Access Control Assa Abloy discussion Panel

Its good to get it off your Chest!…Well it helps ease the frustration at least.

At the recent round table I was invited to, organised by Abloy and Professional Security Magazine, the discussion developed where industry concerns were raised.

Having been involved in many projects where the proposed Access control system could not integrate with existing access control systems already fitted to different parts of the site due to “Closed Protocol”, I felt this a good platform to raise the discussion.

The issue is one of manufacturers protecting their market with the result that some offices have 3 or 4 different access control systems. One for the main front door, another for the car park, another for their office and yet another for general areas. Whilst this is an extreme, I do know of a University where across campus they have exactly this scenario.

Can we stop the madness? Well there are offerings like Mifare cards, which can be read on more than one system, but we’re along was from the manufacturers being brave enough to open up their protocols so that alternative cards could be programmed to work on the same system.