Besides solutions to detect body temperature and manage critical incidents, the importance of several traditional security solutions has come to focus after the new Coronavirus outbreak. After all, the ideal response to the virus is keeping a distance from infected people. And security companies have, for years, been perfecting solutions to keep unwanted people away.
“Protecting people and against viruses need different technologies, typically from medical to biological and high technology such as CT scanning,” said Lo Yip, Marketing Executive at OT Systems. “But today IoT technology can share the responsibility, our solution combines a thermal camera and a mini-computer, which is capable for frontline personnel usage and it is easy to learn and high mobility to move to anywhere. Covering every corner of your concern.”
Access control systems
The integration of identity and access system to lift calling and floor landing can reduce the touching of common areas.
“We have a customer that requested us to integrate their access control system to a sanitization chamber to ensure users stay in it for at least 15 seconds,” said Patrick Lim, Director of Group Strategy at Ademco Security. “We also created goods trap so that goods are handover in a sanitization box for someone to pick up on the other side, ensuring the sender and the receiver do not have contact.”
Lim added that another utility customer decided to change their key management system because it became a possible spread point with hundreds of people using it and handling the keys.
“Instead, we replace the system with a 2FA system with facial recognition and mobile digital identity, which reduce the locks to the only common contact point, and users will sanitize their hands right after handling it,” Lim continued. “These reduced the vast amount of time required by customers to sanitize many areas with the key management system.”
Visitor management systems
This is probably the first line of defense for commercial enterprises. In a blog post, Stanley Security pointed out that companies that have visitor management kiosks can make use of the solution to screen people with the following questions:
- Do you currently have a fever, cough, and/or difficulty breathing?
- Have you recently returned from China, Italy, Japan, South Korea, or other areas with confirmed cases of the Coronavirus?
- Have you had close contact with someone who has a confirmed or suspected case of Coronavirus?
These questions can provide valuable information about a visitor. A visitor management system that integrates with access control can further boost the security levels.
Remote management
A typical response across the world to the outbreak has been to make employees work from home. In fact, when the virus first wreaked havoc in China, analysts wondered if this could pave the way for the biggest work-from-home experiment in the world.
This has had implications in security management as well. Thanks to developments in technology, we now have security software platforms that allow remote monitoring and management from computers and mobile devices. The unprecedented level of control modern software can give security admins would come in handy when they need to remain at home but still need to make sure that a site is protected.
Camera solutions
The thermal cameras that are useful in detecting fever in people needn’t be a standalone product either. Paul Czerepuszko, Strategic Business Development Director at FLIR Systems, explained that there are thermal camera products that can integrate into security solutions, like a fixed solution. This solution could be combined with temperature measurement capabilities and then send alarms to the VMS.
Regular security cameras also have an essential role to play at a time when health care officials need to watch over vast numbers of the quarantined population. Uninfected people should remain away from those that are infected, but surveillance cameras can still help the former to watch over the latter.
Finally, advanced video analytic solutions can also play an important role here. Lim said that video analytics can monitor if an unusual crowd is building up or if social distancing is practiced. When paired with facial recognition, they can also provide movement tracking for very effective contact tracing if there is a positive case within a building or area.