Enhancing Office Access Control and Safety with BLE & RFID

Safety is of great importance in workplaces. This word is usually used in harsh and high-risk working environments like construction sites and warehouses. In reality, office safety, regarding more to employee well-beings and asset safety, is also a vital part in daily operations. Traditional manual management is prone to human error, leading to inefficiencies and also safety issues. There is where IoT technologies play a role, providing a more up-to-dated office access control solution to better ensure workplace safety.

Challenge

In Mexico, a business has been struggled with significant safety problems. Locating at the dynamic urban center, the office is open to any visitor. The reason could be its open-access layout and the traditional management system. To be more specific, there is no strict office access control system, which means all visitors could enter the office with ease. It has left raising safety risks in terms of both valuable documents and equipment theft.

Further, in emergencies, workers do not have an immediate method to trigger alerts. Managers need to physically investigate to understand the current situation and use verbal notifications for further response arrangements. The whole process is often in a slow pace and more likely to exacerbate the whole panic. There is an urgent need to update the management system and enhance overall safety within office.

Solution

In order to handle these challenges, our client has adopted an IoT smart office solution. Every employee is equipped with a card, embedded with both RFID and BLE technologies. Each card is uniquely bound to an employee’s profile, storing critical information such as identity and working department. Once arriving at the office, employees could use their cards to pass the RFID-enabled access control and enter into office. This strictly restricts unauthorized entries, person without a relevant card will be identified as an interloper and could not unlock the gate. Moreover, this RFID reader also records arrival times, enabling automatic check-ins and attendance recordings.

Within the office, Bluetooth^® gateways have been installed appropriately for creating a reliable network to monitor these cards in real-time. When employee faces an urgent situation, the button on their cards could be pressed instantly to trigger an alert. The card will send a Bluetooth^® package to nearby gateway, usually including critical information like precise location and identity of this employee. Then, the gateway transmits this data package to monitoring system, encouraging managers to adopt quick responses. By utilizing IoT technologies, this office has transformed into a more secure working environment for all employees.

Featured Product

H3 Card Beacon is a Bluetooth^® card designed to offer indoor location services and safeguard personnel safety. Utilizing BLE 5.0 protocol, it is able to transmit signals up to 150m. The button could be pressed in emergency situations and trigger immediate alarms easily. Ideal for access control and personnel safety monitoring in smart offices, warehouses and more indoor situations.