Security access systems - Expert commentary

To succeed at outsourcing, the relationship between the organisation and the outsourcing company has to be an equal partnership Can you save money on security by outsourcing? Maybe, maybe not, according to William J. Powers III, CIPM II, CIPI. “Considering the way I approach outsourcing, I’m not sure if it saves money,” says Powers. As director of facilities at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Mass., Powers oversees facilities,...

The systems integration industry is abuzz. Access control is super-hot, and the product category continues to grow. IP video surveillance specifications are moving along at break-neck speed. New technology categories in the security market – energy management, home automation and interactive services – are helping savvy dealers and systems integrators grow their businesses. But do these companies really know how to take full advantage of all the possibilities for...

Schools are beefing up their security, with access control their go-to technology Schools are back in session after the winter break, but security is a 24/7 matter any time of year. K-12 and upper education are on high alert, dealing with increased incidents of violence, crime and vandalism. Access control is often the chosen technology of this vertical market, pairing well with CCTV, emergency communications and lockdown. Integrators and dealers who understand the nuances of...

Airports, metro systems and other transportation centres must deploy multiple layers of access control for restricted areas. They need solutions that can accommodate high-volume traffic. Each transportation application has unique requirements, from systems that enable the use of multiple types of credentials on one reader, to reader options designed to match specific risk levels by incorporating PIN and biometric verification for higher security. HID Global’s IP-based networ...

NFC can strengthen security by turning smart phones into physical and logical access control credentials The trouble with access control cards is that people lose them, lend them to friends who use the cards, or lose them, or lend them to someone else. Losing a card is bad enough, but people that lose cards often make it worse: “When someone loses an access fob or card, he or she doesn’t always tell the security department right away,” says Paul Timm, pr...

More attention needs to be placed on the development of readers that can accommodate Wireless and Wi-Fi technology Many of the changes in the access control market are happening at the “edge” – at the reader level. Access control advances that continue to become more widespread include wireless and PoE-enabled access control hardware such as wireless locks and PoE door controllers, which both reduce installation costs. Other trends are related to mobility; on...

Unscrupulous companies reversing positive steps made by security industry to remove stigma of being known as "trunk slammers" ABC news report reaffirms need for industry action For the businesses that make up the electronic security industry, it’s an issue that undermines all the progress we have made to date. It’s deceptive door-to-door sales tactics, and it’s still having an impact on the alarm industry. It affects the entire industry – from lar...

Right after the Paris terrorist attacks, a headline I read throughout the media asked: “Did intelligence services drop the ball?” The question has a familiar ring, and you’ll find variations on it throughout the last and present centuries concerning events that range from presidential assassinations to 9/11, 7/7 in London and the 2008 Mumbai bombings. But physical security, rather than information gathering, is our scope here. From the moment I saw thermal imagin...

Security professionals and end users are eager to define video analytics In the era where “I” is king, video analytics have become a topic of excitement, confusion, and deliberation. All one needs to do is take a stroll through the latest security expo to recognise how popular the space is, and how difficult it is to find an adequate explanation of what they are and how they work. So what are video analytics? This is the question both end users and security profess...

Dave Tyson has 30 years of experience in all facets of enterprise security The incoming president of ASIS has volunteered with industry groups for years. His goal: to help people get better at their jobs. With 30 years' experience in all facets of enterprise security, Dave Tyson, CPP, CISSP, looks forward to his 2015 term as President of ASIS International (ASIS). “I’ve spent a lot of years working to make a difference in the security industry,” Tyson says...

PSA Security Network is taking steps to help educate security professionals concerning both threats and opportunities related to cybersecurity PSA Security Network 2014/2015 Review & Forecast2014 was a year of great change and advancement in the security industry as a whole. We saw an uptick in DIY security solutions focused on residential and small commercial markets. Perhaps the biggest impact to the security market is that more pieces of security solutions are now cloud...

Success in the access control arena is enhanced if the business has a global presence Vanderbilt 2014/2015 Review and Forecast: In 2014, our industry continued to be quite dynamic. While there are several “conglomerates” in the industry, such as UTC and Honeywell, who have been consolidators, there are also other companies (like ours) that are focused solely on security. The industry moves in both directions—some companies consolidating and acquiring, while...

Time will tell regarding how fast public cloud applications will be fully adopted in the security space Sureview 2014/2015 Review and Forecast: The continued movement to “cloud” or “distributed” applications will further impact how security manufacturers and integrators market and position their solutions and offerings. To the traditional security organisation, this brings an entirely new go-to-market and pricing strategy as well as a completely diffe...

The SIA Security Market Index rose to 74.6 in November 2014, up from 72.3 in September SIA 2014/2014 Review and Forecast: The Security Industry Association (SIA) has begun to conduct a bimonthly survey of select SIA members to measure confidence in the security industry through the SIA Security Market Index. Using a scale of 1-100, the SIA Security Market Index reflected growing confidence among security industry business leaders throughout 2014 and into 2015. The SIA Securi...

A return to quality and service will transcend the overall desire for price in the marketplace in 2015 ACT 2014/2015 Review and Forecast: 2014 has proved to be a positive year that displayed an increase in activity. The perception of an expanding U.S. economy has provided the impetus for corporate America to release capital security projects that have been held in abeyance for an exceedingly long time. Also, large-scale capital expenditures have become available for the first...

