A secured area is an area entity that represents a physical
location where access is controlled. A secured area consists of perimeter doors (doors
used to enter and exit the area) and access restrictions (rules governing the access to
the area).
In the presence of a threat, access to secured areas can either be restricted (to keep the
danger out) or relaxed (to allow people to get away from danger) by activating threat
levels.
You can configure the following access restrictions on a secured area:
- Access rules
- Antipassback
- Interlock
- First-person-in rule
- Visitor escort rule
Access rights
The basic access restrictions to an area are defined by granting access to specific
cardholders (who can access this area and when). When nothing is configured, no one is
allowed to enter or exit the area. Access rights can be granted through access rules
(recommended approach) if it is constrained by a schedule, or directly to cardholders, if
there is no schedule constraint. Access rights can be granted on the entire area, or
individually to each access point of the area.
Antipassback
Antipassback is an access restriction placed on a secured
area that prevents a cardholder from entering an area that they have not yet exited
from, and vice versa. When access is denied due to an
antipassback violation, the violation must be “
forgiven” in
Security
Desk for the cardholder to unlock the door.
The antipassback event might be forgiven automatically after a period of time if it is
configured with a timeout value.
NOTE: HID units support antipassback
or interlock, but not both simultaneously.
Interlock
An interlock (also known as sally port or airlock) is an
access restriction placed on a secured area that permits only one door to be open at any
given time. This is typically used in a passageway
with at least two doors. The cardholder unlocks the first door, enters the passageway, but
cannot unlock the second door until the first door is closed.
For interlock logic to work, the door sensors must be able to detect when the door is
opened.
NOTE: HID units support antipassback or interlock,
but not both simultaneously.
First-person-in rule
The first-person-in rule is the additional access
restriction placed on a secured area that prevents anyone from entering the area until a
supervisor is on site. The restriction can be enforced when there is free access (on
door unlock schedules) and when there is controlled access (on access
rules).
- When enforced on door unlock schedules, the doors remain locked until a supervisor
enters the area. Cardholders who have access can still enter the area. Once an unlock
schedule is enabled, it remains in effect till the end of the current time interval
defined in the schedule.
- When enforced on access rules, no one can enter the area even though they have valid
credentials, until a supervisor enters the area. A schedule defines when the
first-person-in rule applies. You can configure cardholders to be exempted from this
constraint. An exempted cardholder can access the area without any supervisor being on
site, but cannot clear the constraint for other cardholders.
NOTE: The first-person-in
rule schedule must define discrete time intervals to allow the constraint to be reset.
The Always schedule cannot be used.
- To clear the first-person-in rule constraint, the supervisor must arrive within the
time frame defined by the unlock schedule or the first-person-in rule schedule, up to a
few minutes earlier, defined by the On-site time offset value.
Once the constraint is cleared, normal access (free or controlled access) resumes till
the end of the current time interval defined in the schedule.
If the unlock schedule
or the first-person-in rule schedule comprises several time intervals, then the
supervisor must re-enter the area at the beginning of each time interval to clear the
constraint.
NOTE: The first-person-in rule only
works on areas controlled by a single Synergis™ unit. HID units do not support this
feature. The first-person-in rule works best when the doors are equipped
with entry sensors or door sensors. A Synergis™ unit is capable of differentiating between
No entry, Entry assumed, and Entry detected. When no sensor is
configured for a door, entry is assumed when access is granted.
Visitor escort rule
The visitor escort rule is the additional access
restriction placed on a secured area that requires visitors to be escorted by a
cardholder during their stay. Visitors who have a host are not granted access through
access points until both they and their assigned host (cardholder) present their
credentials within a certain delay. The host must present
their credential after the visitors before access is granted to both. If multiple visitors
are accompanied by the same escort, the escort only needs to present their credential once
all visitors have presented their credentials.
Visitor escort for turnstiles requires the host to badge and enter before the visitor(s).
For two-host visitor delegations, the tail host must present credentials and enter the area
after the visitors.
NOTE: HID units do not support the visitor escort
rule.
