Multisite systems for access control

This white paper will introduce what multisite systems are, why they are beneficial, and to what extent Axis can offer a video-centric multisite setup for access control, using AXIS Camera Station Secure Entry.

An increasing number of organizations are benefitting from centralized management of their multilocation network surveillance systems. Multisite surveillance systems not only increase efficiency, they save money while doing so.

Today, network surveillance systems are getting increasingly more common and larger and, in many cases, more complicated. It is a safe bet that, for example, the average retail store manager would gladly hand the management of the system over to someone else. And this is precisely the point of multisite surveillance systems.

Depending on the role within the central organization, the user benefits of multisite surveillance systems vary. Management of information technology (IT) for business operations and operational technology (OT) for industrial control systems will get more effective across multiple sites. The benefits cover security monitoring, device management, inventory, and improved access control.

Multisite network-based surveillance systems come in many sizes. There are the small and basic systems, spread over just a few sites. At the opposite end of the spectrum are large and sophisticated so-called federated systems with maybe thousands of locations across several countries, including IP video surveillance, access control, speakers for messages, and more.

However, they all share one crucial characteristic. Monitoring, responding, reporting, managing alarms, and managing users are all done centrally.

Axis partners with many leading security management software suppliers, providing advanced federated systems. However, maybe you want to set up a multisite IP surveillance and access control system but do not need the complex functionality of federated surveillance. In this case, an Axis end-to-end solution (E2E) could be the perfect fit, where you get the entire system from one single supplier.

A multisite access control system provides superior scalability. It is very easy to add more access-controlled doors locally, or entire new sites, as the needs change. In addition, the local systems work independently with no need for synchronized updates of software between local sites and a central location.

A multisite access control system also provides centralized system monitoring, alarm reporting, door access assistance with video cross verification, and cardholder management. All these operations can be done from one central interface and across all remote independent systems.

Depending on the role and use case, multisite access control is typically managed either remotely or globally.

• Remote management. Operators can access all remote sites via one client but with a separate interface per site. They can thereby monitor access control system status, assist door access with cross video verification, investigate security events and alarms, add new cardholders, and configure access control system/devices. However, in order to share information between different sites or apply the same rules or configurations on different sites, operators will need to switch between the interfaces. For most use cases, remote management meets the basic needs of multisite access control, where more complex features or systems are not needed. 

• Global management. Operators can view and manage access control globally, from one centralized interface. They can thereby monitor access control system status from different sites at the same time, assist door access, investigate incidents with all events/alarm aggregated in one view, and manage cardholders globally and assign them to multiple sites with different access rules. This can all be done from one single interface, with one click, and no need to jump between different interfaces or clients.

Thanks to the very flexible and solid multisite framework and AXIS Secure Remote Access in AXIS Camera Station, the access control features in AXIS Camera Station Secure Entry can provide a level of multisite functionality from the start (from AXIS Camera Station version 5.36 and up).

* Coming feature to look out for is global cardholder management.