You have a chemical leak and everyone must evacuate the building. Are you able to quickly account for everyone in your facility, including visitors?

A disgruntled employee is dismissed. Would he or she be able to reenter the premises?

Your IT assets are located along a hall that visitors frequent. Can just anyone walk in, or do you have restricted access to your sensitive information and expensive technology?

If you're like many businesses, you can likely answer "no" to at least one of those questions. Security is often a "back burner" concern among business owners, especially at smaller companies, according to Mark Grzegorek, Sales Manager at Identatronics, an Elk Grove-based maker of custom identification cards and access control solutions to secure the workplace and manage workforce.

"It's often a 'want,' not a 'need' … until something happens," he adds.

Instead, businesses should look at security like investing in a new piece of equipment. You don't want to wait until the old one breaks down before you make an investment.

If budget is an issue, identify where you're most vulnerable and then tackle security projects incrementally. "By determining where you're most exposed, you can begin a project within your existing budget and then grow over time," Grzegorek says.

Here are some key areas to assess:

Facility Access - What are the access points to your facility and how secure are they? Do you have a procedure if a disgruntled employee is dismissed? Do you change locks or replace keys? Or do you have a system in place that allows you to digitally control access to your building — smart cards or PIN access, for example?

Upgrading access points by replacing doors and locks, especially if you're in an older building, is one way to improve the shield around your business. It's now even possible to control access from your cell phone. For example, if there's an intruder in the area, you can lock down the entire facility with the press of a button from a safe location off site.

Safety and Emergency Plan - When was the last time you updated your safety plan and procedures? Do you conduct drills? If there's an emergency — your building is under lockdown or everyone needs to evacuate — do you have a way to know who's in your facility at that moment?

Thanks to technology, there now are ways to instantly know who's in your building. "In the event of an emergency, supervisors can use their smart phones to see if all their folks are accounted for, " Grzegorek says.

Visitor Management - Visitor management goes hand-in-hand with managing access and being able to account for people in an emergency. How do you manage visitors, including temporary employees, entering and leaving your facility? Do they have unrestricted access to your building, or do you have a way to control which parts they access?

Feel you could benefit from an outsider's perspective? Identatronics can walk through your facility with you to identify your security soft spots and assess your level of risk.

Learn more by contacting:

Mark Grzegorek
Sales Manager
Identatronics
165 N Lively Blvd.
Elk Grove Village
708-316-8463
mark.grzegorek@identatronics.com