The smartphone has already revolutionised key use and security management

21 May 2021

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Mobile access is impacting how we interact with buildings and manage their security. For users, a device they already carry unlocks doors and other openings digitally. For facility managers, this same device manages access more securely, for multiple sites if required. Businesses benefit from time-saving security management at a lower total cost.

Nearly two-thirds of organisations have already adopted mobile access control — or plan to within two years. According to analysts Omdia, mobile credential downloads grew by 220% between 2018 and 2019. An estimated 120 million will be on phones globally by 2023. This growth will continue, driven by convenience, cost and security benefits.

The security of mobile credentials improves on smart-cards and fobs. Biometrics are built into almost every modern smartphone, via fingerprint and face ID unlocking. Human behaviour is also on the smartphone’s side. How quickly would a student or employee notice a lost plastic access card? Everyone is more careful with their phone.

More secure, more convenient

For users, convenience benefits are obvious and have already ushered in a mobile revolution in banking, travel booking, food delivery and many more sectors. Yet not all solutions are created equal, especially in a field as sensitive as security: The user’s experience and privacy are both critical considerations.

Mobile access via battery-powered Aperio locks, for example, is built on Seos, a platform with class-leading cryptography and privacy protection. Unlocking any opening secured with an Aperio device is easy and intuitive: Users simply present their phone at the RFID reader, just as they would a smart-card. They don’t even need to open an app.

Aperio locks are already compatible with all major RFID credentials and NFC

Aperio locks are already compatible with all major RFID credentials and NFC. The Aperio E100 Electronic Escutcheon is also compatible with Bluetooth Low Energy — and more Aperio devices will support Bluetooth in the near future. User experience at the door is always identical for any credential.

Managing access efficiently with a smartphone

Businesses can run RFID and mobile in parallel if they choose. Every technology is always inside the Aperio package: There is no need to decide at purchase. And because Aperio is built on an open platform for maximum compatibility, locks integrate seamlessly with over 100 different security and access control systems.

For facility managers, security, cost and convenience are all enhanced by mobile. Lost physical credentials pose a major threat to workplaces. Over 17% of respondents to one survey admitted losing an RFID card or fob in the previous 12 months. Mobile credentials can be cancelled or amended over the air, without any need for updaters or a credential handover meeting. Nobody is left waiting for their access permissions to update or their old card to be cancelled.

At Arkansas State University’s new campus in Mexico, for example, the SMARTair® Openow mobile access solution enables the management of virtual “keys” inside a secure app. Keys can be created and sent from anywhere. With app-based control, security managers check and amend a virtual key’s access rights whenever they want. When a virtual key is cancelled, it vanishes instantly from the user’s Openow app.

CLIQ Connect

The CLIQ Go app makes access management easy even for non-specialist business owners

Where intelligent key credentials are deployed, mobile management saves time and money. CLIQ® Go is an extension of the CLIQ programmable key-based access solution, specifically tailored to small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). SMBs often lack the budget for a dedicated security department or manager. The CLIQ Go app makes access management easy even for non-specialist business owners. They can manage their locks from almost any smartphone.

Another CLIQ extension for mobile management, award-winning solution CLIQ Connect streamlines security workflows for off-site staff and contractors. To change a keyholder’s access rights, a system administrator accesses the CLIQ Web Manager software — from anywhere — and updates it.

The keyholder makes a secure Bluetooth connection between their CLIQ Connect key and the mobile app to instantly update permissions. For any business where workers are always on the move, it saves time, energy waste and money by reducing unnecessary journeys.

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Happy, engaged employees are the key to a profitable business

It is a truism that in the physical security industry your workforce and your reputation are the business’s largest and most important assets. Managing your workforce with empathy to ensure happy, engaged employees can be a balancing act. However, providing flexible working practices that are still profitable for your business is achievable, and something that every security business should be aiming for. SmartTask CEO, Paul Ridden discusses the hidden benefits of an engaged workforce and the role that good workforce management has to play. The importance of an engaged workforce can’t be stressed enough because motivated employees are what makes a business successful. Highly engaged staff According to Gallup, disengaged employees are a drain on any business. On average, they have 37% higher absenteeism, 18% lower productivity and 15% lower profitability. When the impact to the bottom line is calculated, you're looking at the cost of 34% of a disengaged employee's annual salary. 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For example, shifts and rosters, which can be designed in a fraction of the time with a purpose-built solution, can be published further in advance, giving employees enough notice of work patterns to plan their lives around their shifts. People are more easily able to swap shifts or sign up for additional work, and the control room still has oversight to see exactly who is working where and when. In addition, staff can see their accrued holiday entitlement more easily, and request leave from their smartphones. Staff feel more in control of their lives when they can discuss their work patterns and holidays with family while at home simply by referring to an app on their device. Staff that feel empowered in such a way are more likely to feel happy and engaged with the business. Delivering work schedules Task lists for completion while onsite sent directly to their mobile device is convenient for all Convenience and Duty of Care - Using an app to deliver work schedules and assignment instructions provides your employees with the tools and information they need to do their job while removing the stress of dealing with paper-based forms. Task lists for completion while onsite sent directly to their mobile device is convenient for all, and helps to prove compliance with any regulatory requirements, including Duty of Care. Check calls are part of daily life for security workers. Remembering to make them can be cumbersome, but with an app, they can be built into the employee’s Actions for the day/shift, with an automated prompt to make the call. 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How has security industry training changed in the last year?

