WinAC.NET is powerful, secure and highly scalable software platform integral to Tensor’s proven range of Windows™ based Access Control Products – from simple door and registration point control, through to a fully computerised global Networked Access Control System.
With WinAC.NET and Tensor’s range of readers, you can control most standard types of internal and external electronic, magnetic door releases and devices, making full use of location points, whether in full view or hidden out of sight, providing access even in the most adverse conditions.
An extensive range of equipment, devices and releases can be connected to your security network, which can be operated through your access control software including:
- alarms and hooters
- break glass buttons
- door locks
- door release buttons
- electro-mangnetic door locks
- fingerprint readers
- CCTV cameras
- scanners
The WinAC.NET includes a wide range of time and money-saving features, such as:
- Access Control Profiles easily created or customised to suit your particular site, and can be varied minute-by-minute
- Real Time (near) graphical display shows doors being opened / closed, those with alarm status set and forced entry
- Doors may be configured to open automatically on fire alarms and lock automatically on burglar alarms
- Anti Pass Back facility limits the same card being used by more than one person
- CCTV Tracking of video clips showing “evidence quality” footage of forced entries, alarm events, users of Smart Cards gaining access or being denied
- Door/Barrier Access can be limited depending on the persons’ roll call status
- Resilient System keeps running even when certain cables are cut or damaged or PC networks fail
- Sensor Monitoring to detect forced entry
- Audit Trail showing who gained access (or denied) at any location at any time
- Biometric dermal fingerprint reading for maximum security and personnel authentication
- Hardware Device Manager allows easy adding & editing of hardware device profiles
With our Access Control Software you can be assured that you will receive a simple to use, highly secure way of controlling access to areas or buildings, as well as monitoring who is present 24 hours a day.
Additional features are available for the WinAC.NET Business/Enterprise editions which can be implemented on your access control system to take into account diversity with access rules between individual organisations.

WinAC.NET Access Control Software – Key Features
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Access Points
Access Rights
The Person
Smart Cards & Readers
Card Printing
Fire Roll Call Evacuation Reporting
Access Points
Control doors, gates, barriers and turnstiles, using Tensor’s advanced contactless Smart Cards, Biometrics and Automatic Number Plate Recognition.
The security status of each access point is controlled by the Smart Card scanner settings associated to that particular access point.
These settings determine the locked status of the door, minute-by-minute, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week throughout the year.
Access Rights
When a person attempts to pass through an access point, the Tensor T8526 Access Controller compares the individual’s security profile with that of the access point. Security profiles are based upon the day, time of day, and the security threat level of the attempted access.
The Person
An individual’s security profile is based upon their access group. People are assigned to an access group, either unique to them or common to their department or status. Access groups consist of separate rules for time of day, each day of the week, public holidays and shutdown days. These separate daily rules are known as access patterns. Access patterns dictate which areas a person can access at different times throughout the day. Employees who require access to different sites are assigned to “global” access groups that combine all site-specific permissions. Template rules simplify the creation of access rights for each person.
Smart Cards & Readers
Contactless Smart Cards are used to operate your Time & Attendance, Access Control and Visitor Monitoring Systems.
All Tensor Smart Cards and key fobs use the same well-proven and reliable RF (Radio Frequency) reading technology. This gives a consistent read range which is unaffected by most external conditions.
- No battery, thus infinite life, and can be read an infinite number of times.
- Unique Factory encoded ID code.
- Adhesive labels for photo and company logo.
- 34 billion different combinations of ID number.
- Size of a standard credit card.
- Unique printed and programmed ID number on each card.
- RF Technology allows cards to work through wallet, purse or handbag.
- Reads MiFare, iClass, DesFire & EM Smart Cards.
How Smart Cards Work
Each Smart Card reader transmits a 125 KHz frequency field (the electromagnetic field), which is picked up by an aerial in the Smart Card. The reader has two read bands within this field; an inner and outer band, and these are controlled and rapidly oscillated by the readers on-board microprocessor.
The Smart Card microchip is a passive device that holds a unique factory encoded ID number that cannot be duplicated, making it very secure indeed. As a Smart Card enters the reader’s electromagnetic field, it is automatically activated by the field’s energy.
