Commercial access control systems for Nashville, Middle Tennessee and Chattanooga businesses
Control who gets into your building, which doors they can open and when, with cards, fobs or phones instead of keys you can't track. Planned, installed and supported by local teams in Smyrna and Chattanooga.
Commercial access control is an electronic system that decides who can unlock each door in your building and at what times. Instead of handing out keys, each person gets a card, fob or phone credential. You can add, change or remove a person in minutes, and the system keeps a record of every entry.
Turner Security designs access control around your doors, your people and your schedule, then installs and supports it from our offices in Smyrna and Chattanooga.
Best forOffices, warehouses, multi-tenant buildings, schools, churches and any site with staff turnover
CredentialsKey cards, key fobs, PIN codes and mobile phone credentials
Manage it fromA phone or computer, including door schedules and entry history
Works withSecurity cameras, intrusion alarms, video intercoms and gates
Licensed and accreditedTennessee Alarm Contracting Company licenses #319 and #1998, BBB Accredited since 1993 with an A+ rating
50Years serving Tennessee businesses, since 1976
4.6Google rating across our Smyrna and Chattanooga offices
33Years BBB Accredited, with an A+ rating
Hardware basics
What a commercial access control system is made of
Credentials
Key cards, fobs, PIN codes or mobile credentials on a phone. Many businesses mix them by user group.
Readers
Mounted at each controlled door or gate, reading the credential and sending it to the controller.
Controller or panel
Decides whether that person is allowed through that door at that time, and logs the result.
Locking hardware
Electric strikes, maglocks or electrified locksets. Existing hardware can often be reused.
Power and backup
Power supplies with battery backup so doors behave the way they were planned during an outage.
Management software
Cloud or on-site software for users, schedules, entry history and reports.
Why Turner
A local access control installer that stays after the install
Turner Security has served businesses since 1976 from offices in Smyrna and Chattanooga. We support single offices and national customers, including a chemical distributor with 137 locations across the US and Canada.
There are no long-term agreements. Our help desk resolves most issues remotely, such as adding users or adjusting schedules, and we can often schedule an on-site visit the same day you call.
What we set up
Access control that fits how your building runs
Every system starts with a walkthrough of your doors, gates and daily routine. These are the parts we plan and install.
Onboarding and offboarding
Give a new hire access on day one and shut off a departing employee's credential immediately, without rekeying a single lock.
Cards, fobs and mobile credentials
Choose key cards, fobs, PIN codes or phone-based credentials, or mix them across user groups like staff, vendors and tenants.
Doors, gates and restricted areas
Secure main entrances, side doors, server rooms, stock rooms and vehicle gates, each with its own rules about who can enter.
Schedules and entry history
Unlock doors automatically during business hours, lock them after hours, and look up who opened which door and when.
Multi-location management
Manage several buildings or offices from one dashboard, with the same standards and permissions at every site.
Camera and alarm integration
Tie door events to camera footage and your alarm system, so a forced door or after-hours entry is easy to review.
Why it matters
Keys are the weakest part of most buildings
Keys get copied, lost and never returned. When someone leaves, you often can't be sure who still has access. Access control fixes that by tying every door to a person, a credential and a schedule.
It also gives you a record. If something goes missing, you can see who was in the building and pair that with camera footage instead of guessing.
Remove access the moment someone leaves
Know who entered each door and when
Lock and unlock doors on a schedule
Manage everything from your phone
Local install and supportSmyrna and Chattanooga crews
How it works
From walkthrough to working doors
A clear process with one team from start to finish.
1
Walkthrough
We look at every door, gate and user group and ask how your day actually runs.
2
Written proposal
You get a plan for readers, locks, credentials and software, with a clear price.
3
Installation
Our crews install and test each door, then set up your users and schedules.
4
Training and support
We show your team how to manage it and stay available for service.
Planning the doors
Fail-safe, fail-secure and other decisions to make up front
A fail-safe door unlocks when power is lost, and a fail-secure door stays locked. Which one each door should be depends on whether it is an exit path, what it protects and what your local fire code official requires, so we plan it door by door rather than with one setting for the building. Free egress, meaning people can always get out, has to be preserved.
We also settle which doors unlock on a schedule during business hours, which always require a credential, how visitors and vendors get temporary access, and who on your team has admin rights.
Exterior entrances first, then rooms with cash, inventory, records or network equipment
Door schedules that match each shift
Temporary credentials for contractors and vendors with an end date
A short list of admins with different permission levels
Integrated and multi-site
Integrated access control across one building or many
Integrated access control ties door events to cameras and alarms, so a forced door or after-hours entry comes with video of what happened. For multi-site businesses and property managers, one cloud dashboard can manage every location with the same roles and standards, and a new site is added instead of starting over.
We install and support platforms including Brivo, LenelS2, Honeywell Pro-Watch, Kantech, HID, Alarm.com and ButterflyMX, with door hardware from Allegion, ASSA ABLOY, dormakaba, HES and SDC. See all of our partners.
How much does a commercial access control system cost?
Cost depends mostly on the number of doors, the type of locks and readers, and whether you want cloud management. We give you a free assessment and a written proposal with a clear price before any work starts.
Can I manage door access from my phone?
Yes. The systems we install let you add or remove people, change schedules, unlock a door remotely and check entry history from a phone or computer.
Can you add access control to my existing doors?
In most cases, yes. We review your current doors, frames and hardware and tell you which can be fitted with electronic locks or strikes and which may need new hardware.
Does access control work with security cameras?
Yes. We can connect door events to your camera system so you can quickly pull up video of who entered a door at a specific time.
Can one system manage more than one location?
Yes. Multi-site businesses and property managers can run several buildings from one dashboard with consistent rules at each site.
What happens to access control if the power goes out?
Systems are planned with battery backup power supplies, and each door is set to fail safe or fail secure based on fire code and how that door needs to behave.
Who installs access control systems in Nashville?
Turner Security plans, installs and services commercial access control for businesses in Nashville and Middle Tennessee from our Smyrna office, and in the Chattanooga region from our Chattanooga office.
What is integrated access control?
Integrated access control connects door access with cameras and alarms so events are linked. A door held open or forced after hours can trigger an alarm and bring up the video from that door in the same timeline.
Can vendors and contractors get temporary access?
Yes. You can issue a credential that works only on certain doors during set hours and expires on an end date, so nobody has to chase down a key afterward.
Should our doors be fail-safe or fail-secure?
It depends on the door. Exit paths and doors covered by fire code are handled differently from doors that protect cash, inventory or equipment. We plan each door with your local fire code official's requirements in mind.
I spoke with a gentleman named TJ today. In spite of me not having all the information available to properly communicate and identify the issue, he patiently walked me through steps to identify and troubleshoot one of our doors we were having issues with. The issue ended up not having anything to do with a Turner Security device but through process of elimination, he helped me find a solution to the issue. TJ was genuinely patient, friendly, and professional and I feel like he went above and beyond to help me resolve the issue.
KevinGoogle review, 5 stars
★★★★★★★★★★
I received excellent customer service and help with our access control system from Tommy Oliver. He was patient and helpful from start to finish!
Joseph M.Google review, 5 stars
★★★★★★★★★★
Turner is extremely dedicated to its customers. They go above and beyond what is expected of them. Turner's resolve on all issues is to treat you as if you are their own family.