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Wire-free, mobile first and data rich? The future of access control is within almost anyone’s reach

The 2020s will be a wireless decade in access control, says Russell Wagstaff from ASSA ABLOY Opening Solutions EMEA. He examines the trends data, and looks beyond mobile keys to brand new security roles for the smartphone. The benefits of wire-free electronic access control are well rehearsed. They are also more relevant than ever. A wireless solution gives facility managers deeper, more flexible control over who should have access, where and when, because installing, operating and integrating them is easier and less expensive than wiring more doors. Battery powered locks Many procurement teams are now aware of these cost advantages, but perhaps not their scale. Research for an ASSA ABLOY Opening Solutions (AAOS) benchmarking exercise found installation stage to be the largest contributor to cost reduction. Comparing a typical installation of battery-powered Aperio locks versus wired locks at the same scale, the research projected an 80% saving in installers’ labour costs for customers who go cable-free. Battery powered locks all consume much less energy than traditional wired locks Operating costs are also lower for wireless: Battery powered locks all consume much less energy than traditional wired locks, which normally work via magnets connected permanently to electricity. Wireless locks only ‘wake up’ when presented with a credential for which they must make an access decision. AAOS estimated a 70% saving in energy use over a comparable lock’s lifetime. Find out more about wireless access control at ASSA ABLOY's upcoming 29th June webinar Deploying wireless locks In short, every time a business chooses a wireless lock rather than a wired door, they benefit from both installation and operating cost savings. A recent report from IFSEC Global, AAOS and Omdia reveals the extent to which the advantages of wireless are cutting through. Responses to a large survey of security professionals — end-users, installers, integrators and consultants serving large corporations and small- to medium-sized organisations in education, healthcare, industrial, commercial, infrastructure, retail, banking and other sectors — suggest almost four locations in ten (38%) have now deployed wireless locks as a part or the whole of their access solution. The corresponding data point from AAOS’s 2014 Report was 23%. Electronic access control Electronic access control is less dependent than ever on cabling Without doubt, electronic access control is less dependent than ever on cabling: Even after a year when many investments have been deferred or curtailed, the data reveals fast-growing adoption of wireless locks, technologies and systems. Is mobile access control — based on digital credentials or ‘virtual keys’ stored on a smartphone — an ideal security technology for this wire-free future? In fact, the same report finds mobile access is growing fast right now. Among those surveyed, 26% of end-users already offer mobile compatibility; 39% plan to roll out mobile access within two years. Before the mid-2020s, around two-thirds of access systems will employ the smartphone in some way. The smartphone is also convenient for gathering system insights Driving rapid adoption What is driving such rapid adoption? The convenience benefits for everyday users are obvious — witness the mobile boom in banking and payments, travel or event ticketing, transport, food delivery and countless more areas of modern life. Access control is a natural fit. If you have your phone, you are already carrying your keys: What could be easier? IBM forecasts that 1.87 billion people globally will be mobile workers by 2022 Less often discussed are the ways mobile management makes life easier for facility and security managers, too. Among those polled for the new Wireless Access Control Report, almost half (47%) agreed that ‘Mobile was more flexible than physical credentials, and 36% believe that mobile credentials make it easier to upgrade employee access rights at any time.’ IBM forecasts that 1.87 billion people globally will be mobile workers by 2022. Workers in every impacted sector require solutions which can get the job done from anywhere: Access management via smartphone offers this. Site management device The smartphone is also convenient for gathering system insights. For example, one new reporting and analytics tool for CLIQ key-based access control systems uses an app to collect, visualise and evaluate access data. Security system data could contribute to business success. The app’s clear, visual layout helps managers to instantly spot relevant trends, anomalies or patterns. It’s simple to export, to share insights across the business. Reinvented for learning — not just as a ‘key’ or site management device — the phone will help businesses make smarter, data-informed decisions. The smartphone will also play a major role in security — and everything else — for an exciting new generation of smart buildings. These buildings will derive their intelligence from interoperability. Over 90% of the report’s survey respondents highlighted the importance of integration across building functions including access control, CCTV, alarm and visitor management systems. Genuinely seamless integration They offer greater peace of mind than proprietary solutions which ‘lock you in’ for the long term Yet in practice, stumbling blocks remain on the road to deeper, genuinely seamless integration. More than a quarter of those polled felt held back by a lack of solutions developed to open standards. ‘Open standards are key for the momentum behind the shift towards system integration,’ notes the Report. As well as being more flexible, open solutions are better futureproofed. Shared standards ensure investments can be made today with confidence that hardware and firmware may be built on seamlessly in the future. They offer greater peace of mind than proprietary solutions which ‘lock you in’ for the long term. Open solutions and mobile management are critical to achieving the goals which end-users in every vertical are chasing: scalability, flexibility, sustainability, cost-efficiency and convenience.

The smartphone has already revolutionised key use and security management

More secure, more convenient

Managing access efficiently with a smartphone

CLIQ Connect

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