system. Each controller can handle up to four doors so I only needed to fit one for the whole site, not the usual one controller per door. Another up side of this is that my installation times are reduced and I am able to install quality systems at a very competitive rates.
The day progressed well as I worked my way round the doors, adding monitored maglocks, exit switches and emergency breakglass switches to each one, not to mention door closers. By mid-afternoon the dog was losing interest in my leg and had gone off to rest. That gave me the chance to get on with the business of installing the software and configuring access rights for the users. The software is a doddle! A wizard finds all of the hardware, you give each item a name, add a few users, click and drag the doors to assign them to the users, update the controller and it’s done. The client was delighted with the completed installation and after a just a quick run through of the software and its features was able to add and delete users and monitor the system with ease. Now the client and all of the dogs, including my little friend, can sleep safely. Job done!
Introducing Mark…!
Mark - the happy face of Coastform and ACI
September 16, 2007
Five fascinating facts about Touch Technology
Five things you should know about Touch technology.
1 – Touch technology is a misleading term – it is often not necessary to actually touch the sensitive plate. Simply bringing your hand close to the plate will activate the switch.
Membrane and piezo keypads are often referred to as touch sensitive, but in
fact they require light to firm pressure to operate. Capacitive touch technology
detects the presence of a finger touch on the surface and even above the surface
of the keypad. Capacitive touch sensors are the same as proximity sensors but with much lower sensitivity
2 – The more accurate term is Proximity technology. Which gives rise to possibility of activating the switch through glass, opening up a wide range of security applications which are not possible with conventional switches.
Coastform are at the leading edge of developing through-glass touch technology.
3 – Touch switches can be used to trigger more than one electronic action. For instance, light a light and sound a buzzer to indicate that the action has taken place, as well as open a magnetic door lock and maybe turn on a light inside the room.
A capacitive proximity sensor can also be used to detect the removal of objects from the local vicinity of the sensor.
4 – Touch technology uses no moving parts, so there is no ongoing maintenance and no parts replacement programme required.
5 – Touch and proximity sensors can be made in a wide variety of shapes and sizes.
Coastform have created touch buttons from the size of the smallest finger tip and proximity sensors to detect a persons foot anywhere above a paving slab.
Coastform Systems are leading designers and manufacturers of devices using touch technology. Full details of our products at www.coastform.co.uk
Welcome to the fascinating world of access control et al!
Welcome to the fascinating world of access control, touch switches and much more. We here at Coastform Systems aim to bring you news, facts, tips and more about our world.
