Issue
Need to prevent passback in a Continuum access control system.
Product Line
Andover Continuum
Environment
Continuum Access Control
Cause
Access control users may try to "passback" their card in order to have another user enter an area.
Resolution
The way that anti-passback works in Continuum is that all the Door's entering into an Area that require the feature need to be setup for anti-passback. This then means that any one granted access at any of the Door's is then denied access at the other Door's into that same Area until they have badged out.
There are two variations on the anti-passback implementation:
- Strict anti-passback. This restricts the same card from being used to enter the same Area until that Personnel badges out into an exit Area. It also ensures that the person's current area is adjacent to the area he/she is trying to access so if the system has the person's current area as OUTSIDE and the person tailgates into the premises and then badges at an internal door she will be denied access due to anti-passback violation.
- Relaxed anti-passback. This also restricts the same card from being used to enter the same Area but will allow access if the Personnel is in any different Area. As long as the Personnel is not currently in the Area they want to enter then they will be allowed in. (See Anti-passback enforcement on area re-entry only)
How to setup
- To setup anti-passback you will need to have at least two Areas created. One you want to restrict access to and another where they will be coming from.
- Next, you will need to configure the Door objects entering these Areas for both Entry and Exit. Make sure to define both of these Areas otherwise the anti-passback options will not be selectable. (See Anti-Passback Protection option is not available)
- Then go to the Entry Options and/or Exit Options tabs and tick "Anti-Passback Protection". This will provide strict anti-passback unless relaxed is enable by the next step.
- You can enable relaxed anti-passback by ticking the "Allow Entry on an Anti-Passback Violation" option.
- There is also an option for timed anti-passback, which if ticked, allows access on anti-passback after the "Timed Anti-Passback" time has lapsed.
Possible Solutions When Exit Readers Not Available
You do need to have exit readers as well as entry readers to be able to configure and use anti-passback. To restrict access to an Area we need to know the current Area that each Personnel is in, we can only do this with Exit readers.
This may not mean having to install exit readers at every entry reader though, there a couple of possibilities. First though, you will need to setup dummy exit readers in the Door objects you want to have anti-passback enabled. This will allow you to access the anti-passback function. The main problem will be that after entering the Area successfully, that same user will not be able to enter again unless they are shown to have exited that Area. There a number of possibilities on how to provide this:
- Install a single "badge out" reader at the exits for Personnel to badge out before exiting through free egress doors. This reader will be tied to a Door object with an exit area attached.
- Timed anti-passback could be used with a large enough window to deter tail-gating but still allow the cardholder to exit then enter again normally throughout the day.
- Could use the "allow access on anti-passback violation" option to monitor (and potentially trigger an alarm at the entry point) to note the violation for latter analysis but still allow the Personnel through.
