Access control
With the advent of digital technology, the security industry is undergoing considerable change. In the concluding part of this two-part interview, Reditron MD John Loftus gives his comments and forecast with regards to access control, fire detection and systems integration.
HSS: Does access control feature high on the list of South African companies when it comes to determining their security needs?
JL: Currently, I think that CCTV and intruder detection are placed higher on a company's list of security needs than access control. By access control I am not, of course, referring to the physical security side of access control being fences, gates, turnstiles, booms and other barriers but rather the electronic monitoring of people through a site or sites.
I think that there is at times a lack of understanding by clients of the benefits of access control systems. Unfortunately, many people see it purely as an alternative to a key in order to open a door as opposed to realising the full benefits.
HSS: List the current trends in access control.
JL: The most basic access control system and one that is still very widely used is the keypad. Next we have swipecards (mag stripe, infrared etc) followed by proximity cards and tags. The trend, however, is moving towards more complex systems. As PCs are now a part of almost everybody's lives it is becoming more common for people to want to move away from standalone systems to centrally controlled systems via a PC.
This obviously gives companies not only better levels of security but also better time management of their people.
Smartcard technology is becoming more prevalent but is not as yet a standard for access control systems. However, it makes sense to operate a variety of services via a smartcard. The applications list is endless and many major corporations, like the BBC in London, have turned to smartcard technology to make peoples lives easier and more efficient. Hotels and universities are also seeing it as a way of generating upfront cashflow.
The integration of CCTV and access control is becoming far more popular.
An access control triggered event can now cause cameras to perform specific functions as a result of that triggered event. For example, an individual attempting to use his card or prox tag to gain acces to an unauthorised area can cause a pan-tilt-zoom controlled camera (or an auto-dome) to move to a preset position and recording of that event will commence. The capabilities of most sytems now allow for the linking of specific cameras to specific entrance/egress points and and the system can be programmed to perform specific actions based on the event.
HSS: What is the influence of IT in access control?
JL: As more systems these days become PC-driven, we now have the ability to connect these systems via LAN, MAN or WAN. Multiple PC stations can be connected via the network or via modems. Now companies have the ability to manage access control systems worldwide and they also have the flexibility to integrate other systems onto the network. Networking and PC power have opened up a multitude of options for access control manufacturers and users.
Fire detection
HSS: Reditron recently entered the fire detection market. Why?
JL: We spent over a year researching the fire detection market before deciding that it was a natural fit to our company. We must have interviewed over 30 manufacturers before deciding on our current suppliers. They were selected on the basis of quality, aftersales service and back-up. We believe that we are entering the market with some of the best products available worldwide. Our sister company, Alarm Express Portugal, has been successfully selling some of these ranges throughout Europe.
HSS: In your opinion, how much attention is paid to fire detection in the local context. Do we still have a long way to go in relation to the more advanced countries (ie from a life safety perspective) eg the United States.
JL: As there is no legal regulation controlling the use of fire detection in SA, most consider it an unnecessary expense. The only places fire detection is strictly used are in hospitals, hotels and airports. Recently, insurance companies have been forcing more and more buildings to install fire detection systems into shopping malls and retail outlets. In Europe and the US legislation forces building owners to install fire detection into almost every building, it therefore becomes an essential part of the building costs from the start. There are different classes of fire protection, namely L-Class systems, which are intended for life safety and P-Class systems that are intended for property protection. Life safety systems are more costly than property protection systems. In SA, if a fire detection system is called for, most people install a P-Class system to keep the costs down.
Systems integration
HSS: What are the key factors in determining successful systems integration?
JL: Firstly, one has to clearly define the concept of systems integration. If you mean various databases' ability to communicate with each other by means of DLLs or other interfaces and want to coin that 'systems integration' then yes we can successfully integrate systems. However, to me true systems integration is the ability to provide a host of services/functions (CCTV, access control, alarm functions, fire detection and building management) from a single database using a single program and a common GUI. A typical example of true systems integration would be a Microsoft Office package. I do not think anyone is there yet but it is not going to take too long before such a suite of software is available. What is available is the scada system which operates various I/O interfaces commonly used in industrial process control applications.
But the problems of getting various equipment protocols to communicate with each other can be insurmountable. Based on what I have seen in the industry, true integration is not yet available.
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