Wireless Wins

A glimpse at our article on page 36 in the December issue of GIT SECURITY will give you the ­figures showing the significant growth of electronic locking systems over the past couple of years. With various systems now readily available at affordable prices, reasons not to upgrade are becoming harder to find. And here are yet more decision-­supporting facts on the evolving world of wireless access.

The benefits of access control are widely known: swapping mechanical locks for electronic access control upgrades a door’s security in an instant. It gives security managers greater control over a site. RFID-enabled smart cards eliminate key management headaches, as well as the security risks posed by any lost mechanical key – an all-too-common occurrence. With electronic access control, user access rights can be changed in real time and audit trails generated when needed.

Why Wireless?
The reasons why so many companies and organizations now choose to go wireless include the cost-efficiency, the easy installation and upgrading of an existing system, and also the ease of installing a new wireless system from scratch. Existing access control systems can be enhanced by swapping mechanical locking cylinders for battery-powered, wireless cylinders, such as Aperio for example. They can be integrated into the system online via communications hubs or offline via up-date-on-card. Conveniently, site staff and visitors continue to use the same smart cards that are used for existing doors. The result is a much more economic solution compared to the expensive rewiring – not to mention the high energy use and running costs – required to add more wired magnetic locks.

Easy integration of wireless lock technologies with CCTV, alarm, HVAC and other building management systems is another major benefit. “Wireless locks are often conceived specifically for integration with other systems. The integration capabilities and ease of use can be of significant benefit,” writes Blake Kozak, principal analyst at IHS Research, in a recent Assa Abloy publication.

End of an Era?
Mechanical key management rapidly eats up a security budget. Every lost key costs time and money – and instant replacement is impossible. Stolen or copied keys are also an ever-present risk. Mechanical keys enable no electronic audit trails, and rights cannot be reprogrammed remotely.

Aperio wireless access control eliminates these problems. Rather than the expensive and laborious task of replacing a mechanical lock or master key system and issuing new keys, administrators simply de-authorize a lost credential to reinstate secure status. It takes a few seconds to issue or revoke any smart card’s access rights from the central access control system. Reprogram an RFID card and you instantly have a new key, and control over the premises is restored.
Installing wireless locks is also much cheaper than adding hard-wired doors, because there’s no cabling or building work needed, and there‘s also no need for the decorators to come in and tidy up after the contractors have left. Maintenance is simple: an Aperio lock is powered by a standard lithium-ion battery which just needs replacing every 2 years on average.

Energy Savers
Aperio components are also energy-efficient. They run on standard batteries and only ‘wake up‘ to interact with a credential. They are not connected to the mains and they use no power when inactive. One wireless lock uses approximately 0.001 kWh of energy per year, a tiny fraction of what a standard wired lock and reader consume. In carbon terms, an Aperio lock emits 0.16 percent of the total emissions produced by a standard wired lock.

Third-party integration is assisted by the Assa Abloy Device Protocol with its simple SDK that integrates Aperio into access control ecosystems, just like any other component. Integration is achieved by a Wiegand interface that relays information from a single door; the Aperio RS485 hub to connect up to 8 locks securely via a single hub; and an IP hub for up to 16 doors which communicates via an encrypted TCP/IP connection. The system cylinders and escutcheons are also compatible with the OSS Standard Offline Access Application for battery-powered locks, an industry standard for offline access control.

Thanks to the latest V3 platform upgrade, Aperio Online integration supports additional features that enhance user-friendliness for integrators and end-users. For example, ‘Escape & Return’ functionality ensures a site meets regulatory compliance for access to rooms with fire and emergency exits.

Easy Open
Currently almost 100 major OEMs have integrated Aperio wireless access control, including Axis, Nedap, Tyco, ACS, Gallagher, Lenel, Genetec, TDSi, Inner Range, Siemens, Vanderbilt and many more. The technology integrates seamlessly with these these third-party access control systems. Administrators continue to operate their access management system from a single, easy-to-use interface that controls any installed standard wired locks alongside Aperio battery-powered locks. On a day-to-day basis, the security manager only sees one system, with the OEM brand.

