Physical security is one of those fast-growing industries that is making headway in nearly every vertical. From healthcare and education to retail, casinos, houses of worship, and city streets, security technologies are needed nearly everywhere, which makes them a fantastic addition to your value-added reseller (VAR) business.
However, with so much potential in this field, it may get a bit overwhelming when identifying your niche. For most VARs, it’s helpful to find a few verticals that suit them best and then find out how to serve those customers best with the systems you specialize in.
For example, access control is one of the strongest segments of the physical security industry. Here, we take a look at some techniques for implementing access control technologies across various verticals:
Education
One of the fastest-growing areas of physical security, the education vertical includes both K–12 and college/university campuses. Each school is unique, and there is a wide variety of access control needs on each educational campus. Some of the ways you might implement access control in a school are:
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Perimeter security: Although school campuses are usually very open, accessible areas, your customers might benefit from perimeter gates, bollards, and other devices used in order to secure certain areas and help direct the flow of traffic.
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Visitor management: This is particularly useful at K–12 schools, where administrators and teachers need to know who is authorized to gain access—and who isn’t. Visitor management systems help keep track of repeat visitors, while also checking them against common crime watch lists.
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Classroom security: There are many options for securing school buildings and classrooms themselves, such as digital and analog locks, card scanners and PIN pads, and wireless readers.
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Dorm access control: On university campuses, you may install additional security devices throughout dorm buildings. Because students live on campus at many schools, access to these areas must be tightly controlled.
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Restricted access: For labs, storage rooms, and other areas with restricted access, advanced security technology can be leveraged to provide an added layer of control.
Retail and hospitality
In these verticals, access control is in very high demand. Business owners are particularly interested in reliable yet easy-to-use locking systems for both the front and back of their buildings, as well as cost-effective ways to implement higher-security solutions in storage areas and cash rooms.
Healthcare
Hospitals and other healthcare facilities require many of the same access control systems, with a few additional measures in order to fully protect patients and visitors. These include security for parking garages, elevator control systems, and patient tracking solutions. In healthcare, integration with video surveillance is also a good idea in certain areas, such as patient waiting rooms, in order to help provide additional evidence during access control breaches and other security incidents.
Corporate offices
In the corporate world, most of your customers will require typical access control solutions for each perimeter and building entry point. In these settings, you might also integrate video surveillance in order to improve security even more.
In a corporate office, it is especially important for the client to enjoy quick and easy credentialing of new employees, as well as instantaneous removal of former employees. Look for card printers with high throughput and user-friendly software. And be sure that your technology has a reliable option for removing former employees, which will help prevent security incidents involving people who have been fired or are unhappy with the company.
In what verticals do you currently install access control technologies the most? Do you have customers from other verticals who are interested in the systems?