Touchless Access Control System: Automatic Door Access

Keys, keypads, and handles have been unavoidable pain points in building security, as they are high-touch surfaces that spread germs and create bottlenecks. 

This reality forces businesses to choose between stringent security and providing a safe, hygienic experience for everyone entering their facilities. 

Thankfully, modern innovation resolves this through touchless access control systems. These security solutions eliminate those concerns by enabling secure, automatic entry without any physical contact.

In this article, we cover what you should know about touchless access control solutions and the best system to deploy for your facility. Keep reading to learn more.

What is Touchless Access Control?

Touchless access control is a security solution that grants individuals entry to an area without requiring them to make physical contact with a door, reader, device, or surface. It is mainly used for convenience or hygiene purposes.

Instead of a physical key, these modern systems use various contactless credentials (like a smartphone, key fob, or biometric indicator) to verify your identity and unlock the door automatically. Moreover, 90% of U. S. adults now own a smartphone, so mobile credentials are a practical credential option for most users. 

Once your credential is verified, the door unlocks and swings open for you, eliminating the need to touch any surface. While traditional keys and touch-based keypads can harbor germs, a well-implemented touchless entry system significantly reduces points of shared contact. 

However, the benefits extend far beyond health. These systems offer enhanced security, greater convenience, and a modern, easy entry experience for offices, residential buildings, and secure facilities.

How Does Touchless Access Control Work?

A touchless access control system works by verifying your credentials and unlocking the door once you approach it. These systems replace the physical act of inserting or swiping a card. The entire process of touchless entry systems can be broken down into three simple steps:

1. The Credential Presentation

It all begins when an authorized user presents their credential to the reader. This is the “touchless” part. Instead of a physical key, the credential can be:

• a smartphone Bluetooth- or NFC-enabled smartphone
• a proximity keycard that uses radio waves, key cards, or the internet
• a unique biometric identifier, like a facial recognition scan

2. The Verification

Once the credential is presented to a reader, the system captures and reads the information. Afterward, it instantly relays this information to a central control panel, which acts as the brain of the operation. 

This panel checks the credentials against a secure, pre-authorized database in real-time. This verification happens in milliseconds.

3. The Door Unlock

Upon receiving a signal to approve access from the control panel, the system triggers the lock mechanism to unlock, without any physical contact. 

These touchless door openers rely on wireless technologies, such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi/cellular networks, RFID, and radio waves, to facilitate this communication.

Top 3 Touchless Access Control Systems for Business

The U.S. access control market brought in $2,622.6 million (in revenue) in 2024, emphasizing that many property owners are actively investing in these systems. Hence, investing in the right touchless access control system is crucial for modernizing your property's security, hygiene, and user experience. 

Here are three leading touchless access control solutions designed to meet the diverse needs of businesses, multifamily properties, and healthcare facilities.

Coram

Coram is a cloud-native video and access-control platform that brings touchless entry for businesses. Instead of juggling separate camera and door systems, Coram links access events to real-time or recorded video. 

It lets you manage doors, users, schedules, and alerts from one cloud dashboard accessible on desktop or mobile. This makes mobile credentials and keyless entry easy for offices, schools, healthcare facilities, and residential and commercial buildings.

Designed to work with existing IP cameras, Coram usually installs as a plug-and-play upgrade rather than a full hardware overhaul. Thus, it is helpful if you manage many doors or multiple sites. 

Operators can create predefined lockdown rules, set time-based access, and onboard hundreds of users quickly. This reduces touchpoints and speeds visitor flows while preserving detailed audit trails.

For security- and compliance-minded teams, Coram’s cloud approach centralizes logs and video evidence behind a single dashboard. This simplifies investigations and supports integrations with enterprise systems and mobile apps. 

If you want a touchless, scalable system that prioritizes hygiene, usability, and visual verification at every door, Coram is a contender worth deploying. Its fast onboarding and cloud management make it especially attractive for schools, clinics, property managers, and office campuses everywhere.