Cylinders, escutcheons and locks – as well as both online and offline capability – can be deployed together in the same system, depending on their integration. There are Aperio components for almost any opening, including devices to monitor door status. The system can protect both exterior and interior doors, from fire and safety doors with mandatory requirements to meeting rooms, labs and offices and is compatible with Euro, French, Finnish, Scandinavian and Swiss door profiles. The Aperio KS100 server lock is designed for use with server racks, either onsite or in a co-located data center. Installers benefit from a uniformly quick, straightforward, wireless installation process for all components, alongside comprehensive product support from Assa Abloy specialists.

Remote unlocking commands pass from system to door almost instantly. Site users can open both wired doors and Aperio wireless controlled doors with the same smart card, employing standard RFID technologies like iClass, Seos, Mifare, DESFire and Legic. Aperio wireless access control eliminates any need for key-handling in parallel.

Intruders Warded Off
In the health care sector, Aperio wireless access control ensures only authorized staff can access controlled medicines or expensive equipment. An Aperio system can protect medical staff, patients and their private data anywhere in Europe, enabling fine-grained, personalized access permissions and audit trails on demand.

Aperio is the access control backbone at Ghent’s new Hospital Maria Middelares. In partnership with Nedap, doors in the new hospital building were fitted with wireless Aperio Offline locks and connected to Nedap’s Aeos security management system. Because both Aeos and Aperio are built using open standards, and AEOS systems use a generic controller, the integration is genuinely seamless. The result is a unified system controlled from the Aeos interface, plus significantly lower maintenance and administration costs. “This way Aeos gives the hospital the flexibility they need to keep control of access and the flow of people,” says Peter Rommens, Sales Manager at Nedap Belgium.

As part of a £35 million refurbishment of urgent care services, Aintree University Hospital in Liverpool, England, required a cost-effective, wire-free system so installation could be done quickly and efficiently without disrupting the day-to-day work of the hospital. Assa Abloy partnered with Grantfen and Inner Range to deliver a unified platform, which extended the Integriti access control system with Aperio wireless escutcheons.

In Class
Sensitive areas in educational establishments such as libraries, computer labs and private offices need protection. Access control must be adaptable to an ever-changing roster of visitors, and locks must be easy to fit to existing doors without disrupting learning. With Aperio, staff and students can use a single RFID smart card for room access, printing services and making payments. “Our installation has proven hugely popular,” says Alan Donnachie, Deputy Director of Estates and Facilities at Surrey University.

Aperio is also the choice at many student halls of residence, both new-builds and retrofits. University of East Anglia extended a Gallagher Command Center system with online escutcheons to secure a residence with 231 rooms. Around 740 electronic locks are fitted at Aberdeen University’s Hillhead Student Village. Over 1,400 students at Birmingham University’s Vale Village use the wireless technology.

Large global corporations can choose a single Aperio-powered installation to work across all their premises, no matter how far apart. The system helps commercial environments to manage the different security needs of public and private spaces by controlling permission to access entrance doors at a different level to private offices,­ for example.

Aperio locks replaced the slow and expensive job of hard-wiring each sublet office into i2’s central access control system. The system also has proven credentials in the hospitality sector, including at the new Hyatt Regency Dubai Creek Heights and at entertainment venues with heavy footfall such as the Stavanger Concert Hall and Rotterdam’s Ahoy Arena. It fulfills the needs of complex industrial settings too, such as at the Reshafim manufacturing site in Israel. Wherever it is deployed, Aperio can upgrade rather than replace a building management system, even a complex system with fire detection, CCTV and heating functions.

Why Aperio?

• Wireless locks are a cost-effective way to extend new and existing access control systems
• Wireless and battery-powered locks are easy and quick to install, and much cheaper to run than traditional, wired locking solutions
• Aperio integrates seamlessly with almost 100 leading access control systems
• Aperio supports the leading open standard for offline Integration (OSS)
• The range has cylinders, escutcheons and complete locks for all kinds of door formats, interior and exterior, as well as for server racks
• Aperio wireless access control is deployed and trusted worldwide, in settings as diverse as health care, education, offices, arenas and industrial plants

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