Card Printing
In addition, Tensor can also provide Badge Designing software, which gives you an easy way to professionally produce your own printed ID cards.
Fire Roll Call Evacuation Reporting
The T8526 can control up to two printers for evacuation reporting purposes. On activation of a fire alarm panel, automatic roll-call reports are printed listing the names and departments of cardholders who remain on-site. In addition, doors can be configured to open automatically on fire alarm activation and lock automatically once the fire alarm activation condition has ceased.
Reports can be grouped by a cardholder’s default resident fire point or by the fire point that they are currently booked on to. Printers are connected either via a direct cable connection or by direct IP and can be limited to reporting upon specific zones or fire points. Muster points can also be installed where cardholders scan upon arrival at a Muster point. In real-time, Tensor.NET Access removes the cardholder from the fire roll-call report to provide a real-time roll call of any cardholders who remain in the building.
Magnetic Door Release Lock
Exit Push Button & Break Glass Release
External
Security & Protection
Simple Operation
Customisable Interface
Magnetic Door Release Lock
- Easy install: Magnetic locks are generally easier to install than other locks since there are no interconnecting parts.
- Quick Magnetic locks unlock instantly when the power is cut, allowing for quick release in comparison to other locks.
- Sturdy: Magnetic locks may also suffer less damage from multiple blows than do conventional locks. If a magnetic lock is forced open with a crowbar, it will often do little or no damage to the door or lock.
Exit Push Button & Break Glass Release
As well as contactless Access control, Tensor offer mechanical access control equipment. Either simple but strong push buttons or secure, monitored emergency break glasses. These products can be integrated with contactless Access Control or work stand-alone.
External
Tensor’s gates, barriers, and turnstiles fully integrate with our Smart Card and biometric Access Control systems giving you full jurisdiction over movement and access of personnel and vehicles in and around your site.
The key role of gates and barriers is to prevent unauthorised access whilst providing minimum inconvenience to those who do have authorised access to your site.
A Tensor system allows rapid communication when any delay occurs, such as when unauthorised personnel attempt to access a restricted area. Peak period congestion is thus avoided ensuring maximum flow capacity.
A Tensor system can stop vehicles or personnel at the relevant barrier and prevent entry or exit, until they identify themselves via their Smart Card, biometric fingerprint or facial template.. The system gives full control over who is allowed access through any controlled point at any time of the day.
Security & Protection
Using RF technology allows our contactless Smart Cards to be read through walls or glass. This means your security equipment can be hidden from view. This allows for unprecedented security and protects against vandalism and weather.
Should a card be lost or stolen, the card’s ID can be removed from the system. Email notifications can warn system administrators or security staff when access is attempted using a lost card. Unlike a key based system where locks would need to be replaced.
Alarms can be directly connected to Tensor T8526 Access Controller. In the event of a fire alarm, all fail-safe doors will be automatically released for the duration of the emergency. Inhibitor alarms, such as gas or intruder alarms can be connected as well. When the inhibit alarm is activated, all doors are restricted to normal cardholders.
The Tensor Access Control system makes use of a lock’s sensors to detect when a door has been left open beyond a specified duration. The T8526 Access Controller unit will also detect when a door is forced open. Either of these circumstances can trigger a local alarm, connected to, and controlled by, the T8526. Additionally email alerts can be sent to any number of named recipients.
Anti tamper circuitry protects the integrity of the Access Controller, smart card scanners and break glasses. Any attempt to open or tamper with these devices will trigger a local alarm and notification email alerts.
Simple Operation
Smart Cards
Our contactless Smart Cards could not be simpler to use. Just wave the card in front of the scanner. The RF technology allows the card to be read through a wallet, purse or handbag. Cards can be programmed to allow personnel or visitors different access rights. This negates the need for large bunches of keys.
Biometrics
For extra security, Tensor has designed biometric fingerprint readers. Using this equipment is simple and only requires a user to scan a card, or place their finger on a sensor for verification. Combined with photo ID Smart Cards, this equipment provides high level security at an affordable price.
Facial Recognition
As an alternate to identity authentication by fingerprint, facial recognition verifies a person’s complete face before granting or denying access.