ButterFlyMX

ButterflyMX specializes in smartphone-centric touchless access control solutions, particularly perfect for multifamily residential and commercial settings. Its system enables users to unlock doors via a mobile app (by swiping), providing a highly convenient and keyless entry method. 

For added flexibility, the platform supports voice command integration with virtual assistants like Siri and Alexa, allowing for completely hands-free operation. When paired with an automatic door mechanism, it delivers a fully touchless door opener experience. 

The system also includes a video intercom feature, enhancing security by visually verifying visitors before granting access. While highly convenient, its heavy reliance on smartphones may pose challenges for users less comfortable with mobile technology. 

Despite this, ButterflyMX remains a cost-effective and user-friendly option for properties aiming to minimize physical touchpoints.

Openpath

OpenPath, now Avigilon Alta, offers an innovative, cloud-native touchless access control system for commercial, residential, and enterprise environments. 

Its standout feature is the innovative "Wave to Unlock" technology, which allows users to unlock doors by waving their hands. This creates a seamless and hygienic entry process. 

The platform’s cloud-based infrastructure provides exceptional flexibility, enabling remote management, real-time updates, and integration with video surveillance and other security systems.

With "Triple Unlock Technology," OpenPath ensures reliable performance through multiple communication methods, improving both security and user convenience. 

While the advanced features may require a brief adjustment period for users, its proactive security capabilities and scalable design make it a future-proof choice for businesses seeking a high-end touchless entry system.

Benefits of a Touchless Access Control System

Implementing a touchless access control system is beyond a simple upgrade; it's an investment that delivers significant returns across hygiene, security, and operations. 

These systems offer an advanced way to meet expectations for safety and convenience. Here are the key advantages of adopting touchless access control solutions.

Improved Hygiene & Safety

The most immediate benefit of a touchless entry system is the reduction in shared high-touch surfaces. Traditional door handles, keypads, and card readers are known hotspots for germs, bacteria, and viruses.

By eliminating the need to physically touch a reader or handle to gain entry, these systems create a more sanitary environment for employees, residents, and visitors. 

This is particularly critical in healthcare facilities, schools, and multi-tenant apartments where controlling the spread of illness is a top priority.

Furthermore, enhanced safety is achieved through detailed audit trails that log every entry with a timestamp, providing a clear record of who accessed which area and when.

Convenience & Faster Entry

Touchless access control makes the entry process easier. This reduces the frustration of fumbling for keys or access cards. With credentials stored on a smartphone or key fob, authorized users can gain access.

This is beneficial for employees carrying equipment, parents with strollers, or residents arriving with groceries. This frictionless experience reduces bottlenecks at entry points during high-traffic periods. 

Simultaneously, it improves the overall flow of people and creates a more efficient and positive entry experience for everyone.

Scalability & Flexibility

One of the strongest advantages of advanced touchless access control solutions is their inherent scalability. Unlike traditional systems that require complex installation for every new door, many touchless systems operate on wireless and cloud-based platforms. 

This makes it easy to scale your security infrastructure as your business or property grows. Adding a new door, integrating a new tenant, or even managing multiple locations from a single centralized dashboard can be done with just a few clicks.

This flexibility allows you to adapt your security posture quickly to meet changing needs without significant downtime or expense.

Reduced Operational Costs

Transitioning to a touchless door opener system can lead to substantial long-term cost savings. Firstly, it eliminates the recurring expense of managing physical keys, which are easily lost, stolen, or duplicated, compromising security. 

With mobile or cloud-based credentials, access can be granted or revoked instantly without the need to rekey locks or issue new cards. 

Secondly, the improved hygiene can lead to lower spending on sanitation supplies and potentially reduce illness-related absenteeism in the workplace. 

Absenteeism is expensive: research indicates that illness-related productivity losses have cost employers $575 billion and the national absence rate was about 3.2% in 2024, according to BLS. Therefore, anything that meaningfully reduces workplace illness, including touchless access management systems, can have measurable cost benefits.

Finally, the ability to manage the system remotely reduces the time and labor costs associated with traditional security administration.

