The Key Problem (Pun Intended)

Last month, a property management company in Business Bay called us in a bit of a panic. One of their employees had left the company on bad terms, and they suddenly realized that person still had keys to the server room, the storage area, and the main entrance.

Their options? Change every single lock in the building, or spend a weekend worrying about it.

This is the scenario that makes the case for electronic access control better than any sales pitch ever could. With an access control system, revoking someone's access takes about ten seconds. You click a button, and their card or fingerprint no longer opens anything.

When Access Control Makes Business Sense

Not every door needs a card reader. We are honest about that because we have seen companies over-engineer their security and end up with a system that frustrates everyone.

Here is our general guideline:

You probably need access control if:

You have more than 20 employees coming and going regularly. Tracking who has keys becomes a management headache at that scale. You need audit trails showing exactly who entered which area and when. This matters for compliance and for investigating incidents. You have areas with different security levels, like a server room that only three people should access, or a storage area with expensive inventory.

A good mechanical lock is fine if:

You run a small team of five or fewer people in a simple office. Everyone knows everyone. A lost key means changing one lock, not thirty.

The Technology Options

Card-based systems

The most common setup we install. Each employee gets an RFID card that works on specific doors at specific times. The cards are inexpensive to replace, and the system logs every swipe.

The downside is cards can be shared or lost. For most offices, this is an acceptable trade-off because the convenience and audit trail far outweigh the risk.

Biometric systems

Fingerprint readers have gotten remarkably good in recent years. ZKTeco and Suprema both make units that read in under a second, even with slightly wet or dusty fingers. These work well for high-security doors or for time attendance tracking because you cannot buddy-punch a fingerprint.

We tend to recommend biometrics for specific high-security doors rather than for every entrance. The cost per door is higher, and for general office access, cards work perfectly well.

Mobile access

This is gaining traction, especially with younger companies. Instead of carrying a card, employees use their phone via Bluetooth or NFC to unlock doors. It is convenient and eliminates the cost of physical cards.

The catch is that it requires everyone to have a compatible smartphone, it adds a dependency on battery life, and some employees are uncomfortable with installing work apps on their personal phones.

What About Integration?

This is where things get interesting, and it is something most locksmith companies will not tell you about.

A modern access control system does not exist in isolation. It can integrate with your CCTV system so that when someone badges into the server room, the nearest camera starts recording in high resolution. It can integrate with your HRMS so that new employees automatically get access on their start date and lose it on their last day.

It can even integrate with your visitor management system so that pre-approved guests get temporary access without someone manually programming a card.

These integrations are where the real value is. The access control hardware itself is a commodity. The intelligence comes from connecting it to everything else.

The Honest Cost Breakdown

For a medium-sized Dubai office with about ten access points, you are looking at roughly 15,000 to 30,000 AED for a professional installation including hardware, cabling, configuration, and training. That covers the controller, readers, electromagnetic locks, and software licensing.

The annual maintenance contract adds about 10 to 15 percent of the initial cost, which covers software updates, hardware checks, and priority support.

Is it more expensive than rekeying your locks? Absolutely. But the first time you need to revoke someone's access at 11 PM on a Friday, or the first time you need to prove exactly who accessed a sensitive area at a specific time, it pays for itself.

Ready to Explore Your Options?

We are happy to walk through your office, understand your specific needs, and give you an honest recommendation. Sometimes that recommendation is that you do not need access control yet. We would rather earn your trust than make a sale.