Question 1

We just fired an employee with building access — how fast can we revoke their access?

Accepted Answer

With a cloud-based access control system (Kisi, Brivo, Salto), you revoke access in under 60 seconds from any browser or phone app. You log in, find the employee credential, and delete it. Their keycard or fob is immediately dead — no need to collect the card, change locks, or wait for a locksmith. This is the primary business case for electronic access control. For comparison, if you have a traditional key lock system and fire an employee today, you either hope they return the key or you rekey every lock they had access to.

Question 2

What does an audit trail from an access control system actually tell you?

Accepted Answer

Every access event — door opened, credential attempted, access denied — is logged with a timestamp and credential ID. For incident investigations: "who was in the building at 2 AM last Tuesday" becomes a one-minute query instead of a guessing exercise. For compliance: medical offices (HIPAA), law offices, and financial services businesses have specific requirements around access logging. For HR: if an employee claims they were in the office at a certain time, the access log is verifiable. We help clients understand what data the system collects and how to query it.

Question 3

Is access control only for large businesses or can a 5-person startup use it?

Accepted Answer

Small businesses are actually the fastest-growing access control segment. Cloud-based systems like Kisi start at under $50/month for a small number of doors. For a 5-person office, the benefits are immediate: no physical key management, remote access for deliveries or after-hours contractors, and instant credential changes when team members come and go. Setup takes half a day. You manage everything from a browser with no dedicated IT staff.

Question 4

Can access control systems integrate with my existing door hardware?

Accepted Answer

In many cases, yes. We retrofit existing door frames with electronic strike plates (fail-safe or fail-secure depending on your fire code requirement) or magnetic locks, keeping your existing door hardware. Some systems also integrate with existing intercom systems. We assess your doors and determine whether to retrofit or replace hardware — and we design around your fire egress requirements, which vary by building type.

Question 5

What is the difference between cloud-based and on-premise access control?

Accepted Answer

Cloud-based systems (Kisi, Brivo, Salto Space) store access data and credential management on the vendor's servers. You manage from any browser, get automatic software updates, and can grant temporary access remotely. The tradeoff: you depend on internet connectivity and the vendor's uptime. On-premise systems store data on a server at your location. You control the data completely, but need someone to manage the hardware. For most Brooklyn businesses, cloud-based is the right choice — the management simplicity far outweighs the control tradeoff.

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