Better User Experience

A touchless access security system directly translates to a superior user experience. It offers undeniable convenience while projecting an image of innovation and care for user well-being. 

Tenants and employees appreciate the modern, technology-forward approach to security that values their time, safety, and health. This enhanced perception can be a valuable differentiator for businesses looking to attract talent and for property managers aiming to increase tenant satisfaction and retention. 

By providing a secure, clean, and effortless way to enter a building, you are investing in an environment that people are happy and confident to be in.

Key Features to Look For in a Touchless Access System

Selecting the right automatic door opener access control is a strategic decision that impacts security, operations, and user experience. To ensure you invest in a solution that delivers long-term value, here are the essential features to evaluate.

Technology

The heart of any touchless entry system is the technology it uses to verify identity. Look for a system that supports many modern credentials to suit different user needs and security levels. 

Key options include mobile access using Bluetooth or NFC on smartphones, RFID-enabled key fobs, and advanced biometrics like facial recognition. The best solutions offer flexibility, allowing you to use a single credential type or a combination for multi-factor authentication.

This ensures both high security and user convenience.

Integration

A new security system shouldn't operate in a silo. Your chosen touchless door opener must integrate seamlessly with your existing infrastructure. 

Prioritize systems that can connect with:

• video surveillance cameras to capture entry events
• alarm systems to trigger lockdowns
• building management systems to control lighting or HVAC upon entry

This interoperability creates a unified, smart building ecosystem, enhances overall security and operational efficiency while protecting your previous investments.

Scalability

Your security needs will evolve as your business or property grows. A high-quality automatic door opener access control system is built with scalability in mind. 

Whether you need to add three doors or thirty, the system should allow for easy expansion without a complete overhaul. 

Cloud-based systems are particularly advantageous here, as they often allow you to add new doors and users with minimal new hardware, ensuring your investment is protected for the long term.

Reliability

An access management system is an essential infrastructure that must work every time, in all conditions. Assess the hardware's build quality and its resistance to environmental factors like extreme temperatures, humidity, and dust. 

The system should have a proven uptime record and robust fail-safes, such as battery backups or offline mode. This guarantees a consistent operation even during a power outage or network disruption so that there’s uninterrupted access.

Ease of Use

A system is only effective if people use it correctly. For administrators, look for a clean, centralized dashboard that simplifies user management, permission setting, and activity review. 

The process should be very intuitive for end-users. A complex system leads to frustration, support calls, and attempts to bypass security, so prioritize user-friendly touchless entry systems that require minimal training.

Advanced Security Features

Beyond being touchless, the system must be secure. Ensure it employs strong encryption for all data transmissions between credentials and readers to prevent hacking. 

Look for features like multi-factor authentication for high-security areas, and real-time monitoring with instant alerts for forced door or invalid credential attempts. 

These features are crucial for preventing unauthorized access and protecting your assets.

Cost of Ownership

Evaluate the total cost of ownership, which includes installation, monthly software or cloud subscription fees, ongoing maintenance, and the cost of adding new credentials. 

A system with a slightly higher upfront cost but lower maintenance and scalability expenses often provides a much better return on investment (ROI) than a cheaper, inflexible alternative.

Vendor Support

Finally, the quality of the vendor is as important as the technology itself. Choose a provider known for reliable technical support, including professional installation, responsive troubleshooting, and regular software updates to address new security threats.

Strong vendor support ensures your system operates smoothly and remains secure over its entire lifespan, providing peace of mind long after the installation is complete.

Conclusion 

The transition to touchless access control is a forward-thinking luxury and a practical necessity for modern, health-conscious, and secure buildings. These systems offer an unparalleled combination of improved hygiene, enhanced security, and convenience for everyone who enters your facility. 

By installing touchless entry systems, you are investing in a safer and more efficient future for your property. 

Curious about how a customized touchless access management solution can improve your building's entry experience? Contact Coram today for an expert consultation and let the team guide you in implementing the ideal system for your needs.