The wireless security solution for care homes

The solution to securing care homes and their residents is wireless, user-friendly and already trusted in residences all over Europe.

It is vital for a residence to feel like an open, welcoming space, and to feel inviting for family and other visitors, however care homes present may unique security challenges. 

It is crucial that if there is to be an unauthorised access attempt, that staff know as soon as possible, and staff, sensitive data and areas where medicines are kept must be secure. For example, it is important that staff know the whereabouts of residents with dementia, at any time.

Therefore, advanced access control, that’s easy to operate, is ideal for care homes. A system that is able to feed back to site managers can enable staff to quickly locate residents, respond to incidents or problems as soon as they arise, and to organise staff workflows more efficiently.

Wireless access control is the solution

Physical keys just aren’t practical for care homes with managing several keys putting a huge unnecessary admin burden on care staff and a physical master-key not offering the standard of security now required in a modern care home.

Wireless access control offers real-time monitoring or detailed audit trails, allowing the tracing of residents in an emergency, something that cannot be done with physical keys.

However, if care home managers introduce new technology, they must also be certain it is easy to operate. Electronic access control must also offer a user-friendly and affordable step up from traditional keys.

Wired access control and magnetic locks are disruptive and expensive to install and run in comparison to wireless solutions. SMARTair, on the other hand, are battery-powered wireless locks and offer modern, easy, cost-effective installation. Additionally, SMARTair has features designed to put care home managers in more control of their premises.

SMARTair wireless devices provide the easiest upgrade and replacement for mechanical locks and are easy to retrofit to existing premises as to install from scratch on a new-build care home.

Swapping to wireless cylinders or escutcheons with integrated cad readers links a door to the central admin software, freeing care managers from key hassles, making staff workflows more efficient, and instantly upgrading resident security.

With it taking just a few seconds to issue or revoke a keycard, using a computer or smartphone, there is no-longer the need to change locks when a key goes missing.  You can simply reprogram a card and you instantly have a new ‘key’.

It is easy to use, and offers audit trails and real-time monitoring as standard and is easy to expand at a later date, so an installation can start small, with a limited security budget, then grow later and adapt to changing security needs.

Available with different management options for administration, with “offline” or “update on card” administration, users’ access rights are updated via wall or programming devices. 

Managers can get a real-time overview of sensitive areas, including pharmacy and storage rooms, with SMARTair Wireless Online administration.

Managers have flexible control with it’s straightforward to combine Update on Card and Wireless Online functions within the same installation. Therefore, pharmacies can be monitored in real time, while less sensitive storage areas use offline access management.

SMARTair has devices to fit any opening, including wireless electronic escutcheons, cylinders and locks that can be installed at any exterior or interior door. SMARTair can be used on medicine cabinets with cabinet and locker locks, ideal for the care home environment.

With battery-powered escutcheons and optional PIN code, devices fit all types of access point and cylinders for wood, glass, emergency exit and fire resistant doors, barriers, elevators, and more.

Resident access to lifts can be monitored with SMARTair wall readers and contractors can pass conveniently through car-park barriers, for example.

Tags, bracelets and cards, as well as a mobile app, can be used to open SMARTair doors, making it easy even for elderly residents.

Additionally, with quick and affordable installation due to a lack of wiring and cabling, there’s no electrician required and no need for decorators to tidy up after contractors.

Energy efficiency is maximised by the battery-powered locks, delivering low-energy consumption and low maintenance.

SMARTair in action

SMARTair is already deployed in residential care settings across Europe, and is in action in Pamplona in Spain.

Pamplona’s Casa de la Misericordia required a new access system that offered real-time control for over 500 residents. 

Ernesto Serra, Facility Manager at Casa de la Misericordia, expressed the importance of having real-time management that allows the door to be interacted with at any time.

The residence is split into two buildings; a new build and a 1930s building.

Working in a 1930s building with walls up to 1m thick meant advanced wireless technology was ideal. “A wireless solution that allows us to install access control without wiring up the buildings is a big advantage,” adds Ernesto Serra.

In addition, the new system ended to be scalable, so staff could manage access to the 2 buildings from the same control point. The two stage project is now complete and includes 650 additional SMARTair- enabled doors in the old building.

SMARTair is also in action in Skanderborg Housing Cooperative, Dagmargarden in a care home with 54 accommodation units plus common areas and a spa.

Staff can respond quickly and residents are more secure in their care with wireless SMARTair Offline and Online escutcheons and wall readers, which ensure security managers are kept informed about the status of the premises in real time.

Everyone at Dagmargarden opens doors using standard credentials and doors open automatically; meaning residents don’t need to turn a handle, or even push.

With SMARTair wireless locks, care homes can have both simplicity and security with a system that saves staff time, eliminates key management hassles and makes residents safer and more secure.

ASSA ABLOY offers SMARTair™ worldwide under several brands, including TESA, Mul-T-Lock, JPM, KESO, FAB, ASSA, RUKO, TRIOVING and LIPS.

ASSA ABLOY,
School Street,
Willenhall,
West Midlands,
WV13 3PW
United Kingdom

Tel: +44 (0)845 071 0882

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