Three Security Technologies Changing the Face of Facility Management

1. The world of facility management is seeing a large number of technological innovations almost every single day with innovations in the facility management software industry. And in no area of facility management have we seen technology advance more rapidly than it has over the years in security. By using the most advanced security technologies, facility managers can ensure that the occupants are safe and secure. However, just as it is with any technology, new products and devices bring in new challenges. Robots, motion sensors, access controls and a large number of technologies are being used in facilities these days and therefore it is important that facility managers understand all aspects of their use in buildings.

2. when we talk of drones, this technology acts more like a double edged sword when it comes to security in facilities. They can be effectively deployed to patrol the grounds of a facility and at the same time they can be used to conduct operations that do not pertain to society, like roof inspections. However, as a facility manager you need to understand that this technology can be used for other purposes like spying and hacking into the computer network of a facility. And these drones are growing in numbers every single day. As per the reports of the Federal Aviation Administration, there could be as many as 1.62 unmanned commercial drones operating by 2021. And this will be a huge growth from the previous years. Therefore now it is time for facility managers to update their knowledge base about every aspect of drone security measures. There are a large number of drone monitoring and detection systems in the market. As a facility manager you need to go for the one that obviously is within your budget and uses a multi sensor array for features for offering the best in class accuracy. This will provide you with a situational awareness and offer you a proactive response. You need to establish a drone response plan that will help facilities teams take immediate action drills in case the drone

3. captures and reports something. In order to eliminate the possibilities of any cyber-attack, you need to identify areas in your facility that needs protection and talk to a security personnel who will be able to design a security space. It is true that drone interference is illegal in the United States, however the more commercial and recreational drones are used, the more are the chances of a cyber-attack. robots and in particular security robots are deployed in multiple locations in a facility like parking lots and exit points and also in different facilities like malls, sports stadiums, office buildings and the like. The LaGuardia Airport in NY became the first major American airport to have a robot security guard in the year 2018.

4. The robot kept a careful eye on the passengers to ensure that nothing actually went amiss. Well, there has been some privacy concerns that have arisen based on the capabilities of the robots to use different human behavioral analytics to identify crime and use face recognition artificial intelligence to identify the criminals. But have you ever thought how accurate this artificial intelligence is? In a facility, will these robots be useful in detecting a criminal or become an unsettling object to the occupants? Well, the usefulness of the robots in the facility management sector is highly dependent on time. Only time will tell whether they could be as useful as they are thought to be at present. San Francisco has become the first city in the United States to have banned the use of facial recognition technology by the government agencies and police amidst all the privacy concerns of public safety. in the area of facility management and maintenance, the access control market is expected to grow by 9.8 percent in the next five years. Facility managers are now keeping their eyes on where this growth is going to take the market. The deployment of wireless technology in the security systems is definitely an important driver for the market. Also from facial

5. recognition to biometrics, access control technology has become more accurate and sophisticated over the years. However, the privacy concerns still do remain. You need to consider how willing your building occupants are to give out their personal data in the form of biometrics to be granted access to their workplace. Though people do this every day to unlock their iPhones but it is for facility managers to decide what kind of facility management software they are willing to deploy in their access control system, based on their organizational culture. Therefore just like technologies like facility management app that are being increasingly used in the facility management sector, when it comes to security technologies, the above mentioned technologies are changing the face of facility management.