Access Control - Who Has Access To Registrant Data?

As a busy event planner – in seemingly endless contact with venues, catering companies, and the oh-so-demanding event sponsor – can you afford to spend time developing registration spreadsheets, keeping track of each registrant’s information, recording travel and hotel details, and taking and processing credit card info? For most event planners, the answer is a resounding no. The process of registration is often the straw that breaks the camel’s back, causing an event planner’s stress level to rise to supreme heights. Keeping track of all the technicalities of registration is a full time job that many planners are still attempting to juggle along with planning the event itself.

So, with the vast reach and simplicity of the internet, why are so many event planners hesitant to switch to an online registration company that will take care of all these technicalities for them? The answer is simple: they either don’t know about it, or they are worried that such companies could in fact complicate their lives. How can I know that information being put out on the internet will be safe? What if my registrants’ information is compromised? Will the online registration company use or sell my registrants’ information after they have it in their System?

With the right company, all of these questions can be avoided because registrants’ information will be secure and held safe for the sole use of the event planner. Even more importantly, with the right registration company, credit card information will be encrypted to the highest degree allowed by law, guaranteed by a SSL (Secure Socket Layer) encryption testing company, such as Thawte. Once you have chosen a company that you know to be secure, you will enjoy features such as an event website with its own URL for registration, custom reports, and the ability to export reports to a wide variety of formats. Using a safe and secure online registration system can simplify the event planning process while increasing registration! And you can be sure that registrants’ personal and financial information will be protected at the highest possible levels.

Registrant and event planner information that is protected to the highest degree possible offers you a guarantee that the information will be stored exclusively for the event planner’s use and will only be stored as long as is necessary. Holding to such standards, ensures that the event registration system is highly resistant to any breach, but if a breach does, in fact, occur, the system will have been monitored so effectively that it can be traced a remedied with accuracy and speed. A vulnerability recovery plan like this one is an essential part of upholding a strong security system to ensure that the system will not be breached. Your registrants will know that their information is safe.

Manually collecting registrations has long been one of the most tedious jobs involved in the event planning process, but it is no longer necessary for event coordinators if they choose a company that will offer the highest possible level of security so that they can enjoy the ease of use of such a comprehensive online registration system. With no need to worry whether or not their information will be hacker-safe, registrants will flock to your event because registering online is truly a far easier process than completing registration be old-fashioned snail-mail. Although giving up control over such a vital piece of the event planning process can be a frightening concept, doing your research to find a company that offers the strongest security for your registrants’ data, will save you time to deal with all of the other details of planning your next fantastic event.

Ryan is a member of the marketing team for RegOnline, a producer of easy-to-use conference registration software, and a company dedicated to making event planners' lives easier.

Burglar & Intruder Alarms-Protecting Home & Family-Business Access Control

Not too long ago our burglar alarm was a dog and very good neighbours. Today we have very sophisticated systems that few occupiers really understand.

No matter whether your intruder alarm is a basic DIY system, wireless burglar alarm or complex state-of-the-art integrated access control and security system, the principle is very much the same.

Let's take a look at how Circuit Alarms, Basic Motion Detectors, and more Advanced Motion Sensors work.

Circuit alarms come in two types: closed circuit and open circuit.

The concept is identical: electricity travels through the circuit protecting a door or window. With an open circuit, the current is not completed until the door or window is open, this triggers the alarm. The downside to this intruder alarm system is that all the burglar needs to do is cut the wires; this prevents the circuit from being completed.

Whereas a closed circuit intruder alarm, the current is broken when the door or window is opened, thus triggering the alarm.

All intruder alarms have a control panel and vary in complexity. They either have a keypad or traditional key to arm and disarm the burglar alarm. It is likely to have 'zones'; each zone represents a protected area. When the intruder alarm is activated, the control panel will sound internally as well as repeater sounding much louder through an external box, which may also flash. The control panel and external box will keep sounding until it is reset with a predetermined code or key.

The control panel should be sited in a place where the burglar cannot easily find and interfere with it.

Closed circuit burglar alarms are generally used as perimeter protection but be mindful that although the circuit goes around the door or window frame, if a panel is remove from the door, a window is removed without breaking the circuit, the intruder alarm will not be activated.

A motion detector offers an excellent back up. You may see these called PIR detectors and are located high up in corners, flashing each time they detect motion, even when the burglar alarm is off.

You can surround your home with a closed circuit alarm system that will sound the alarm when an intruder breaks the circuit. But once the criminal is inside, you need a whole different approach to how burglar alarms work. Motion detectors can assist in opening automatic doors and gate by detecting people approach. They can switch lights on too.

