Changing Of the Guard

A door has a lock, with a key, otherwise we couldn‘t secure it – simple and obvious. Or is it? Well, it has been for ­hundreds of years, right around the world, but that is no longer true. Electronics has changed that fact fundamentally, and the long-standing need to more easily control who goes through a door is now being met by the smart products of companies such as SimonsVoss. Managing Director Bernhard Sommer and his team from Unterföhring, close to Munich in Germany, are satisfying the surge of interest in convenient access control with intelligent access solutions that we will most likely take as a simple fact of life for the next hundred years or so.

Let‘s take a fresh look at the door handle. Its sole purpose to date has been to move the internal mechanics of the latch and to provide the ‚human interface‘ to physically move the door. The SimonsVoss 3062 Smart Handle, however, does that and also takes on the role of the guard. It may not exactly smile when it lets you in, but it does efficiently control where and when up to 64,000 users are granted access. Developed, amongst others, to satisfy the special requirements of the hospitality industry and retirement homes, the underlying principle of the 3062 is that it communicates wirelessly with the identification media in the company‘s 3060 digital locking and access control system.

The battery only needs to be changed every 10 years as the integrated button cells provide power for up to 150,000 operations. It can be installed quickly and easily without wiring and without ­having to drill holes in doors. The installation procedure is simply fastening the fitting with just one screw for a permanent, sturdy installation. Another version of the Smart Handle – the SC variant – not only delivers the convenience of the active variant, but allows you to use passive cards too. This is made possible via its integrated RFID reader, which can read Smart Cards using MIFARE Classic and MIFARE DESFire standards.

Cable-free Configuration
The 3060 digital locking and access control system mentioned above enables easy management of dozens or even hundreds of doors. You can implement locking systems of varying sizes and complexity. You can easily make modifications, expand the system, block transponders – in short, handle all individual access authorizations – by mouse click in the GUI under Windows. At the same time, you can allocate up to three mutually i­ndependent locking systems to any given transponder. This means, for example, that you can take convenience home with you and only need a single key to open the doors to the office, the private home or the club facilities.

In large locking systems, actions such as monitoring individual doors, reprogramming or reading out the access logging is usually time consuming and cost intensive. The convenient Network 3065 offers online programming of the entire locking system or selected doors from one or more PCs. The network node, installed in a flush socket device, takes over the cable free radio communication to the locking components and to the PC.

Real-Time Events
Control done over the network nodes offers real-time monitoring and, optionally, makes it possible to drive integrated external systems and to switch on lights or heating systems automatically when doors are used. Using the radio-based network, you can even monitor buildings from a distance, for example, by modem or Internet. The Event Manager allows you to define the most varied events in the locking system so an e-mail could be sent to an alarm control center or an SMS alarm message to the cell phone of the locking system administrator if, for example, a door has been opened but no regular entry has been determined.

Small is also Beautiful
But not everyone has so many doors that it warrants a comprehensive networked solution. For small and medium-sized enterprises there is a new version of the web app and an online extension: Mobile Key is designed for up to 20 doors and 100 users. The solution is easy to install, economic in acquisition and costs nothing to administer – and it is available in an elegant design that adapts to any environment. The system opens up the world of keyless locking with several functionalities to smaller and medium-sized companies as well as to private users. Opening and locking with the electronic remote control and the replacement of classic mechanical locking is now possible with Mobile Key for every building door in a practical and cost-effective manner.

The traditional key makes way for the convenient digital transponder, a PIN code keypad or – as the name suggests – a smart phone. And instead of mechanical cylinders, there are now electronic cylinders. With a freely rotating digital double knob cylinder, Mobile Key is suitable for interior as well as exterior areas, and is equipped with an ­access control function for time schedules and a logging function of all access attempts. The integrated button cells last for 300,000 opening and locking operations. Installation is without the use of any special tools, wireless and without any drilling.

For special sort-term authorization, there is the ‚Key 4 Friends‘ function. You can send a temporary access code to friends, relatives or workmen – straight to the smart phone of the recipient of the authorization (Android or iOS). The recipient in turn merely has to download the app to be able to receive and use the code.