Credential form factors include mobile devices that provide a better way to open doors HID Global 2014/2015 Review and Forecast: High-profile credit card breaches during 2014 raised the profile of low-security solutions while highlighting the need for more secure smart cards. There were no real surprises, as the industry steadily continued its large-scale transition to access control platforms based on open standards. This transition sets the stage for unprecedented innovatio...

Over the next year end users will push to get more value out of their investments  Frontier 2014/2015 Review and Forecast: One of the big trends we see playing out over the next year is a push to get more value out of the investments that end users make in their solutions. Certainly the solutions must meet the core needs of customers, but more focus is being applied towards how those solutions can improve processes, increase efficiency and provide better visibility of th...

Interest in mass notification systems appears to be growing in the security community as a response to active shootings and workplace violence 2014/2015 Boon Edam Review and Forecast: The security industry seems very healthy and continues to experience solid growth. We have observed an increased level of corporate and government expenditures, which allows for expanding security upgrades in general. Looking ahead to 2015, I see interest in mass notification systems appears to...

 “Winners” in 2015 will be multinational security solutions companies and recruiters for mid-to senior-level employment placement ASIS International 2014/2015 Review and Forecast: Spending on security systems was up in 2014: In general, it seems that there was an increase in capital projects for 2014. Two likely contributing factors are a slightly better economic outlook, and the previous capex holding patterns of many organisations wanting to move out of tha...

AMAG saw growth across all vertical market segments, making 2014 an incredibly exciting year 2014/2015 AMAG Technology Review and Forecast: AMAG Technology saw growth across all vertical market segments, making 2014 an incredibly exciting year. End users are demanding unified, end-to-end total solutions, and I see that trend continuing into 2015 and beyond. Some users want access control and video management from the same manufacturer to eliminate integration challenges, or...

2014 was a year for eye-popping merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in the security space. The big deals of the year included some of the largest names in the industry. One name is larger than any in the security market – Google, which made not one but two acquisitions this year that could impact the future security market. It was also the year that a smaller player in the video camera market (although a huge familiar brand overall) bought a large, open systems V...

2014 saw more organisations making data-driven decisions with insight or foresight provided by intelligent analysis of the data Morse Watchmans 2014/2015 Review and Forecast: 2014 saw a year of continued change in the security marketplace. A healthier economy triggered growth in new projects and helped loosen the purse strings for capital expenditures. From a technology standpoint, the industry evolution to a more network-centric environment created additional opportunitie...

Open standards for access control and integration will offer end users far greater levels of choice ASSA ABLOY 2014/2015 Review and Forecast: Editor’s Note: This article is based on Mr. Bone’s answers to several questions about the 2014/2015 Review and Forecast posed by SourceSecurity.com.  We will continue to see a two-speed economy in general terms in Europe in the New Year, with the northern countries doing well and the southern countries continuing to be d...

Developers have made huge strides in the effectiveness, convenience, and reliability of the technologies used in video surveillance AxxonSoft 2014/2015 Review and Forecast:Video technology began with simple CCTV systems, but these systems have gradually become more sophisticated, offering both scene analytics and forensic post-analysis. The payoff is found in today's smart security systems. Video analytics are in use today in real-world conditions – on motorways, underg...

The major trend ECKey has seen in 2014 is an increased demand for “accountable” access control that is both convenient and affordable  ECKey 2014/2015 Review and Forecast: The major trend we have seen in 2014 is an increased demand for “accountable” access control that is both convenient and affordable. Tight budgets are shining a light on the true cost of ownership of card reader and biometric systems. In many ways these systems are similar...

There is convergence of both the video and access control technologies, and of the companies themselves Milestone Systems 2014/2015 Review and Forecast: Milestone Systems is always in touch with our vast ecosystem of partners around the globe as we support them in their customer projects and needs. We partake in hundreds of industry events, road shows, and meetings, also holding our own partner conferences in every region to ensure face time with our stakeholders. We do...

Biometric cards provides an easy way for to provide a biometric upgrade to access control systems using card readers More and more, security professionals using card-based front ends for their access control systems have been worried about the security of their proximity systems. They know, that for $200 or less, their proximity system can be violated. Kim Humborstad, CEO of Zwipe points out that proximity systems do not offer a challenge response; they only use passi...

Cloud-based services for video surveillance or hosted access control are garnering more attention in the physical security industry. Most people today are already using or are familiar with cloud-based applications in their day-to-day life, so it will only be a matter to time before the benefits of the cloud permeate security and business solutions. Dealers looking to embrace the cloud model for access control must re-think multiple aspects of how they are set up as an organ...

Think of crisis management and emergency planning as a  customer service Do you have a written emergency management plan? Where is it? When was the last time you updated it?Developing and writing a corporate or organisational emergency management plan can take a long time. Once completed, however, the plan is there for you to access when you need it. In fact, that’s wrong. According to crisis management authority Michael J. Fagel, emergency planning is suppos...

Good training is a best practice that applies across a broad range of industries and markets Owners and managers of security dealerships, both large and small, face unique challenges in running their companies, and while there is no magic formula for success, dealerships that invest in training for their staff typically do better than those who don’t.  In fact, good training is a best practice that applies across a broad range of industries and markets, but it is pa...