Many buildings assume electronic access control stays available — until it doesn't. This episode digs into how physical access systems behave when power, network, or backend services fail, and what facility and security leaders can do to keep people safe and operations moving. Host Alex Morgan interviews Michael Harrington and James Rogers to diagnose common failure modes (battery exhaustion, offline credential caches, carrier outages, human workarounds), walk through design tradeoffs between resilience and security (mechanical overrides, local caching, portable credentials), and highlight operational practices that reduce risk (routine tests, cross-team playbooks, and spare inventory). Listeners will get concrete decision criteria for choosing backup methods, short scripts for tabletop exercises, and a maintenance checklist to avoid the most frequent surprises. The episode prioritizes practical steps owners and operators can implement quickly to balance safety, access, and cybersecurity without major capital projects.