Are you the owner of a small business? Are you busy setting up a new office or retail location? If you're moving from a home-based setup to a real retail or physical location, there are a lot of things that you need to consider. You've probably already given a lot of thought to the decor or layout, the computer equipment that you'll need, and what sort of furniture to buy. But one thing that you may not have given much thought to is that of security. After all, you probably figure that a couple of good locks with ordinary keys will be sufficient. While this may be fine for your home or for locations where there are just one or two employees, including yourself, a better choice for modern businesses is a keycard system. There are a number of advantages to installing such a system, some of which include:

Dealing with lost or stolen keys: When someone loses a set of ordinary metal keys, there's a risk that the finder may have less than honorable intentions. It's even possible to have keys stolen with the explicit intention of using them to break into where the key's owner works or lives. Whether the keys were lost or stolen, missing keys means that you'll either have to replace all of the locks or have them rekeyed. Both of these are expensive possibilities. But with electronic security access cards, you can simply deactivate the card that is missing so that the person who now possesses the keys won't be able to use them to get into your business.

Enable multiple access levels: No matter what type of business you're running, you may have some employees who you want to have access to one part of the building, other employees who should have access to a different part, and just a few employees who have access to everything. With an old-fashioned lock system, this could result in multiple different locks and several different keys to manage. With an electronic system that has security access cards, you can easily set up who has access to which doors, without worrying about someone having access to a place that they should stay out of.

Integration with alarm system: In a building that uses old-fashioned locks, setting off the alarm will require the intruder to enter a key code into the alarm panel or to successfully give a pass phrase to the security company when they call. But you don't always want to give employees carte blanche access; perhaps their access is only temporary or you only want them to have access on certain days. Changing codes and phrases can be an annoyance, especially since you'll now have something else to remember. Fortunately, a system with security access cards can be integrated into the alarm system. You can set up exactly who has access and when they have it, so they won't be able to disable the alarm unless they're explicitly supposed to be there.

Contact a company like Arapahoe County Security Center Inc for more information and assistance.