Facility safety and security is light-years beyond the days of having several guards and an alarm system, and navigating the complex array of the technologies available can be daunting. Whether you’re focused on compliance and driving efficiencies, or simply looking to bolster efforts already in place, it’s important to be aware of the trends shaping security and how they can benefit your business, writes John Brussel, pictured, of Honeywell Building Solutions.
Following are five developments to watch.
Biometrics is no longer the domain of sci-fi movies and top-secret bunkers, and is increasingly employed for mainstream security purposes. This authentication method uses unique human characteristics such as fingerprints, retina scans and even the veins in your hand. It can help drive greater operational efficiencies, like getting people through facilities quicker, while enhancing security. When biometric technologies are in place, losing or forgetting an access card is no longer an issue.
Gone are the days of relying solely on a central server for powering applications. Now, the storage and intelligence can be found in the device itself —or at the “edge.” This concept is coming to life through enhancements to video that provide the processing power to run advanced analytics and capture high-resolution images within cameras. This speeds up the identification of potential issues and gives security personnel a crystal-clear view of the situation. Edge intelligence is also shaping new innovations like electronic locks, or e-locks, which provide wireless access control. Rather than having to run wires from individual readers to a central panel connected to the building management system, the “smarts” embedded in an e-lock cuts out the hardware in the middle, providing a quicker response and saving the need to run miles of cabling. This gives better control andcan significantly reduce installation costs.
Central decision-making is no longer limited to a security or facility manager. Physical and network security are converging, and IT is becoming more important as security, building and enterprise systems connect. As a result, both sides need to learn new competencies and develop the expertise to manage processes and technologies that merge physical and logical security. One of the benefits of convergence is unified identification and credentials for easy, more accurate management.
When was the last time you forgot your smart phone at home? We increasingly rely on our smart phones for everything from checking the weather to hailing a car to the airport. So it makes sense to use these ubiquitous devices for access and other security applications. Leveraging mobile technology allows security personnel to manage systems from any location, improving control and increasing response time. Similarly, mobility simplifies visitor management and way-finding as it’s easier to swipe your phone to get access to specific areas in a building, or use a smart app to book or find your way to a conference room. From an end user standpoint, mobility provides a more seamless experience. And, since there’s no need for a badge or other ID, it means one less thing to remember in the morning.
The idea of taking a class to learn how to operate a smartphone, tablet or laptop probably may sound absurd, but complex user manuals and start-up guides are the standard with facility technologies. People expect an out-of-the-box experience both in their personal lives and at their work place. As a result, the commercial and industrial world are starting to see easy-to-understand interfaces and intuitive technologies that don’t require significant training to operate, instead introducing new ways to visualize information and manage processes. While simple in concept, the impact is significant. When it comes to security, an enhanced user experience helps minimize operator error, increases the incident response time and ensures technology remains an enabler to maintaining facility security.
At its core, security ultimately comes down to quickly identifying issues and mitigating risk. These trends are a sample of the ways technology is providing a more efficient, effective means to those ends. And, in many cases, they’re also reducing the resources and costs necessary to get there.
About the writer
John Brussel is the Security Business Leader for Honeywell Building Solutions in Europe. Visit buildsolutions.honeywell.com.
