The switch to mobile credentials over key cards and fobs is a drum we’ve been beating for a while here at Brivo. There are multiple reasons why it makes more sense for both security professionals who manage security and employees who access the building to make the switch.
A new article in Campus Safety Magazine points out some compelling statistics around the subject:
Mobile Credentials for Professionals in Charge of Security
Why are mobile credentials better for professionals in charge of the security of their facility? First, 98% of American office workers have a smartphone, and from the statistics mentioned above, the same percentage of workers who use key cards would prefer to use their smartphones as their access credential. That means no buying, tracking, and replacing key cards. Employees already have the tool they need to access your facilities in their pocket or purse – their smartphones.
Even more important than convenience and efficiency, is security. Forty-one percent (41%) of those surveyed lost their key cards or had them stolen and 34% let someone borrow them. That creates a huge security risk by allowing potentially unauthorized access to your facility. If you don’t know who is accessing your facility, with stolen, found, or borrowed key cards, you don’t have control of your building.
Mobile credentials can provide peace-of-mind for security professionals because people are less likely to lend or borrow a smartphone for a credential. Also, if a smartphone is lost, it is automatically locked behind biometric security codes. No one who finds it will be able to use it to gain access.
Another major benefit of using mobile credentials is compliance with new COVID-19 protocols. Mobile credentials allow for better personnel control. Only allow personnel through certain doors so they must pass a security checkpoint before gaining access to their office. Employee self-screening can also be deployed through mobile credentials. Unless the employee takes the assessment each day to verify they do not have a temperature or COVID-19 symptoms, they cannot gain access.
Mobile Credentials for Workers Accessing their Office
For workers, mobile credentials are more convenient to use. They are less likely to lose or misplace their smartphone rather than a keycard and their smartphones are always on them. Mobile credentials also offer the same contactless solution as a key card.
New employees can more easily be brought onboard using their mobile credential which is activated through the cloud, so there is no exchange of anything physical to get them access to the office. This makes onboarding new employees easier for Human Resources too, now there is one less physical tool for new hires to receive.
Physical security and access control are more important than ever now. The best way to ensure the integrity of your security is to give those accessing your facility credentials that are the least likely to be lost, stolen or borrowed. Check out the article from Campus Safety Magazine to see more survey results.