Modular
A Tensor Access Control system is modular and can adapt and grow as your company does. Installing new scanners and access points is simple. Whether you need scanners for a new supply store, barriers for a new car park, or turnstiles at a new site entrance.
Customisable Interface
The appearance of Tensor.NET Access is highly customisable. 20 different desktop themes are provided to allow colour-coding of the application. System information is displayed on tabbed pages; these may be dragged and docked to form a wide variety of screen formats. This is useful when comparing several sets of information. Each user’s customisations are saved separately under different login details.
Full Audit Trail of System Activity
Comprehensive System Security & Role Management
Sensor Monitoring and Local Alarms
Monitoring of Contractors and Visitors System (MCVS)
Organisational Units
Limiting by Status and Anti-Pass Back
Full Audit Trail of System Activity
All user activity, whilst logged in to Tensor.NET Access, is recorded for audit purposes; records are saved to show the information both before and after changes.
Comprehensive System Security & Role Management
Access to information within Tensor.NET Access is strictly controlled. System users are limited to only the menu options they are granted in their assigned role. System security permissions assigned to each user, also control which cardholders are visible in Tensor.NET to the logged in user. Depending upon these permissions, a person may be limited to “view only” access of a limited sub set of employees.
Sensor Monitoring and Local Alarms
Door monitoring is a key component of the Tensor Access Control system. The door sensors detect when a door has been left open beyond configured parameters. In this situation a local alarm can be sounded until the door is closed or alert notifications emailed to named recipients. Alarms and alerts are also triggered if a door is forced open or an anti-tamper sensor contact is broken by unauthorised equipment removal.
Monitoring of Contractors and Visitors System (MCVS)
Module can be used with Tensor.NET Access, to allow a company’s visitors to use cards to gain access to secured areas. MCVS allows you to book appointments for visitors and contractors, who on arrival can be provided with a physical access card. Visitors are assigned their access permissions as part of the book in process, which are automatically downloaded to all relevant T8526s. When a visitor is booked off site, their permissions are removed and the card is made available for the next visitor.
Organisational Units
Company groups, parent companies and company sites allow for a lifelike representation of your company structure. Default access rules can be applied to the site, department and section organisational groupings; cardholders assigned to these groupings inherit the default rules automatically.
Limiting by Status and Anti-Pass Back
Cardholder access can be further controlled by the “limit by status” facility. Limit by status will only grant access if the cardholder satisfies the status requirement (i.e. an employee cannot clock into work if they have not scanned the entrance barrier to arrive on site). In addition, PC access can be linked to Tensor’s Access Control system via a Single Sign On module to inhibit PC access if a user has not scanned their smart card to gain access to the building.
Exit All Areas
Flash Upgradable
Site Access Patterns
Graphical Hardware Manager
Temporary Card Issue
Importing Cardholders
Exit All Areas
For safety reasons, exit access points can be set to use an “exit all areas” rule. In this situation, presenting a valid card will open a door, regardless of the cardholder’s specific permissions.
Flash Upgradable
Modifications and program enhancements are quickly downloaded to the T8526 Intelligent IP Door Controllers and the smart card readers, as flash file upgrades.
Site Access Patterns
Regulate which doors a cardholder may pass through on a particular day. Every combination of access permissions in operation at your premises will need a corresponding Access Pattern. Later these patterns will be combined into the Site Access Group. The Access Pattern is limited to the door releases found in a single site. Access to each door release can be granted or denied. Additional permissions, such as the requirement for a PIN number or biometric verification can be applied separately to each door. Security permissions may be varied throughout the day. To facilitate the configuration of access patterns, selected “generic” patterns can be used as templates for new patterns with additional required doors being added to those contained in the template pattern.
Graphical Hardware Manager
Installed access control equipment is displayed in a graphical hierarchy. New components can be easily added and configured using wizards.
Temporary Card Issue
To accommodate mislaid or forgotten cards, a temporary card facility is incorporated within Tensor.NET Access. Dedicated, temporary cards can be issued to any cardholder; these are “live” within two minutes of issue and inherit the person’s original permissions. Temporary cards expire after a set time, after which they are rejected at any access control point.
