“Between new COVID-19 health regulations and increased employee concerns, offices need to rapidly instill a safety culture in their return-to-work efforts. Social distancing guidelines make it a requirement for all businesses to deeply understand how their buildings are being used, how people move through the space, and how building systems keep them comfortable and healthy. This requires tools that aggregate business, building, and security data to drive decision-making and communications.” Honeywell News, “3 Ways Enterprise Can Accelerate the Future During COVID-19”
These days everyone is asking what tools and technologies are available to support safe workplace environments. In this article, we pulled together some of the questions you asked with solutions our vendor partners are offering. Some are COVID-specific, but many could be valuable tools to increase efficiency for your business moving forward.
1. What technologies are available to handle identifying individuals with high temperatures or those wearing no masks?
One of our senior account executives, Dlo Sykes says that there are several solutions on the market available to handle identifying individuals for these issues, and they are available on existing platforms our customers may already have in place such as Avigilon and Vicon.
Vicon has introduced a Thermal Body Temperature Measurement Network Camera which is designed to screen people with elevated skin temperatures so businesses can monitor and control access points. The camera provides contactless temperature detection for single or multiple people with an accuracy of +/-0.54 F, and immediately alerts operators to events such as individuals with higtemperaturesre or with no mask. It provides a snapshot so operators can quickly and easily identify individuals for further screening and verification before they interact with others. Click here for a short demo.
Avigilon Control Center (ACC) video management software (v7.6.4+) features No Face Mask Detection technology powered by AI-enabled video analytics to determine when an individual is not wearing a face mask in your facility. When analytics detects an individual not wearing a mask, it prompts an automated alert through ACC video management software for the operator to take appropriate action. It can also run real-time reports to help understand adherence levels across the organization and identify where corrective action or further education may be required. Click here for a short demo.
Elevated temperature events can also be configured in Avigilon’s ACC software with the H4 Thermal ETD solution. This solution increases the efficiency of screening for indications of elevated temperature and supports centralized monitoring alarms or other notifications as well as local screening workflows. Click here to learn more.
2. How do I ensure that my facility is not exceeding the new occupancy limits or social distancing guidelines?
Having staff at every entry counting people coming and going or watching for pinch points in hallways is inefficient and possibly costly, but some solutions handle this issue through video surveillance and access control platforms.
Identiv has launched a new solution on its 3VR video intelligence platform to support customers’ needs. Identiv’s 3VR Real-Time Real-Timey Dashboard is a COVID-19 response solution that provides simple-to-use safety strategies that help schools, small businesses and retailers ensure proper visitor tracking and social distancing support. The dashboard displays show current occupancy, occupancy limit, and a tr, traffic signal to clearly cte to visitors when they can or cannot enter a store, facility, or school,l. Click here to learn more.
Avigilon Control Center (ACC) 7 Occupancy Counting Technology feature provides organizations with an easy and streamlined way to help control and identify the number of people in a facility, removing the need to count manually and the subsequent guesswork on occupancy by staff. Click here to see a short demo.
In conjunction with Avigilon Access Control Manager (ACM), ACC can also provide important insights for contact tracing, such as understanding where an infected individual has been, which doors they attempted to access, and who else may have come in contact with those doors and that individual. Click here to learn more.
3. What are the best no-contact access control options to support safe work environments?
One solution, suggested by Erick Slabaugh, CEO of Absco Solutions, is to use automated door openers deployed in conjunction with contactless access control to mitigate physical interaction at controlled doorways.
Avigilon’s Access Control Manager (ACM) system is an IT-friendly Physical Access Control System (PACS) that integrates with many other platforms to provide touchless solutions. Click here to learn more.
Identiv offers the ability to integrate with automated door openers as well as several touchless technology options for the office. These range from their Freedom Access Control (FAC) system, which uses the location of your mobile device to determine your proximity to a door for hands-free ingress and egress, to their 3VR Real-Time Occupancy Dashboard, which shows current occupancy and occupancy limit. The real-time view and analytics eliminate the need to keep personnel at entrances monitoring people coming in and going out. Click here to learn more.
4. What systems can help overcome communication challenges during social distancing?
Ralph Brickley, Absco Solutions senior account executive, says “ When used correctly, intercoms can create contact-free entry and communication points…Video intercom stations at main entrances, so visitors can talk to staff, remotely allow doors to be unlocked, instructions are given, etc. without any close contact. Intercom systems also lend themselves to conveying emergency communications, hallway instructions, and even mass notifications to staff, visitors and authorities, rapidly spreading information that without, would require manual activation. Automation reduces both contact and delays.”
IPhone has introduced a touchless sensor for gesture-activated calling. It is compatible with their IX Series door stations and it is easy to add to new or existing intercom installations. It
- Provides a contactless way for visitors, vendors, and employees to initiate a call
- Reduces the spread of germs and bacteria
- Has an adjustable detection zone to help avoid unwanted activations
Combined with an IP-based video system, it provides contactless visual verification that the person requesting access is wearing proper PPE and allows for appropriately distanced communications between individuals requesting entrance and the facility. Additionally, an IP intercom system can be used in tandem with new thermographic technology allowing operators to communicate specific safety protocols to individuals before they are granted access. Click here to learn more
Talkaphone’s new personal safety and mass notification solution, bAlert, provides end-to-end protection when critical or non-critical events occur and offers a COVID Safety System. This system can easily integrate into an existing COVID-19 screening workflow or create new and efficient workflows for facility entry. It includes timed entry badges and a self-assessment feature. Click here to learn more.
5. How can I plan funding to meet the needs of operating in a COVID-19 environment?
The 2020 CARES Act made changes to the tax code that could potentially provide you with extra budget based on work we have done for you back through January 2018. Click here to review our June article on the CARES Act.
With integrated solutions in place, organizations can leverage their existing technology and enhancements innovatively to better protect their employees, customers, and community. Please reach out to us at salessupport@abscosolutions.com or your account executive with any questions you have about safe workplace environment technologies that support your current situation and help you to prepare for the future.
