Issue link: https://securitytechnologyexecutive.epubxp.com/i/557126
28 SECURITY TECHNOLOGY EXECUTIVE • July/August 2015 www.SecurityInfoWatch.com TECHNOLOGY ROUNDTABLE Data centers are benefiting from unique wireless solutions designed to secure servers and decrease their vulnerability to such attacks. Commare: Wireless has, and will continue to become a more ubiquitous communications technology over the next 10 years, particularly in commercial settings. As a result, there will be greater security solution flexibility, mobility and performance for end-users. Properties don't nec- essarily need to be covered 100% by cameras, for example, when thoughtful system design includes wireless sensors integrated into the same Inter- net Protocol-based transport layer as access and video are trending today. When combined, all sys- tems can draw information from which to made decisions. We believe wireless systems that are secure, scalable, offer long (multi-year) battery life and can meet the appropriate cost, while not compromising system features, will see increasing adoption. Lindley: Wireless solutions end-users enjoy a dif- ferent benefit set when compared to more tradi- tional hardwired systems and, often, without the cost. With no holes to drill, trenches to dig, wire to pull and minimal installation disturbance to the customer, the implementation of a wireless system may be faster and less expensive than a wired sys- tem. They enable new solutions, such as portable readers. And, in many retrofit situations such as in older buildings, there may be no alternative. Plus, wireless systems work with the great majority of access control product brands. As a result, the use of wireless access control will continue to acceler- ate and, ultimately, become the standard for the majority of access control implementations. Stack: The overall trend of convergence of so many technologies is likely to continue for some time. The main differences are going to appear in scale (installation size, number of users, access points, buildings, etc.) and in the application itself since what a hospital needs to bring together in a secu- rity system is not necessar- ily the same as what a hotel needs or what an airport or transport hub requires. But the common challenge I think will be in how to bring together all that data and all that information from so many different sources into a platform that can be easily set-up and managed and where there aren't interferences between the different systems involved. In other words, how to combine the power of the information from all the different sources with an interface that is simple to learn and operate so that operators can take informed decisions about the state of their installation and maintain the correct level of security for system users. Ouellette: We will likely see installations and configurations become easier as stand ards become more widely adopted. Standards like OSDP and/or ONVIF will likely speed stan- dardization in this space, and help the market move away from wireless locks with proprietary protocols. This means head-end f lexibility will increase, which ultimately better protects cus- tomers' investments. The practice of meshing offline locks with wireless locks will likely become more common as well. Some users now are set- ting up access systems in which wireless con- nectivity is only used with the cards that people carr y, assigning different people to different doors on lower security doors. We may also see more wireless access control systems that utilize POE (power over Ethernet) to manage the life cycle of batteries. Kane: Adoption is only going to increase as major manufacturers refine product lines with a focus on redefining standard peripheral devices used in conventional access control systems. Today, the advent of control panel-less systems is very appeal- ing to end users and installers alike. Utilizing wire- less technology with physical security technology only opens more doors to end users looking for a way to design a solution that's not only perfectly sized for their uses, but provides flexibility, data integrity, ROI and scalability. STE: What other applications can wireless technology be employed and still be integrated into the organization's access control hub? Boriskin: There are many non-security oppor- tunities for deploying wireless access control. We have seen examples of our technology used by businesses in parking, dining and vending appli- cations. A small business can use an audit trail to know that a location was opened on time and who showed up. We work closely with our certi- fied integrators to find these non-traditional uses and help their customers to deploy them as an additional benefit of moving to wireless. Mitchell Kane, President, Vanderbilt Industries. Julian Lovelock, VP, Strategic Initiatives, HID Global. End users can usually realize cost savings on installation because wireless access control requires less infrastructure and hardware than wired systems. — Jason Ouellette