The goal of an access control system is to restrict who is where and when within a building. If your building has multiple floors, your elevator should be part of that system. Not all buildings have handy doors separating elevators from restricted areas. If access permissions are organised by floor, you don’t want people just walking out of a lift into an area they shouldn’t be in. Luckily, with ATRIUM access control, integrating lifts is made easy.
The benefits of integrating elevator controls
A more integrated building is a more secure building. The more systems that work in conjunction with one another, the easier it is to monitor them all at once. If your data is siloed and building systems are independent, it takes a lot more manual effort to keep an eye on everything.
Lift control enhances the security of multi-floor buildings. It ensures that people aren’t just stopped from accessing rooms they aren’t allowed in – they can’t even access the entire floor.
How elevator control in ATRIUM works
To incorporate lift control into your ATRIUM access control system, you need:
- A22-EC controller(s)
- CAA480ATR lift control module(s)
- Lift car readers
The A22-EC is just the standard ATRIUM controller with a firmware upgrade that converts it to an EC (Elevator Control) version. You can obtain the firmware either from our website, or from our Technical Support team. The lift control modules are connected to the ATRIUM controller in a daisy-chain formation.
Elevator control capacity in ATRIUM
The total number of floors that can be managed in ATRIUM is 256. That’s three and a half times the floors inside The Shard!
Each ATRIUM A22-EC controller adds two lift cars to the system. The cars can cover 64 floors each, for a total of 128 floors per controller. Up to 49 more A22-EC controllers can be added to increase the number of cars available, but the total number of floors managed cannot exceed 256.
Destination reporting: even more data
Elevator control with ATRIUM offers an optional Destination Reporting Module (DRM). This added module is designed to eliminate tailgating in the lift cars. It also improves the data provided by the system for security tracking.
Without the DRM, when a user scans their card to access the lift, every floor they have permission to access is available. They all remain available for five seconds. The event log for the controller will show an access granted event, but won’t register which floor was accessed.
Conversely, when the DRM is added, the controller will record which user accessed the lift, and which floor they entered. Once a floor is selected, all the other floor buttons deactivate. To select another floor, the card must be presented again to the reader.
The optional DRM module for ATRIUM is called the CAA482P.
Integrating elevator controls into your access control system
If you’re installing access control in a building with lifts, it’s always a good idea to integrate elevator controls. Combining building management systems means better visibility and better security. If you need advice or help with an elevator control system, our Technical Support team are on hand.