Importing Cardholders
To facilitate the entry of cardholder information, new starters can be imported into Tensor.NET Access directly from your company’s Microsoft Active Directory™ or 3rd party system.
Access Viewer
Alert Notifications
CCTV Integration
Access Control Permissions
Access Reports
Entry Under Duress
Access Viewer
Displays access control activity in real-time through a graphical interface. Access viewer animations show this activity on a floor plan of your site that is created using the Access Viewer Designer module. Pop-ups provide cardholder details such as the person’s photo, name and access event.
Alert Notifications
Alert notifications are highlighted for further investigation. Doors can also be remotely opened from the Access Viewer console.
CCTV Integration
Video clips, retrieved from CCTV cameras, associated with access control activity are available when CCTV is integrated with Tensor.NET. Cameras are allocated to location entries created in Tensor.NET. Locations are then linked to smart card scanners or push buttons in the Hardware Manager. Multiple cameras can be allocated to the same location, or multiple locations can be assigned to the same camera. Lock sensors are connected directly to the CCTV’s DVR. As a lock is released, an alarm event triggers the recording of video footage for the event. This footage is then available for playback in Tensor.NET, either by location or as a link in an access control report. Screen displays are provided to report upon access events, including links to play the related video clip.
Access Control Permissions
Access control permissions Defined in access patterns. Base pattern templates are a quick way of creating variants of a core pattern. The daily patterns are used to form groups (either Single or Multi-Site) and can be assigned to any individual in the business. Each daily pattern allows the administrator to control any door, at any time of the day. To allow the system to accommodate rapid changes, temporary access groups can be easily assigned to cardholders for specific periods.
Access Reports
All events occurring at the T8526 Intelligent IP Access Controller can be reported upon. Reports are based upon an easy wizard design tool, helping you explore a variety of different reporting options. Reports may be printed, saved to a variety of file formats or emailed to recipients. Each report can be fully customised and professionally designed using the ‘Report Designer Module’, which allows you to alter every aspect of the report layout. This feature allows you to design your reports with your own company logos, fonts and colours, giving your reports a real personalised look.
Entry Under Duress
Cardholders can enter a special code to warn system administrators that access has been granted under duress. There is no difference to the reader response when the duress key is pressed but silent alarms and emails are triggered to warn of the entry under duress. Access is granted in the normal manner.
TENSOR.NET – AVAILABLE FEATURES BY EDITION
Function | Enterprise | Business | Lite | Start |
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Sections – the ability to create sub groups, usually within departments | ![]() |
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Pay intervals – employees can be categorised by their payment period interval | ![]() |
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Misc groups – categorise employees by two further customisable groupings | ![]() |
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Bulk amend – a menu option to change employee details en masse | ![]() |
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Active directory – the ability to populate the system’s employee list from the users held in your Active Directory | ![]() |
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Global access groups – create access control rules that apply to multiple sites | ![]() |
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Calendar groups – this feature allows the days that are treated as public holidays to be varied across a range of employees |
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Fire Roll Call points – the ability to create fire assembly points for Fire Roll Call reporting | ![]() |
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Auditing – includes functionality to record and report upon user system activity | ![]() |
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Security groups – can be used to restrict the employees visible to system users | ![]() |
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Role management – can be used to restrict the functions visible to system users | ![]() |
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Company group | ![]() |
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Locations | ![]() |
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Edition | Companies | Sites | Employees |
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Enterprise | Multi company | Multi site | Unlimited |
Business | Single company | Multi site | Unlimited |
Lite | Single company | Single site | 250 |
Start | Single company | Single site | 50 |
System Support & Requirements
Support
- Help provided within the application, via an online support website or by telephone to our Helpdesk or by modem connection directly to your company.
- Installation Support and Training.
System Includes
Software
- WinAC.NET Enterprise edition software installation CD.
Requirements
- Windows 7 Professional or above.
- A dual core 2.4GHz processor or higher
- 250MB of free hard disk space for the software installation
- 10Gb of free hard disk space for data storage
- 4Gb RAM
- CD ROM drive (for installation)
- 1 x USB port (camera) optional
- Further USB ports for the optional fingerprint reader (1 USB port per device).
* Please note these are basic system requirements. For a full list please contact a Tensor representative.
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