Are Cloud-based access control systems worth it?

[christinescoms]

Hello all.

Just wondering what the consensus is regarding the move online for access control solutions. Personally I like the anywhere access/monitoring, but I find them very unreliable and slow. My staff sitting in the office have to wait between 2 to 5 minutes at times for the desktop app to update so they know who just entered or left the facility.

When we had the system on our local PC, we knew right away! And as for the mobile app access, it’s hit and miss depending on what’s happening with the provider's services and Amazon Web Services.

There’s nothing worse than getting a call at 10 pm or later with someone at the gate and can’t get in.

I’ve stopped promoting the mobile app for that very reason, it’s not a value-added proposition.

 

[christinescoms]

Hello all.

Just wondering what the consensus is regarding the move online for access control solutions. Personally I like the anywhere access/monitoring, but I find them very unreliable and slow. My staff sitting in the office have to wait between 2 to 5 minutes at times for the desktop app to update so they know who just entered or left the facility.

When we had the system on our local PC, we knew right away! And as for the mobile app access, it’s hit and miss depending on what’s happening with the provider's services and Amazon Web Services.

There’s nothing worse than getting a call at 10 pm or later with someone at the gate and can’t get in.

I’ve stopped promoting the mobile app for that very reason for access control ny, it’s not a value-added proposition.

Any other thoughts/experience? Thanks for any help

 

[ZipZapOuch]

Any other thoughts/experience? Thanks for any help

Sounds like you have a really crappy system. The location I am currently at uses cloud-based system and it updates immediately on the web. All managers and safety team members can see the current site population any time from anywhere.

Is your system a passive Bluetooth system (beacons) or is it a card-swipe system? The passive Bluetooth beacons take a while to update and depend on signal strength and activity of the receiving device.

 

[rjenkinsgb]

Just wondering what the consensus is regarding the move online for access control solutions.

Possibly for purely a monitoring system, though I'd try to avoid even that.

Definitely not for anything in the chain between the access control points and the site locks or equipment etc!

Losing access to monitoring is a nuisance. People on a site losing access to buildings or security equipment can be anything from disruptive through expensive to lethal!

Anything that must have internet access to work is neither totally safe or totally secure. If it must have online connectivity, stick with a leased server in your own country, from a reputable company, that you have full SSH access to for monitoring and maintenance.


With "cloud" systems, any storage or server you use would be auto-allocated by the companies storage management system, and could be anywhere in the world based on capacity at different sites, and possibly moved around as capacities and demand vary.

 

[christinescoms]

Possibly for purely a monitoring system, though I'd try to avoid even that.

Definitely not for anything in the chain between the access control points and the site locks or equipment etc!

Losing access to monitoring is a nuisance. People on a site losing access to buildings or security equipment can be anything from disruptive through expensive to lethal!

Anything that must have internet access to work is neither totally safe or totally secure. If it must have online connectivity, stick with a leased server in your own country, from a reputable company, that you have full SSH access to for monitoring and maintenance.


With "cloud" systems, any storage or server you use would be auto-allocated by the companies storage management system, and could be anywhere in the world based on capacity at different sites on Home Remodeling Redmond WA, and possibly moved around as capacities and demand vary.

thank you so much for your suggestion