A Glance into Access Control System, How ALPR Would be a Game-Changing Method

Security and vehicle access control are essential services for many organizations. Most people are familiar with regular car access control systems, where gates and access points are operated by security staff or require a key card for entry. However, modern technology is providing even more opportunities for organizations to improve efficiency and security with automatic methods that implement AI (Artificial Intelligence)

Artificial Intelligence has the potential to improve access security to even higher levels. ALPR (Automatic Licence Plate Recognition) combined with AI technology, promises to enhance access security without significantly raising costs.

Regular Car Access Control Systems

There are many varieties of regular car access control systems for parking areas employed throughout North America, and most present challenges for management to overcome regularly.

Key Card Access Control

Key card access control is a popular choice for many companies. It’s relatively simple to implement, can log access times, and can be used in multiple locations.

However, key cards are often lost or stolen. Stolen key cards provide easy unauthorized access for thieves and criminals.

Manual Check or Valet

A human at the access point provides many security advantages. Security personnel familiar with the staff will make it harder for criminals to gain unauthorized access.

Paying staff every day can get expensive; even more so when around the clock surveillance is required. People also get sick and need vacations, which can create headaches for management.

Manual entry using security personnel at peak times is often slow and usually results in the early morning and late afternoon queues, as staff might be required to assist each vehicle and manually check identities and credentials.

Parking Ticket Machine System

Parking ticket machine systems allow the visitor access to a car park for a certain amount of time or track the hourly use of the car park and charge the driver accordingly.

These systems are generally non-restrictive about who gains access to the car park, so are not suitable for organizations which need to limit access to staff only.

During peak times, parking ticket machine systems usually result in a long queue.  When someone loses a ticket, car park attendants are needed to get the queue moving again. Of course, lost tickets can significantly increase wait times. 

ALPR Access Control Advantages

ALPR access control is a relatively new access control system that provides significant advantages over other methods. Optical character recognition scans the licence plate of a vehicle and determines if the car is authorized to use the car park.

ALPR solves many of the inherent problems faced by the systems mentioned above. An ALPR system can recognize a vehicle as soon as it drives up to the gate. Queue times are almost non-existent because the system can identify a licence plate and determine if the car is authorized in as little as a second.

A smarter parking system using ALPR also means you no longer depend on key cards or key fobs- the licence plate provides the ‘digital ticket.’ Drivers also gain access to parking without the usual early morning queues. In a traditional parking system, 30 seconds will pass before a driver can move through a gate. 

In addition to access control, ALPR can also perform real-time video surveillance from one camera. Once the easy setup routine is complete, the customer or staff member is then able to access the system through the cloud, with no need for additional costly hardware or software installation.

Freely Technology Inc. provides leading-edge parking solution, including AI-driven ALPR Access Control System, and Cloud Parking Management. If you would like to learn more about creating a more efficient and secure parking experience for your staff or visitors, tell us about it at Freely.io