Electronic access control - Security beat

I have been unpacking from last week’s ASIS show in Orlando. It was a good show, except if you compare it to last spring’s ISC West in Las Vegas, which was especially well attended and generated a lot of excitement in the market. ASIS was definitely smaller, lower key and less crowded. And there were no big product announcements. But there was still plenty of technology on display. In particular, I saw the show reflecting several ongoing trends in the market. Impact of M&As Me...

Are smart phones poised to replace all biometrics hardware in the next several years? That’s the bold prediction of Hector Hoyos, CEO of Hoyos Labs, one of the pioneers of biometrics technology who owns 59 patents (pending and issued) related to the field. The advent of the smart phone, which amounts to everyone carrying a computer in the palm of their hand, provides all the ability anyone needs to capture biometric information to use for verification, he says. Breakthrough in technolo...

Viscount Systems’ Freedom access control now secures the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which uses the physical security system in dozens of field offices of Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the department’s largest agency. (Tentative plans by President Obama call for the number of USCIS sites to increase ten-fold.) For many access control companies, government business is difficult to win and may even prove elusive. It’s ironic, then, that Viscount’s...

My first impression on visiting HID Global’s headquarters in Austin, Texas, was a profusion of light. Plenty of Texas sunshine beams through the abundant windows to provide brightness throughout the building. Mike Klein, HID Global’s manager of corporate communications and global public relations, led a tour of the headquarters facility on my recent trip to Austin. Including 250,000 square feet of manufacturing space, the building consolidates several previous North American manufac...

A message we’re hearing a lot at ISC West this year is the customer’s growing demand for end-to-end solutions. In the small- to medium-sized business (SMB) segment, especially, there is a strong demand for total solutions that are simple to use and easy to integrate and manage. The most efficient path to achieve such systems is often to install an end-to-end solution from a single supplier, combining access control and video. Creating unified solution by uniting product businesses...

The spirit of collaboration was alive and well at AMAG Technology’s Security Engineering Symposium 2015 in Carlsbad, Calif. Targeting consultants, architects and engineers (A&E), and integrators, the weekend conference was built around AMAG’s Symmetry access control products, especially their role in a unified system that incorporates a variety of other technologies, too. Also participating in the event (and emphasising the value of long-term partnering) were several other techn...

Is Axis Communications getting ready to expand its business beyond IP video cameras and even access control? A recent comment by Axis founder Martin Gren appears to suggest as much. In a Q&A sponsored by Memoori Research, Gren was asked about “adjacent markets that will merge with IP video” as they relate to the Internet of Things (IoT). Here is his answer: “If you’re talking about IoT, you’re talking about all types of intelligent sensors. Our DNA (at Axis) is...

There’s a new international company in the security market this week with the acquisition of Siemens’ Security Products business in Europe by Vanderbilt Industries, a new U.S. company that rebranded the Schlage Security Management Systems (SMS) product line after acquiring it from Ingersoll Rand in August 2012. The European arm of the new global player will be called Vanderbilt International, based out of Germany and led by Managing Director Joseph Grillo, who many remember from his...

Are attendees at the ASIS trade show becoming more business-savvy? Have they mastered the technology basics and moved on to more complex issues of how various products can be used to help their businesses? One exhibitor at ASIS 2014 in Atlanta says they have, and the change is impacting how the company displays its products. “Boon Edam has been exhibiting at ASIS for 15 years, and we have observed a new trend in how our customers approach us today versus just a few years ago,” says...

A busy first day at the ASIS International Seminar and Exhibits in Atlanta ended with a surprise strategic announcement by one of the industry’s largest suppliers and one of its most successful up-and-comers. Axis Communications and Sightlogix announced a strategic agreement to sell both technologies cooperatively to end-user customers through dealer channels. Despite the broad product range Axis brings to market, the company does not have a perimeter security solution, which is the stren...

In its role to achieve “plug-and-play” interoperability for security system and device integration, the Physical Security Interoperability Alliance (PSIA) is looking ahead to some new possibilities in its long-term roadmap. David Bunzel, PSIA executive director, shared with me some of the active discussions among alliance members about where the next wave of interoperability initiatives may lead. Integration of wireless locks is at the top of the list, a response to the growing and...

Commoditisation is the biggest problem facing today’s security integrators, says Bill Bozeman, president and CEO of PSA Security Network, an electronic security cooperative encompassing some 250 electronic security systems integrators, and aligning them with over 150 vendor partners. Multi-million-dollar manufacturers are taking advantage of economies of scale to drive down pricing of many of the components our industry uses, and lower prices are poised to have a long-term detrimental imp...

How much is the security risk each time an employee leaves a company? Unfortunately, many enterprises don’t manage the risk very well. Often, processes for cancelling passwords or retrieving physical assets may be slipshod, or even non-existent. Research by IS Decisions highlights the problem: Over a third (36 percent) of desk-based workers in the United States and the United Kingdom are aware of having access to a former employer’s systems or data after leaving an organisation. The...

Could drones be used for civilian/commercial surveillance within five years? Drone strikes in war zones are reported routinely now in the news, but unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones are still not common in commercial and civilian applications. Commercial uses may still be several years away, but is it too soon to start thinking about the possible security applications? Currently in the United States, Congress has directed the Federal Aviation Administration to come up with a plan by Se...