Technical considerations in site access management systems

Site Access Management Systems (SAM) within the UK have evolved throughout the 90's, utilising increasingly more powerful and sophisticated hardware, more advanced communications services, and more effective software, thus providing improved user interfaces and better data/image handling characteristics. The requirement for SAMS in secure establishments came about from a desire to increase the actual and perceived security of a site or building, by capturing the data and image of everyone who crosses the threshold, printing a high speed, low cost ID pass, and storing all of the information for future processing purposes. The user demands for high speed processing, simple yet secure user interfaces, large files with images, and data communications presented many development challenges. In the early days, there were severe performance and storage restrictions due to low PC specifications, ccd camera technology, storage capacity, and network communications limitations. However, the software and design disciplines that were essential to even make it work in this environment, established a framework that has provided a sound basis for further system development and growth as technology advances at an ever increasing rate. The latest versions of SAMS operate on a Windows NT platform with SQL databases, providing secure operation and industry standard interfaces. There are now systems covering wide areas of site access, with interfaces to HR and AAC systems, and full data integration where possible. Wide area networks offer shared information for large organisations, with Intranet Visit Notification providing substantial financial and security benefits.