Operation costs are the biggest expense for any business. So, it’s no surprise that offices are always looking for ways to keep operating costs low in order to drive the most revenue for their business.
But the problem that businesses run into when cutting costs is being able to maintain or improve performance while paying less.
Legacy security systems are expensive and difficult to operate. So, replacing office security is not the first idea that comes to mind when talking about saving money. Yet, businesses are burning through money by running with their current office security because they require:
- Additional staffing just to operate
- Extensive, continuous training
- Purchase of many different systems that all work independent of one another
- Constant manual software updates and staff training on the new update
- Building a separate data center infrastructure
- Too much time to perform simple functions
These expenses add up. Especially in the form of wasted time, which for businesses, means wasted money.
With that in mind, businesses cannot afford to NOT upgrade office security.
Keep reading for more details about how upgrading to a modern office security system can cut costs and save businesses thousands in expenses.
Table of contents
- Lowering Total Cost of Ownership
- No Technical Training Required
- Saving Money With an Intuitive User Interface
- Saving Time With Remote Management
- Using One Vendor
- Reduce Wiring and Installation Cost
- Ensuring Interoperability
- Ability to Cross Asset Classes
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1. Lowering Total Cost of Ownership
The entire total cost of ownership (TCO) for modern office security is much less than legacy systems.
Legacy systems operate on local hardware within a secure IT closet (or somewhere similar) in the office building. Modern systems are cloud-based, which means they operate on an off-site server (the cloud). Managing office security from the cloud, instead of on local hardware, comes with major cost saving.
We have broken down the TCO for both cloud-based and on-premise systems below.
How Swiftlane Cuts Costs
As a cloud-based system, Swiftlane’s total cost of ownership for businesses is much less than legacy access control and intercom systems. Swiftlane does not require any additional hardware, servers, devices, or software installations up front. On a recurring basis, businesses pay a small monthly subscription per user in exchange for legacy system expenses like ongoing training, manual software maintenance and updates, operating labor, and building an additional data center infrastructure.
Anyone can quickly learn Swiftlane’s intuitive dashboard in a number of minutes, and it does not require any technical training. In fact, a single office manager can manage multiple locations or worksites at once. Swiftlane also makes automatic, over the air updates so users always have the latest version of software installed without a second thought.
2. No Technical Training Required
In 2019, companies spent an average of $1,286 per year on training for each individual employee. This includes training on office security systems.
Each new employee — such as someone in HR, IT, reception, or an administrative position — needs to be trained on how the physical security systems work in the office. In addition to that, employees need continued training with each new software update or nuance within the system.
This ends up being a big expense for businesses. Many companies recognize this and end up hiring someone specifically to operate office security. Which, of course, ends up being another big expense in itself.
How Swiftlane Cuts Costs
Swiftlane’s intuitive user dashboard mimics modern technology and requires no additional technical training or skills to operate. Admins can reference several short and easy-to-understand training videos to learn the nuances of the system. But, the highly intuitive admin dashboard takes just minutes to understand and navigate.
By creating a system that is easy to navigate and accessible to anyone at any skill level, Swiftlane saves businesses thousands in training expenses every year.
3. Saving Money With an Intuitive User Interface
Legacy office security systems have clunky user interfaces that require constant training and learning small nuances. This is a waste of time for office managers who are busy generating profit for the business, which is why office security responsibilities are many times passed off to IT teams.
Using IT teams to manage physical security, however, is a huge waste of money because it is typically well below their pay grade. IT teams are concerned with data protection and cybersecurity, but a significant portion of their time is dedicated to learning the physical security system, adding in new users, or issuing key cards.
How Swiftlane Cuts Costs
Swiftlane’s dashboard has an easy-to-use, intuitive dashboard that can be managed by anyone in the office designated as an admin. Simplified management makes training and onboarding efficient and can be done in a matter of minutes.
With Swiftlane, IT teams no longer need to manage physical security, which boosts their productivity. It also allows office managers to quickly and efficiently manage physical security on their own without having to communicate back and forth with IT staff.
4. Saving Time With Remote Management
Traditionally, office security is managed in the office building itself. This on-site management requires someone to be physically present in the office to issue a new key card, revoke user access, or receive a delivery to name just a few examples.
The time that it takes to generate a new key card, make a special trip to the office to revoke access of a terminated employee, or go to the post office to pick up a delivery that was missed can add up. And that wasted time translates to a waste of money.
How Swiftlane Cuts Costs
From the Swiftlane dashboard, designated administrators can manage the physical security of the office remotely. Admins can add new users or revoke access from the mobile app or web-based dashboard from anywhere. PIN codes can be remotely generated and distributed for visitors like clients or couriers. Video intercom calls can also be answered and office doors can be unlocked from anywhere.
