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Visitor monitoring is an indispensable system and is becoming increasingly popular. Visitor monitoring controls, records and monitors the entrance and exit of a guest. Upon arrival the Receptionist will check the visitors’ identity and enter their details onto the visitor monitoring system. The guest will then be issued with a printed ID pass. This system is an advantage to any business because: It records an accurate date & time of the visitors arrival Is individulaised with a bar-code and expiry date Is an efficient way to quickly pass visitors through Reception It is becoming increasingly common for businesses not to have a Reception/Receptionist. Visitor monitoring will allow a guest to self register by using a touch-screen computer. The system will automatically notify the host by email. Depending how high-tech a company wants to be, biometric fingerprint readers are frequently used as part of the visitor monitoring system to provide irrefutable proof that the guest is who they say they are. The biometric fingerprint reader is vital for high security sites. In addition, surveillance equipment such as digital CCTV and automatic number plate recognition devices can be combined with your ID card software, allowing you to create a highly sophisticated visitor monitoring network.

In Cambridgeshire alone metal thefts increased by 170% in 2007. Figures obtained by the BBC, show that metal thieves have been responsible for thefts valued at tens of millions pounds. Police are hoping to crack down on the spate of metal thefts by setting up a nationwide task force to tackle the problem. School roofs, statues and power lines seem to be some of the most popular targets, costing millions of pounds to replace. In particular copper is becoming one of the most sought after materials, because it is now worth £4,000 per tonne; twice as much as two years ago. Security is an essential tool for businesses, in order to combat such crime and to provide general peace of mind. Popular security solutions for businesses consist of rising bollards, barriers, turnstiles and automated gates. These are robust products, which will deter intruders whilst causing the minimum amount of inconvenience to employees. For more information on Car Park Barriers, Turnstile & Gates, please contact our Sales Team on +44(0) 1480 215530 or click here to request a call back. www.tensor.co.uk

Working from home is becoming more popular throughout the country. Over 3.1 million people are regular home-based workers. Recent reviews show that people benefit from working at home as they are able to be a working parent, and have fewer interruptions. Some workers also find that they are more motivated, as a result of reduced stress and sickness levels. Although working from home can be advantageous for the employee, many employers have no method of maintaining an accurate record of the employees’ hours or monitoring their performance. Tensor has developed an efficient, quick, add on product, which allows the employer to monitor their employees’ hours who work from home, for just £1,250. The online system permits the employee to clock ‘In’ and ‘Out’, review their holiday planner and submit requested annual leave to their manager. For more details please contact our Sales Team on +44(0) 1480 215530 or click here to request a call back.

Every year, many people die or are seriously injured as a result of fires in the workplace. Fires cost UK businesses millions of pounds a year due to damage, loss of business, fines, compensation claims and insurance premiums. Statistics show that between 70% and 80% of UK businesses fail within 3 years of experiencing a fire. Burning or combustion is due to a chemical reaction between fuel and oxygen. Many common materials can act as fuels such as: furniture curtains desks The rate of fire growth depends on the fuel that is burning and how much air can get to the fire. Legislation implements a risk based approach to fire safety within a business. It requires a responsible person to carry out a fire safety risk assessment and implement appropriate fire precaution and protection measures. Once this is in place, it must be maintained with a fire management plan. Fire safety at work is exceedingly important. Although employers must ensure that their staff are trained in how to prevent a fire and know the escape routes, there are still companies that do not have a Fire Roll-Call system in place. A Fire Roll-Call system is a fundamental tool. Should a fire start, the Fire Roll-Call system will automatically print a report indicating which employees are on site. In 2002, over 40,000 workplace fires were reported causing 147 deaths and 3,200 work injuries. Fire Roll-Call will determine who is at the fire muster point and who is unaccounted for.

Many schools are checking their security level to ensure that it is sufficient to match current threats. A recent survey of teachers carried out revealed there are a number of different security issues that present themselves in the day to day environment of a school. In the summer of 2007, schools were given the go-ahead to take fingerprints from children as young as five. An investigation earlier in 2007 showed that 285 schools had already introduced fingerprint scanners for a range of purposes including tracking children for truancy and security purposes. Although this is a successful system it still does not make school computers and equipment secure. Schools are targeted for their laptops, computers, over-head projectors and general electrical apparatus. In February of this year, a school was burgled and "50,000 worth of equipment was stolen. Unfortunately, the school did not have Access Control or secure entry & exit system. However, they did have an alarm system, but regrettably the alarm was ignored by local residents and an alert did not go through to the control centre. It is very important that schools are fully equipped with a professional security system to keep intruders out and to protect the school during the evenings and weekends.

