November 2016 CT

THE KEYS TO EFFECTIVE SECURITY By Kevin Oliver, President, G&C Electronics

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I t’s a new world. You hear that all the time. If you watch the news long enough, you’ll begin to feel that our safety is at risk in every facet of our daily routine. It’s true that the need for top notch security increases with each new threat that evolves, however, advances in technology also allow security professionals to keep pace with those threats. But that security comes at an added cost for those who are in charge of managing properties. So how do you stay vig- ilant without completely wiping out your community’s bud- get? The answer is simple: quality information technology. As a manager or resident board member, you naturally want to map out and create a safe environment within your community. Your residents want the peace of mind that their family members and their property are safe from outside threats. But the price needs to be right and the inconve- nience to residents needs to be low. One starting point is intelligent access control. Living in a gated community sounds great in the bro- chure. But how often do you come across properties that

leave their gates up all day due to equipment issues, poor credential management or just plain convenience? You have to wonder if the price of a service call is worth jeop- ardizing the safety of the entire community. Make sure your gate systems are working properly at all times. Think about contracting with a reputable company to do scheduled gate maintenance to ensure that the system components last longer and remain working reliably. If your access gates are currently operating by using ‘garage door’ type remote controllers, your property isn’t secure. When these remotes get lost, stolen or lent out, anyone who has one can easily drive onto the grounds undetected. Inherently, this type of system gives you virtu- ally no information about who is entering or leaving the "Your residents want the peace of mind that their family members and their property are safe from outside threats."

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