More advanced are passive infrared (PIR) motion sensors that see the heat given off by a person's body. The PIR measures the average room temperature and triggers the alarm when the energy rises rapidly, particularly when a human, whose average body temperature is 98.6 degrees, enters a room with an average of say 80-degrees

Don't worry about setting the alarm off when you enter a room, generally there is delay of a few seconds enabling you to reach the control box and disengage the alarm before setting it off.

If you have pets, don't forget to inform your security consult so that special PIR units can be sited in such a way that allows pets to roam without activating the system. . There are more advanced motion sensors, photo-sensor motion detectors for example. A beam of light is shone across an area in your property. When someone walks through the beam, it is broken and the sensor triggers the alarm.

A good intruder alarm system would combine both circuit and motion sensor alarms, thus providing you with two lines of protection against burglars

Digby Farquart is a UK security consultant and crime prevention advisor He writes articles for top sites such as UK Security Directory and Crime Prevention

Access Control Security Systems

An access control system provides a high level of security in your homes and offices. An access control system keeps restricted areas protected from intruders and permits access only to authorized personnel. An access control system even records the entrance time of employees. It protects and secures the people, documents and equipment of a certain facility. An access control system is very functional in buildings with multiple entry points. Entries and exits through these doors are controlled by the access control system using different types of security devices. The most common is the control panel which features numbered buttons or a touch sensitive screen that is connected to the lock and release system of the door. A specific pin code is entered by the employee and validated by the access control system.

The second device employed by the access control system is the Magstripe Reader which is also called the Swipe Card reader. The employee is issued an encoded card which he or she will swipe to disable the door’s locking system. Oftentimes, the encoded card also serves as his employee ID. Access control systems also use Proximity Readers and Long Range Readers. These sensors can detect an encoded card without the need for swiping. The former detects the card at a short distance of about 100 millimeters while the latter can sense a card from a distance of about 1 meter. As quick and non-contact methods of entry, these were designed to comply with the Disability Discrimination Act.

The Smartcard Reader enables the access control system to process additional information for other company services. Time-ins and outs, for example, are recorded. The access control system can also be interfaced with the company’s payroll system, parking system, catering and vending services.

Finally, access control systems that features the Biometric Fingerprint Reader use specific characteristics like finger prints and eye scans to identify personnel that can access a specific room. This system is highly accurate and avoids problems such as stolen or lost cards. Identifying visitors or non-employees with the access control system is possible through three methods - a door bell system that alerts the staff, an audio intercom system which allows the visitor to converse with the staff and an audio intercom system equipped with camera that allows the staff to view and identify the visitor. If access permitted, the entrance door is remotely unlocked and an escort is provided to welcome and guide the visitor. Cards or tags are also issued for proper identification.

In designing and installing a highly effective access control system, evaluate carefully the number of entry and exit points of the building, their locations, the level of security you need, traffic flow of people in the building, its operations and processes and future development plans. An additional feature you can consider is the integration of your access control system with the fire alarm of the building. Finally, purchase necessary equipment only from organizations approved by NSI (NACOSS).

Fabrics, accessories, and custom shutters provide excellent privacy control for the bedroom and bathroom windows

If your bedroom or bathroom faces the street or a nearby neighbor, issues of privacy and light control, plays a very important part in addressing your wellbeing and piece of mine. There are a couple of window treatments available to choose from such as lined panels, operative shutters, or light-controlling blinds. Either one of these window treatments will secure your privacy from unwanted eyes while taking a shower or changed your clothing.

Keeping light out of the bedroom is as important as letting it in or controlling its levels. Blinds do not offer as much noise control as heavy fabric shades and provide privacy only when they are completely closed. Heavy draperies are seldom appropriate for the scale and style of bedrooms, so use a combination of light draperies, shades, or blinds. Check the fabric to determine how much privacy and light control it offers.

Natural light is optimal light. To achieve good natural light control during the day, hang a flexible window treatment that provides privacy but let in maximum daylight. The best investment is a set of plantation shutters or high-quality blinds. If blinds blades don't fit tightly and are turned downwards, upstairs neighbors may be able to see through them. The same goes for blades turned upward, downstairs neighbors may be able to peer in.

A blind with standard white plastic or metal blades is always a good choice, while shiny; chrome blades express a sleek, chic style. Both are waterproof and easily cleaned with a dust cloth or a brush designed for blind blades. Another option is to install a classic white roller shade; it disappears behind a valance when rolled up to let in the light. Bedrooms and bathrooms should be restful, but they don't have to be dull or dated. Give your sleepy abode a wakeup call with lively window treatment.

Roger King has been involved in window treatments for several years, and has been helping people find and review the best value for window treatment solutions. Visit his Web site http://www.all-windowtreatmentideas.com to learn more about this service.