A court has ruled that the significantly longer leaves of absence required by Reservists is the reason that they do not deserve holiday pay during their active-duty period. Federal employees serving as jurors or court witnesses, on the other hand, do deserve holiday pay. Since many federal employees who have been called to active duty are now serving for extended periods of time, they are seeing a lot of holidays pass by while on deployment. The question is: Do their employing agencies have to pay them for all those holidays? No, said the U.S. Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit in a recent decision. The Uniformed Services Employment and Re-Employment Rights Act does not require agencies to provide service members on active duty military leave the same benefits enjoyed by employees on court duty leave. In Tully vs. Department of Justice, a returned Reservist contended that the Bureau of Prisons should pay him for the 27 holidays that occurred during his two and one-half years of active duty because it provided holiday pay to employees who took paid leaves to attend judicial proceedings as jurors or witnesses. The Merit Systems Protection Board found that the agency did not have to accord him the same benefits enjoyed by employees on court leave, given the substantially different lengths of absences. The board found that the petitioner’s leave for active service was significantly longer than the typical period of court leave for service as a juror or witness. The Federal Circuit agreed, finding that the USERRA entitled service members to benefits provided only to employees who took leaves comparable to the leaves provided for military service. The substantially different expected durations of leaves of absence for military service and court duty supported the MSPB’s finding that the Bureau of Prisons did not owe the petitioner payment for holidays that occurred while he was on leave without pay to serve on active duty in the Army. The court found that the MSPB appropriately relied on the difference in the expected duration of the two forms of leave in determining whether they were comparable. To keep track of your employees’ holiday pay when they are absent from work either due to court or military service, you may wish to consider investing in a time and attendance system, which automates the process of recording and paying holiday pay to your employees.

Conducted by Salary.com, the 2007 Wasting Time Survey polled 2,000 employees across all job levels about how they spend their working hours. The top time-wasting activities included using the Internet for non-work-related purposes, socializing with co-workers and conducting personal business. The average time wasted represents a decrease from the previous year’s survey, when workers reported wasting an average of 1.89 hours a day. In the survey, 20- to 29-year-olds admitted they waste an average of 2.1 hours a day, with the wasted time dropping with age: Those aged 30 to 39 reported wasting 1.9 hours a day while those 40 to 49 wasted 1.4 hours. But some of the differences may be a question of semantics. Older employees tend to have a very strong work ethic who understand that some humdrum office tasks, like all-day meetings, have value that may not be apparent. The under-30 crowd is so used to instant feedback that that kind of thing to them seems to be wasting time. Younger workers may well have a higher standard for what efficient or effective use of time is. Younger workers often require time to learn what’s expected of them. While wasted time certainly includes Web surfing and non-work-related instant messaging, some of that behavior may be due to “inefficient processes,” such as waiting for computers to retrieve information or waiting for a return phone call. Employees generally rate their companies’ efficiency of work processes very low. Most people do tend to feel that there could be process improvement and the younger employees are even more impatient about those improvements being made. According to the survey, 14 percent of those who slack off said they did so because their hours are too long, 18 percent said they don’t have enough work to do and 11 percent said their work isn’t challenging enough. The whole HR community needs to realize that kids these days have grown up in a different environment, rife with distractions, and they are used to multi-tasking. When younger workers don’t achieve instantaneous results on work-related duties, they often get bored and turn to other tasks. It’s very important for HR to target under-30s through mentoring programs. Younger people particularly have a great interest in being developed. Fostering employee engagement, showing them what it takes to get ahead in the company and showing interest in them will help to motivate them and build commitment to the company. HR professionals should solicit feedback from workers on how to improve processes and reduce idle time. Employees usually have some very good ideas.

