As organizations move to electronic access control for higher security and the ability to integrate multiple systems, there has been a corresponding growth in demand for electronic locking solutions. This trend will only accelerate as the market accelerates adoption of IP-based access control systems and also embraces convenient new wireless solutions. These solutions include electronic locks that connect wirelessly to the on-line access control system, and can also be opened with mobile phones that act as trusted credentials.

Migrating to IP-based Access Control

Electronic locking systems become even more attractive with the move to IP-based access control, whose benefits include simplified system operation, expansion and customization, along with the ability to integrate a physical access control system (PACS) with many other solutions sharing the same network.
Most companies and institutions today have installed a variety of generally disparate and isolated systems, ranging from security, access control, and video surveillance to incident response, perimeter detection and alarm monitoring. Although these systems typically cannot easily share information, if at all, there are natural synergies between each of them. IP-based solutions make it easier to integrate them, and provide the opportunity for a single new system that can be much greater than the sum of its individual, disparate parts.
The ability to manage all of an organization's systems on a single network in any environment also delivers better facility management. Additionally, value is optimized because this single system can perform multiple functions with a single interface to all associated applications. Organizations that previously operated several security systems on isolated networks can instead invest in a single, unified IP network, and technologies that previously co-existed only physically can now be managed and controlled logically.
Most organizations are also realizing that IP-based access control actually improves security. One reason is that it offers a more comprehensive view by enabling the integration of video surveillance with access control. The ability to manage all of the various video management and analytics subsystems, intrusion devices and associated IP-based edge devices through a single user interface significantly enhances situational awareness since all information can be immediately combined and correlated.

Deployment Considerations