Visitor door entry system
A visitor is a person (or sometimes another animal) that makes a visit, arriving at a place at which they are not usually resident or associated with, eg a visit to an aunt or a cinema. Their stay (the visit) is usually temporary but depending on circumstances may become permanent at which point they are no longer regarded as visitors. Tourists are usually classed as visitors.
Secured by design, Homes 2019, Version 2, March 2019, published by Secured by Design, suggests that a visitor door entry system is:
‘A door entry system is a visitor system that is able to call a dwelling, whether individual or served from a communal entrance. It shall allow a visitor to ring any selected dwelling within the particular system and/or building, and hold a two-way simultaneous conversation between the visitor and occupant of the dwelling. It will allow the occupant to see and identify the visitor and their location, and will enable the occupant of the dwelling to remotely operate the electric locking device from their room terminal, thereby unlocking the communal entrance door(s) associated with the action and allowing the visitor access. This should be repeated at any subsequent communal entrance and landing if compartmentation of the building is required.’
NB Housing statistics and English Housing Survey, glossary, published by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities in 2019, suggests a door entry system: '...would normally consist of a buzzer and an intercom/camera.'
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings
- 2021 survey on public safety in crowded places.
- Access control.
- Barrier.
- Bollard.
- CCTV.
- Crime Prevention Design Advisor.
- Electric lock.
- Entry control.
- Hostile architecture.
- Intruder alarm.
- Proximity access control system.
- Secure space.
- Secured by design.
- Security and the built environment.
- Security.
- Visitor.
- Visitor flow.
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