By eliminating the need to be physically present in the office to manage its physical security, businesses save time, improve productivity, and lower cost of operation.
5. Using One Vendor
Offices typically have different security manufacturers for their employee access control systems, reception or front door intercom, package delivery assistant, and more.
Upgrading office security gives businesses the opportunity to choose a system that offers an all-in-one solution. By partnering with just one vendor for office security, businesses:
- Save time by eliminating the need to have separate discussions with different vendors
- Receive better customer service under one provider, which troubleshoots and resolves issues faster
- Increase transparency into their building’s activity to make better operational decisions
- Know what they are getting, which is important as businesses need predictability when it comes to their day to day functions
- Reduce cost by operating only one system instead of several
- Eliminate the need to purchase multiple pieces of hardware and software licenses
How Swiftlane Cuts Costs
Swiftlane is an all-in-one solution for office security. Swiftlane Access Control and Video Intercom system offers face recognition and mobile access control for employees, plus video intercom calling and PIN code access for visitors and deliveries. By combining several systems in one, businesses reap all the benefits of partnering with a single vendor.
Swiftlane’s intuitive, cloud-based dashboard allows office managers or administrators to cut costs by managing physical security under one platform. With Swiftlane, there is no need for additional IT staff to run separate access control, intercom, and package management systems. There is also no need for long, advanced technical training of multiple different systems.
6. Reduce Wiring and Installation Cost
The most tangible ROI from upgrading office security is the cost savings on installation.
Traditional office security requires the invasive installation of wiring throughout the infrastructure of the building. One of the biggest challenges with office intercom in particular is the wiring that is required to get to each receiving station. Intercom and other security systems that need wiring like this have high installation costs from requiring more labor, time to install, and hardware. Long installation times also leave gaps in physical security for building occupants, which can result in a big financial liability for office buildings.
How Swiftlane Cuts Costs
Swiftlane Video Intercom makes intercom calls to any mobile device or web-based browser, which eliminates the need to purchase, install, and run wiring to different intercom receiving stations. Depending on the number of receiving stations that would have been needed, businesses can save tens of thousands of dollars by using Swiftlane for office intercom.
7. Ensuring Interoperability
Interoperability, or the communication between two different systems and their ability to share information, saves businesses the time it would otherwise take to manually combine data to understand their building.
When office security systems can work with one another, it’s easy to:
- Capture and aggregate data. Solid, actionable data allows buildings to make informed decisions about operations that will generate concrete returns.
- Obtain a high level overview and understanding of building trends. Taking a look at the big picture makes it easier to align business goals with decisions regarding building operations.
- Gain deeper insight into the building. When systems are able to talk to another, it’s easy to gain a deeper understanding about the entire office experience.
- Save time, and a lot of it. Almost half of CRE teams are spending up to a quarter of their time managing and organizing data. When systems talk to and integrate with one another, it saves a significant amount of time and overhead.
How Swiftlane Cuts Costs
Swiftlane is both an access control and intercom system that is inherently interoperable because it uses a single software and one highly insightful set of data. So, it’s easy to understand building trends since all access event history and details are available within the dashboard.
Swiftlane also integrates with existing key card access control systems in addition to Envoy visitor management software and Single Sign-On and Identity providers Okta, G Suite, and Azure Active Directory. These integration options make it simple to understand building data and easily integrate Swiftlane into any office setting.
8. Ability to Cross Asset Classes
Employees have several different key cards to access parking garages, gyms, conference rooms, and office doors throughout the building. Whether the employee or the office manager, juggling so many key cards is very inconvenient and gets expensive if they need to be replaced frequently.
This is why modern office security is quickly adopting mobile access. In fact, this is the next big transition for the access control industry as a whole.
There is good reason, too. Mobile access is a secure way for employees to gain entry to the office with just a single “key.” But, it will also grant access to building amenities such as the gym or large conference spaces. For security teams, the same mobile credential will grant access to secure IT rooms. Using a mobile access control system will even allow employees to use their mobile phone to gain access to other offices, coworking spaces, or worksites.
This level of flexibility and convenience saves a tremendous amount of overhead, which translates to increased productivity and profit.
How Swiftlane Cuts Costs
As a mobile access control system, Swiftlane allows employees to use just their smartphones for access across the entire office or building — from the parking gate, to the elevator, gym, conference room, mail room, and more. All credentials are managed and operated under a single platform with the ability to update them at any time. Swiftlane Mobile Access also allows employees to visit different locations and worksites, which streamlines access across the entire organization. This is particularly important for large organizations with multiple offices who rely on consistency and efficiency to function.