Integrate and Enhance
While a manufacturer can expect to sell his self-contained systems to customers with smaller requirements, he must face the fact that larger companies will already have other well-established safety and security systems in place, which they are not likely to throw out. So the only way he can get a piece of the cake is to provide seamless interaction with those systems and offer his products either as an enhancement or to upgrade older technology. The solution from Simons Voss is called Smart Intego and the system is designed from the ground up to interact with other existing access control systems. A Gateway Node does the necessary translation of signals and protocols.

Larissa Kaiser, Head of Systemintegration, ­describes the system integration product: “For many building operators, equipping an entire building with card readers and wiring them is too costly, too complex or, in some cases due to building specifications, simply not possible. Card readers are normally only employed for outside doors or safety-relevant doors. In other cases, the doors are equipped with mechanical systems and keys. To replace these mechanical systems, ­SimonsVoss is offering a cost-effective overall solution that seamlessly integrates into the existing access control system, providing a fast return on investment.“

Ace in the Hand
The electronic locking cylinder and Smart ­Handle electronic door fitting are components of the Smart Intego system, which supports the transmission standards of all conventional card formats such as MIFARE Classic, MIFARE Plus, MIFARE DESFire/EV1, Legic Advant UID, HID iClass UID and MIFARE UID. Installation is carried out without any cables or drilling. And with a battery life of up to 80,000 locking operations in wireless online mode, the components do not require any maintenance for several years.

The Gateway Node delivers the integration of Smart Intego and provides the perfect connection between the digital locking cylinder or Smart ­Handle and the central building security control system. As an intermediary device between the intelligence in cylinders and door fittings on the one hand and the access control system on the other, the Gateway Node ensures seamless cooperation between peripheral devices and the security software. A ­series of unique characteristics transform the radio-based hub with an RS485 and TCP/IP interface into an exceptionally powerful access manager.
So we must be prepared soon to look fondly at our rings full of old, heavy keys, with all their manifold variations of patterns and sizes. The old guard is changing and its new, much more convenient replacement is electronic.

3 Questions to Bernhard Sommer

GIT SECURITY: Mr. Sommer, SimonsVoss has brought attention to itself recently with a number of innovations. What are the most important – and how are they being greeted by the market?

Bernhard Sommer: Our digital locking solutions are innovative and customer-oriented – that builds trust and pays rewards. For our end-customers that need an electronic lock solution for up to 20 doors, we are raising the bar on security, user-friendliness and economy with our Mobile Key. Door status, access rights and alarms are all simply administered via the app that provides the user with full transparency and security. Mechanical cylinders can be simply replaced by digital Mobile Key cylinders. Mobile Key is available from our trade distributors and is an ideal introduction to the keyless world for new end customers. Smart Intego provides an interface for system integrators that can be integrated into partners‘ BMS software. The fully networked online version manages access rights and door status in real time. We have also been offering an offline version of Smart Intego for a while. This provides an economic solution for end customers via the SV virtual network. Many of our important partners have decided over the past few months to integrate the Smart Intego system. And things are also changing with respect to handles: the Smart Handle has become even smarter and makes door status apparent thanks to the door monitoring function. Our customers get a good feeling of transparency and the maximum possible security within a building. And the best thing is that everything can be simply retrofitted – without cabling or any electrical installation.

New products have been announced for Fall – could you let us know now in what direction they are heading?

Bernhard Sommer: Forwards naturally! Fun apart – we can‘t let the cat out of the bag completely. But … new functionality and electronic handles are in focus right now.

You cement the SimonsVoss Community together with your successful Partner Days. When are the next ones planned – and what will be the topics?

Bernhard Sommer: Our „Keyless World“ Partner Day will be held on 10th November in Cologne. The innovations I‘ve mentioned will be presented exclusively to our trade partners during the event. And apart from exciting product topics, there is more waiting for our guests: a whole bundle of marketing news, an insight into the daily life of Olympic champions, the fastest car in the world and, of course, right on time for the start of the Carnival season on 11th November, a lot of Rhineland good fun with the mother of all Cologne carnival bands. We are looking forward to having a good time in Cologne that will cement the ­SimonsVoss community even closer together!