Getting ahead with more powerful integration

Lee Copland, Managing Director, Maxxess Systems EMEA

Today’s most effective integrated security platforms still have, at their heart, the twin core technologies of access control and video surveillance, working together seamlessly to deliver operational benefits that are well beyond the sum of their parts.

And of course, this is just the start. From this foundation, unified solutions can now be expanded to encompass fire and safety, visitor, building, HR management systems and other core business processes.

The advent of standardised protocols offers a much higher level of compatibility than was previously attainable. The development of open-source technologies and modern APIs has increased the number of interoperable applications, and cut the time it takes to implement them. And the scope of unified platforms can now be greatly extended by linking them to commonly used databases, such as Microsoft’s Active Directory.

These truly integrated systems help end-users “join the dots” in ways which can have concrete, measurable benefits for the bottom line – and there are numerous examples.

Heating, ventilation, and lighting can be intelligently controlled, with new understanding of occupancy patterns allowing energy waste to be reduced.

Problems with insider theft in settings such as warehouses can be more rigorously and fairly investigated when surveillance footage is married up with stock databases and employee attendance records. And lives can be better protected in an emergency situation, for example when a fire alarm triggers the access system to restrict entry to dangerous areas, perhaps working in tandem with HR and visitor management records to determine who is present in the building and who might be trapped in a certain part of the site.

Integration also has an important role to play in driving up everyday workplace productivity, not just improving output but avoiding the negative impact that inefficient practices can have on the employee experience. Staff who regularly travel between locations, or who invite visitors to their workplace for meetings, can experience frustration when it comes to arranging access to facilities. Small inconveniences may seem trivial but actually can have a real negative effect when repeated across days and weeks.

Today’s seamless integration between access control and visitor management systems now makes it easy for the busy PA to a CEO to issue a QR code to their VIP guest to grant them access to the campus, car park and building – and to the all-important guest Wi-Fi. Parking spaces and meeting rooms can be booked in advance and their location efficiently communicated to all concerned.

And of course, the CEO can do it for themselves, if they wish to – as can every other authorised member of staff, because these solutions are designed above all to be easy to use.

Industry-specific solutions are proving to be transformational for not only security, but crucially also staff and customer experience. In the hospitality sector, for example, front and back-of-house systems can be streamlined using industry-standard Oracle OPERA. Guests can now check in and out using their mobile phones, speeding up the process and reducing pressure on busy reception desks. They can access their rooms and safety deposit boxes or order room service using their phone too.

In healthcare, a doctor can move freely between different hospitals in the same NHS Trust, finding that their swipe card or a secure QR code always grants access – both to the site and the IT network – on the appropriate day. The ANPR system will recognise their license plate and the car park barrier will always rise. Consequently, it is easier for medical workers to be redeployed between hospitals in response to changing clinical needs.

It is little wonder, then, organisations of all types and sizes are starting to embrace integrated security systems. By their very nature, integrated solutions are flexible, scalable, and totally customisable to individual end-user needs. A company can start with one or two key functions and, using a modular approach, build up the system as corporate priorities and needs change and develop.

It is little surprise, therefore, that integrated security solutions are set to enjoy huge growth in coming years. Research from Market Research Future, published in February 2021, predicts a CAGR of 10% for the global security systems integrator market between 2016 and 2023.

And it’s little wonder that security and facilities managers today are saying that integrated solutions are no longer an optional “nice to have”, but essential tools for efficient and cost-effective workplace management.