Controlled Access – Q & As

Q 01. What is controlled access?

A. Controlled access is the physical verification to ensure that only Members and their accompanied Guest(s) and/or Employees are able to enter your private club.  This is being achieved with the installation of three entrance lanes with card-activated gates where Members will simply swipe their new RFID-enabled Member Card to access. The system will be augmented with security cameras and a Member photo that will be shown to staff on a security monitor for cross validation.

Q 02. When will Controlled Access begin?
A. With equipment installed we are now moving into a phase of final testing and preparations. A precise date for launch of the system will be communicated soon.

Q 03. When will I get my new card?
A. We plan to distribute the new “RFID” Membership cards in July. You will be notified by email when your family’s cards are ready for pick-up at the Front Desk.

Q 04. Do I need to do anything?
A. If you have not already done so, please arrange a time with the Front Desk team to have your family’s photographs taken. We will need these photographs before we can prepare and issue your new cards.

Q 05. Why is controlled access necessary now?
A.  Over the years, there has been steady feedback from many Members that as a private club, the Club should have a system in place to ensure that only Members are able to enter; and over the past years as the Club has become busier, these concerns have escalated. As most member clubs around the world do indeed validate Members as they enter the Club and since Members are paying a premium for Club Membership, controlled access seemed reasonable. In addition it allows the validation of important Club expectations such as ensuring that all guests and personal employees are properly registered and that children under thirteen (13) years of age are properly accompanied by their parents or an adult Member. Finally, it helps to ensure that the Club is indeed a safe haven for Members to get away from everything and relax.

Q 06. Are there other ways to achieve controlled access without the barrier system?
A.  Manual validation would require the additional hire of three staff to provide a security guard at the main entrance to validate membership cards throughout the operational hours of the Club.  The labor cost of these additional staff is cost prohibitive and would quickly exceed the cost of the Barrier system within three years.

As for the existing staff, the receptionist and security guards have a number of other responsibilities that do not allow them to dedicate sufficient attention to validating Members entering the Club, not to mention, with over 4000 users, it is impractical if not impossible for anyone to remember every Member.

The barrier system offers a streamlined and most cost effective way to validate Membership, ensuring the registration of guest(s) and personal employees, and of equal importance to validate that a parent (or adult Member) is on the premises to supervise children under thirteen (13) years old.

Q 07. Will I be required to carry my new card?
A. You will need to bring a registered RFID card in order to access the Club.  Members will also have the option to register either a Taipei EasyCard (悠遊卡), or a Kaohsiung iPass card (一卡通). Once this is done you will be able to use either your ACC-issued card, or your EasyCard /iPass card to access the Club.

.
Q 08. Why are you implementing this new rule about carrying cards?
A. It has always been part of ACC’s rules that Members should carry their Membership cards when visiting the Club, although in recent years this rule has not been enforced.  The Security Committee and the Board of Governors did also consider other forms of Member recognition when planning controlled access, but no other methods provided the convenience and universal suitability of RFID cards.

Q 09. Will all Members of my family be issued with cards?
A. We will issue cards to all family Members aged 13 and above.  Please note that if you have requested a Member card for children less than thirteen (13) years old, these Member cards will not activate the barrier as children less than 13 years old are not permitted to enter the Club without their parent or an adult Member.

Q 10. How will children aged under 13 enter and exit the Club?
A. Children too young to have their own access cards should enter and exit along with a parent. Children should enter the barrier lane in front of the parent, who will then swipe his/her card to allow the family group to pass through together. Wider-than-standard access lanes were specified in order to make this as convenient as possible for families.

Q 11. How will my Guests and/or Personal Employee(s) access the Club?
A. As part of our controlled access implementation it will be mandatory for Guests and/or Personal Employees to be registered into the controlled access system when they arrive at the Club (or registered in advance online through the Member’s only section of our website).  Once registration is complete your Guests and/or Employees will be issued with one-time access cards by the Front Desk Team. In order to exit the Club premises these Guest and/or Employee cards will need to be fed into a collection slot on the exit side of the access barriers.

Q 12. Exceptions for Unaccompanied Guests
A. Two common questions are “what will happen if a Member has guests that they were hoping to entertain at the Club but something came up and the Members are not able to accompany them” or “if something comes up and the Member is forced to send their children to their swimming lesson with the personal helper as an unexpected obligation arose where the Member is unable to accompany them.” In both cases, the Board of Governors understands that circumstances may arise where the primary Members are unable to accompany their guests or children to the Club for planned activities. When this occurs, the Board has authorized management to make an exception provided that the guests or personal employees are properly registered in advance within the online system. The member only needs to send an email to the General Manager’s office so that the exception can be authorized and the respective staff can be informed and properly prepared. The process would therefore be:
i. Obtain exception authorization by email from General Manager’s office.
ii. Register guests/personal employees in advance on Guest Registration System.
iii. On arrival the Front Desk staff will check the exception authorization, and issue access cards to your guests in accordance with the details you entered on the Guest Registration system.

Q 13. How will Guest and/or Employee registration work?
A. A Guest/Employee Registration Facility is being built into the ACC website enabling registration of your Guests or “Personal Employees” up to 2 weeks in advance of the planned visit. Two dedicated “Guest Registration” PCs will also be provided at the ACC Front Desk to make this process convenient and fast.

Q 14. What happens if I forget to bring my card?
A. A ‘Temporary Day Pass Card’ can be issued.  The first time a day pass is issued it will be free, but there will be a small administration fee charged for additional occurrences. Although this should not be a problem as Members will also be able to register their EasyCard or iPass card to enter the Club as well.

Q 15. Why was a card-based system chosen?
A. A dedicated Security Ad Hoc Member Committee was appointed to review the question of Controlled Access and to consider options on how this should best be implemented for ACC. This Committee met regularly through 2016 to carry out planning and consider possible solutions, and in the course of this process 17 different possible recognition technologies were considered in detail. These included various types of biometric technologies, and also several smartphone-based technologies. However, the final decision was that RFID card technology would provide the most suitable overall solution for ACC based on reliability, and universal suitability.

Q 16. What Happens If I am Delayed in the Club and Need to Exit After 11 pm?
A. Due to legal and safety liabilities, Members and their Guests are not permitted to remain in the Club outside of the Club’s operating hours. For this reason Member access cards will only enable entry through the barrier gates into the Club between 5:50 am and 11:00 pm (matching the Club’s operating hours). For safety reasons cards will allow exit through the barriers at any time, however if Members or their Guests were to exit after 11:00 pm this would be logged by the system and management would follow up with the Member to discuss and determine the reason.

Q 17. What about access to California Room, San Francisco Room and Rendezvous?
A. As these locations will be accessible without passing through the access control barriers a separate Guest registration sign-in book will be provided for these areas.

Q 18. What will happen in the case of power loss, or emergency situations?
A. All controlled access equipment will be connected to emergency generator power, but if power is lost, or the fire alarm is activated, all controlled entrances will open automatically.