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2016: making technology simpler

The coming year will see more technologically advanced solutions, but the key differentiator will be the focus on keeping those solutions simple. While the solution may be very advanced, using cutting-edge technology, its value will be judged on how easy it is to use.

In software, this means a few clicks to enable an automated configuration and setup for users, or simple interfaces that make common tasks quick and easy. There’ll also be built-in automation options, where a user can quickly choose to have a report automatically sent to them each day at a set time.

With hardware, the focus will be on a quicker installation – as we all know, time is money and the less time onsite, the better. Through the use of true plug-and-play technologies, installers can simply click modular units together, which rapidly reduces traditional installation times.

Pre-wired products will also become more prevalent, for example, our Access in a Box solution simply requires one power cable to be connected.

We’ll continue to see a strong increase in the use of biometric readers, as more customers migrate from RFID to fingerprint. Traditionally fingerprint readers were viewed as a high-end solution, but this is changing as manufacturers expand their biometric ranges to accommodate small, medium and large installations.

At the top end of the scale, we envisage continued adoption of cutting-edge solutions, such as facial recognition readers, which provide an unrivalled level of security and fraud reduction.

Scalability will also be crucial in 2016. Customers do not have unlimited budgets and the demand for solutions that are able to scale with the business will become non-negotiable.

Integration will be another buzz word for next year. When we talk about simplification, this is where we’ll see it the most. Customers don’t want many different systems or products that are not interoperable. They want, and will demand, one collective solution that can make use of many different pieces of hardware and readers, but which is accessed through one simple interface.

The final aspect, and probably the most significant for the industry as it will demand a mind-shift, will be an increased demand for information as opposed to data.

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