Much has changed since the first official Labor Day in America was enacted by Congress and signed into law by President Grover Cleveland in 1894. Back then, workers sought job stability and most seemed comfortable with the idea of staying with the same company until retirement. But, while that percentage has decreased over time, new research indicates that only 2 percent of workers now rank job stability as a high priority for their next position. It now seems that the top three priorities workers want from their next jobs are: interesting work (29 percent), meaningful work (18 percent) and work/life balance, also at 18 percent. People realize that no job is permanent, that change is now normal and that they have considerable control over their own career – both with their present employer and a prospective one. It’s not that workers don’t want job stability, it’s that they know “that employers can’t guarantee that” in this day and age. So, people are really looking for work that works for them. Other attractions for job candidates are financial reward (14 percent), opportunity for promotion (8 percent), cultural fit (6 percent) and a boss they trust (4 percent). The survey of 976 participants across 33 countries, with three-fourths of respondents based in the United States, also found that women are slightly more likely than men to seek interesting work (30 percent versus 26 percent, respectively) or work/life balance (20 percent versus 14 percent, respectively). Most workers understand that they, not their employers, need to control their careers, according to the survey, which found that the majority (57 percent) of respondents don’t expect their employers to provide clear career paths – and that is a sentiment that increases with age. The drive to climb the corporate ladder, however, is slightly stronger in the Asia Pacific region, where 11 percent of employees are more likely to pursue jobs that provide an opportunity for promotion, compared to 8 percent in North America or 7 percent in Europe. A huge cultural shift has pushed away the idea in younger workers’ minds that taking a job results in a lifetime commitment. Most of the workers today, even professional ones, view their position as one where they view themselves as free agents who can move from one job to another without recourse. While they may consider themselves free agents, that does not mean that younger workers don’t want to contribute positively to their companies. There’s an expectation among younger people coming into the workforce that their jobs should provide more than just a paycheck, and that the job is fulfilling towards what they see themselves as doing during their lifetime. If there’s a way to allow for more decision-making or input from employees, that tends to help employees to view themselves more as contributors, and thus make them more likely to stay at their jobs. In addition, managers are uniquely placed to help satisfy employees, as they know each member of staff well and are able to help him or her connect the dots between the type of work the employee wants to do and what kind of work the organization values. Of course, keeping hold of valuable members of the workforce is a top priority for successful corporations, many of whom are implementing rotating or flexitime working, to enable their staff to preserve a positive work/life balance. Tensor manufacture and supply time and attendance systems that accurately record and process your employees’ clocking data. Multiple shift patterns can be monitored, analyzed and reported upon, giving you all the information needed for accurate processing of working time.

The 9/11 attacks in Manhattan and Washington, D.C. led many building owners and managers to upgrade their security protocols and systems. Surveillance cameras, lobby turnstiles and other high-tech security measures became commonplace features within many large properties. Yet while experts generally agree that U.S. buildings are safer than they were before 9/11, they also warn that many building owners and managers have grown complacent on security issues since the attacks. That’s particularly disturbing in light of a recent warning from the federal government that al-Qaeda remains bent on carrying out “visually dramatic mass-casualty attacks” against domestic targets. But a vague threat seems to have triggered a vague response: Many building owners and managers are taking a wait-and-see attitude on costly security upgrades. In fact, it is feared that it will take another U.S. attack to once again grab the attention of the country’s $5 trillion commercial real estate sector. It is worth noting that building security measures are only as good as the public infrastructure that complements them, so it’s probably not so surprising that building owners and managers are still trying to meet 9/11 security challenges. Future adjustments, however, may not include high-tech security measures. With regard to 9/11, building managers have identified that technology will have little or no benefit in deterring a terrorist event. Hence, there is reluctance to invest in equipment that will have nominal effects. Cosmetics also play a role, as some businesses fear that their workplaces will resemble fortified bunkers with the addition of these systems. But some owners and managers are still in the market for security technology, and vendors keep rolling out more sophisticated products to serve this market. According to the Building Owners and Managers Association International (BOMA), spending on all types of security in private buildings climbed from 49 cents per sq. ft. in 2002 to 63 cents in 2007. Among the vendors seeking to capitalize on that additional spending are Tensor Time Systems Inc of Dayton, Ohio. Tensor offer an array of commercial security technology, such as the Access Lite door access control system, which has seen demand for these products rise substantially since 9/11. Buildings in Eastern and Northern cities have adopted security technology more readily that those in Southern and Western cities have. The stragglers, have more of an attitude that the problems will hit New York before reaching them. Whether you’re in New York or New Mexico, relying too heavily on technology as a “silver bullet” to ward off terrorists is the wrong approach. The best approach is to layer technical, physical and operational security as part of an overall security program to deter, delay or possibly detect the event before it occurs.

