Training on How to Combine Access Control and Health Checks for the COVID-19 Era

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies are instituting a new policy requiring that all employees, contractors, and visitors pass through a temperature checkpoint prior to granting them access into a building.  Training on how to link access control with medical technology, such as thermal scanners to take people’s temperature, is available from Open Options.

Adapting access control to protect people’s health is a novel challenge for security and IT personnel who manage access to buildings and campuses. Each health check needs to be directly linked to the access control system to activate the right card at the right time for the right person who does not have COVID-19 symptoms, such as a fever.

For integrators and end-users who need training on how to design and manage this type of new set-up, Open Options’ Training department is now offering custom training sessions specifically to help customers adapt to coronavirus-related public health measures. Open Options provides best practices, insights, tips, and lessons learned.

At a recent Regional training class in Denver, CO, there were several discussions and scenarios centered around reopening schools and office buildings during this unprecedented time. Granting access to individuals that have successfully passed thermal scanners and temperature checks as well as wearing a mask, while denying access to those that fail to meet criteria were some of the main topics.  Several solutions including utilizing existing hardware and integrating new technologies such as medical devices with DNA Fusion were also discussed. The class was very interested in ways to secure the building while providing solutions to keep their customer’s healthy.

“Because the web-based trainings Open Options offers can often be broken into two sessions, we are able to make one of the sessions a situation based training, and we go through the numerous possibilities regarding various trigger and macro combinations that could be used for a temperature checkpoint, among other things,” said Brittany Tate, Technical Trainer at Open Options. “DNA Fusion is able to accommodate the changing needs of customers, given the major adjustments that are needed in order to open safely back up in a COVID-19 world.”

The training department recently conducted a training session on new coronavirus-related protocols for accessing a building, such as conducting a temperature check and verifying that the person is wearing a mask. After the session, one customer provided positive feedback about how the training enabled him to immediately implement what he had learned, boosting his confidence that the organization would be ready to re-open and follow appropriate guidelines to protect people’s health within buildings.

“The participant was so impressed that they added email notifications to inform managers when their employees didn't pass a temperature checkpoint, so they could follow up promptly,” added Tate. “The checkpoints were properly in place via DNA Fusion. The ease of the application and the fact that they had so many options regarding card-holders were huge high points. The customer also reported that the knowledge he got from the Open Options training was passed down to managers so that they could customize their stations using buttons to make DNA Fusion work at its best for them, too.” 

Contact the Training department at Open Options to inquire about the specialized training on COVID-19 and access control. We’ll get through this together.