Access control buyers’ guide for IT managers of cities

Local recreation centers, judicial centers, city halls, and other government buildings require a variety of access needs for different personnel and visitors. The process of managing who has access to what facility can be challenging with a legacy security system, and requires extra manual setup from IT professionals and managers.

With a solution like Kisi, your access permissions are managed in the cloud, allowing you to remotely monitor and provide access to the facilities you oversee. Moreover, you can enhance resident experience by making access seamless and easy.

Read our buyers’ guide to find out how upgrading to a modern, cloud-based system is becoming the preferred access solution for cities and municipalities looking to maintain a high level of security and efficiency.

Buying reasons for cloud access control #

Why are cities and municipalities upgrading to modern access control systems?

Modern access control systems are quickly becoming the standard for security across all sectors, but there has been particular consideration into how these systems benefit government facilities. Kisi has had the opportunity to speak to a variety of IT professionals from cities and municipalities, and a few key considerations stand out as to why there has been particular interest in upgrading:

• Multiple-facility management: Cities need solutions that allow them to streamline the security for many different buildings. IT managers for cities often cite the need for a solution that allows them to simultaneously manage access permissions for multiple facilities, and to reduce the time they need to spend on set-up.
• Scalability: Cities can grow, and facilities can be expanded. Finding a solution that is scalable helps IT professionals to easily set up new security infrastructure and provide quick access to personnel who need it.
• Granting temporary and extended access: City buildings need to accommodate temporary access for guests and seasonal workers. Additionally, with classes and events, sometimes facilities need to accommodate extended hours. With legacy systems, this often meant manually unlocking doors for anyone who needed it. With a cloud-based system, IT managers can remotely grant access without traveling to the facility, and use integrations to automatically manage access provision.
• Enhanced security response: Government and municipal buildings house sensitive data and documents, so the importance of enhanced security cannot be understated. With a cloud-based system, automated responses to break-ins and policy violations can help to maintain the highest security standards, with software able to alert authorities and admins.
• Compliance: IT managers in cities and municipalities often mention the need to maintain high levels of compliance when it comes to security measures, data, and reporting. Kisi and cloud-based security allow for enhanced reporting and robust compliance to the needs of government restrictions.

Kisi works with cities: Ready for your unique use case #

Kisi has experience in helping cities and municipalities install and onboard to our cloud-based system. Hardware installation with Kisi comes at a much lower cost than other solutions, as your legacy systems can be incorporated into the setup. Our security professionals are also on hand to provide you with a more detailed look at next steps surrounding your security project, and are more than happy to provide you with a quote and installation advice. Fill out this form to schedule a call with them.

It can be difficult to know what the process looks like when you’re looking to upgrade your system. We spoke to one of our city partners, the City of Le Sueur, to find out what their experience was like in upgrading to the Kisi system. Alison Watkins, their recreation manager, shared the following about the benefits of Kisi:

“The cloud-based access is one of the most important features to me. I live farther away from the center, so if a guest shows up and needs access, I can grant access remotely straight from my phone without having to travel back to the facility, or have a computer available, like I did before Kisi." Alison Watkins, Recreation Manager at The City of Le Sueur

Some cities, like Peachtree Corners, use Kisi to realize their smart city agenda. Thanks to Kisi’s tailored deployment options, what started as a project to implement Kisi at the city’s innovation center expanded into migrating more facilities to cloud-based access - starting with city hall.

“Before Kisi, I needed the person to WhatsApp me and let someone in. Badges got lost on a daily basis. I needed remote access that would work for multiple tenants and support 24/7 access - as well as provide clean record tracking for audit purposes.” Brandon Branham, CTO at Peachtree Corners

Read more about how Kisi can work for municipalities and streamline IT processes in our City of Le Sueur and Peachtree Corners case studies.

How will access control work for your setup? #

Open the door to seamless access control for your municipality regardless of your current security setup. Leverage your existing system and customize Kisi to your needs. The phased migration paths enable you to bring all your locations to the cloud and manage all your facilities on a single pane of glass at your pace.

The possibilities and use cases are endless. For instance, you can choose to implement the complete Kisi solution to your most modern facilities, like the rec center, and use your existing badges in the city hall.

Regardless of whether you decide to keep parts of your existing hardware or go with the complete Kisi solution, you’ll still be able to manage access to all facilities over our user-friendly dashboard and receive frequent over-the-air updates to ensure compliance and security.

Utilize SSO and SCIM for smooth onboarding and integrate access control with the software you use to save time and streamline operations. Your residents could also enter all Kisi-secured areas they have privileges to with a click on our top-rated mobile app.

Schedule a complimentary consultation with our security experts to find the most effective and cost-efficient path for your city.