When you monitor your home or office with CCTV surveillance, it’s like you have an entire television network devoted to the safety of your home. CCTV broadcasts your security surveillance on a private network, but unlike broadcast television, all components within your network are connected through cables and wires. Already popular in large public places where security is heightened, such as at airports or casinos, CCTV systems are becoming more and more widely used in private home settings as well. Many independent studies in the UK have suggested that CCTV surveillance acts as a powerful deterrent, stopping crimes before they happen. Studies also show strong evidence that CCTV can be an extremely effective tool in detection and prosecution. The same CCTV video surveillance technology used in our public venues is available for your home. We offer systems that can monitor every room in your home through dedicated CCTV cameras, which produce clear, high visibility images. One surveillance system can cover up to 16 rooms in your home. By monitoring your family’s security on a CCTV network, you are able to record suspicious activities as they occur. Monitor your garden, front door, garage, even your mailbox. We strongly believe that CCTV security is a powerful addition to your home security system. Your home is your castle, and you have the right to protect it however, CCTV is subject to laws regarding a person’s right to privacy and you want to remain on the right side of the law. Therefore, when installing a CCTV system in your home, it is important that you are certain of the legality of your surveillance. CCTV is inexpensive and simple to use, and it will help increase security and put your mind at ease. For more information on CCTV systems for your home, office, or factory, contact us today.

Counterfeiting is estimated to be a $450 billion industry worldwide. The need to protect product and brand integrity is set to become the new value proposition for RFID. Controlling the legitimacy and the brand integrity of a product in the supply chain has been a struggle for manufacturers. However, a new twist on using radio frequency identification (RFID) may provide an answer. Smart electronic security markers, based on RFID technology, are making an impact with item-level security and laying the ground work for this kind of protection in future applications. RFID tags embedded at the product item-level make it easier to guarantee authenticity and represent an increasingly important value proposition for RFID by protecting product and brand integrity. RFID fights counterfeiting with an embedded electronic security marker, identifying a product or brand, that is automatically read as it passes through the supply chain either individually or as a group inside a shipping case. Over the past ten years, Tensor have been at the forfront of implementing RFID smart cards within our visitor monitoring systems. By using RFID, each smart card has an electronic security marker embedded into it, which is encoded with a unique data set that by itself or in conjunction with a network, can distinguish the product as genuine. This marker is unique to the individual product and cannot be easily altered, providing an enhanced level of security. Smart electronic security markers based on RFID technology make it easier to authenticate a product as genuine, compared with current anti-counterfeit methods that require human intervention. While there are a number of measures that can be taken to protect brand integrity in the supply chain for pharmaceuticals and other high-value items, RFID offers the most potential of any technology on the market today. There is a range of increasingly secure methods of using RFID to prevent different types of counterfeiting, using both an off-network and on-network approach to enable "anywhere, anytime" authentication of tag data and thus identifying the product as legitimate. RFID has always been about providing consumer convenience, protection and security in applications as diverse as automobiles, toll tags and retail payment. Now, RFID authentication of individual items can protect both consumers and companies alike against counterfeit goods.

Businesses were ordered yesterday to ensure that their staff took minimum rest periods, after existing guidelines were dismissed as "meaningless" by the European Court of Justice. The ruling means that employers must ensure that staff take off at least 11 hours between working days, and have a minimum of 1 day off a week, as well as a 20-minute rest after every 6 hours of work. Business groups said that employees would be unable to choose to work long hours to earn more money because they would be forced to take breaks against their will. Brussels have argued that the decision simply brought Britain in line with the rest of Europe. The ruling was an embarrassing defeat for the Department of Trade and Industry, which drew up guidelines in 1998 stating that employers merely had to advise staff that they were allowed certain rest breaks. European judges said yesterday that the DTI’s advice encouraged employers to break the rules about time off. These were agreed at a summit by all EU members, including Britain, as part of the European Working Time Directive . Syed Kamall, a Conservative MEP, said that the ruling would make Britain’s labour market less flexibile by preventing employees from choosing to work longer hours. "This is a kick in the teeth for British workers who may want to work longer hours to pay for extra bills or family holidays," he said. "While many people have a healthy work-life balance, others may choose to put in extra hours to achieve their ambitions. Telling British employers to send them home against their will is nonsensical." Employers fear that the ruling could leave them open to employment tribunal cases on alleged abuses of the directive. Susan Anderson, director of human resources policy at the CBI, said: "The realities of working life cannot be ignored. Employers can’t stand over employees to make sure they take a full lunch or coffee break. Similarly, employers cannot police what employees do during their weekends or evenings – whether they take a second job, for example, or spend an hour or two thinking about a work issue. And employees do not want big brother looking over their shoulder to check what they are doing in their own time." But Brendan Barber, general secretary of the TUC, said: "Employers will now have to do their utmost to ensure their staff get the breaks they are entitled to. The Government must now change its guidance on rest breaks to ensure that workers know their rights and can benefit from them, and that employers know their responsibilities and meet them fully." The ruling from the court in Luxemburg stated: "The [DTI] guidelines are liable to render the right of workers to daily and weekly rest periods meaningless because they do not oblige employers to ensure that workers actually take the minimum rest period, contrary to the aims of the Working Time Directive."