Remote access systems become an option within the security industry's suite of offerings. In this article learn how technology has evolved in Latin America. By: Duván Chaverra A.
Within the electronic security industry there is a relatively new device on the market that seeks to break through its own path in the segment of access control systems. It is the remote entry control which works based on IP technology, an ideal complement to physical equipment.
A group of four experts attended our invitation to give readers a guide documented from their vision on how this technology works and its most recent developments, what type of sectors are the ones that implement it the most, its penetration in the Latin American market, among other concerns that we will seek to solve with our guests.
Here are Humberto De la Vega, HID's Vice President of Sales for the Americas and The Caribbean; Héctor Amavizca, sales director of Latin America and the Caribbean at Schlage; Mariel Aceves, Ferákmon's representative in Mexico; Blieffert Zachow Klaus Dieter, national sales manager of Bosch in Mexico, and Mauricio Florez, general manager of Smart Chip in Colombia.
The system
As we mentioned in the first paragraph, the essence of remote access controls is in their operation via IP, since it facilitates the work of administration, control and monitoring of people entering or leaving a certain place, and at the same time has different control sites anywhere in the network.
This advantage allows linking components such as controllers and workstations that with just one password deploy an extensive administration panel in which you can control all the needs of a place from anywhere in the world.
But let our guests start talking about the benefits of remote access controls and their positioning, initially in the whole world and later in Latin America.
For example, Blieffert Klaus commented that thanks to the fact that IP technology is more common and implemented in the electronic security industry today, fewer systems do not have the option of being managed in this way: "One could mention the interaction of the video surveillance system (CCTV) with the access control system, in which the live image is automatically integrated (through one of the cameras of the system) of the users who access a certain place, to be compared with an image automatically extracted from the database of the access control system".
The other guests agree that the development of communications has allowed us to evolve rapidly in the technological field. This is assured by Mariel Aceves, who summarizes the previous statement.
"As communications have improved, they have become more and more positioned, because with current communications we can almost have information exchange anywhere in the world; it is no longer like in the recent past where thinking about cellular Internet systems with good bandwidth was totally unthinkable, although there are still places with very difficult communication."
Meanwhile, De la Vega said that although he does not have real figures he estimates that the future of this sector is promising: "I can not give figures as such, but I can assure you that this type of solutions have been incorporated into alarm monitoring solutions, so the potential for dissemination and acceptance is really very interesting."
In Latin America
Our experts agree that the penetration in Latin America, although it is not yet as expected, is presenting a constant movement that allows us to say that our region is gradually moving to remote systems, especially if it is taken into account that other systems that are part of the guild such as CCTV, and fire alarms also have the same tendency to take advantage of IP infrastructures.
"Since communications allowed it, it has penetrated with a firm step, because there are more advantages than disadvantages, as I mention in each case it is necessary to analyze what backup or optional method must be installed to foresee that the communication can fall; it is very important that the company that advises the project always contemplates this option and gives the final client several options to avoid any problem", explained Mariel Aceves.
One of the solutions that exists to avoid a problem of operation in
The network, according to Mauricio Florez, is to have auxiliary connections that allow continuous activity in case one of the servers goes down to support the service 24 hours a day. We will elaborate on this topic later.
Héctor Amavizca, for his part, indicated that the company he represents is already in the work of massifying this type of systems in the region: "We are starting with this Wireless technology in Latin America, we already have equipment installed in access controls for parking. We are still looking for new Business Partners to work with these solutions."
Advantages and disadvantages of the system
The positioning of a relatively recent technology brings its advantages and disadvantages for users depending on the use that is given to it. However, from the answers of our guests it is deduced that the advantages stand out over some details that must be solved to perfect a product that is being marketed both in companies that need to control a considerable amount of personnel such as the financial sector, Government, university campuses, as well as other companies that work in small and medium markets.
In the first instance, Héctor Amavizca indicated about the disadvantages that "in itself is remote communication, since the entire system depends largely on that link, and forces to have or create in each case a backup system to avoid problems at the moment when there is no such communication" and on the advantages he added that "to be able to have controlled all the personnel and all the accesses from a central server of Automatically, this avoids many hours of checking inputs and outputs manually, as well as favors the introduction of policies by the human resources departments of the companies, for the control and supervision of remote accesses".
"The advantages in these systems are the convenience of installation, a good percentage of companies already have Internet, and this facilitates remote programming, although the system interrupts the network, the system continues to operate, the disadvantage may be the initial cost but the return on investment is very favorable," said Amavizca.
For his part, Humberto De la Vega, explained in this regard that "the main advantage is to reduce the cost of implementation, since the server infrastructure and its administration is shared. Additionally, it offers the possibility of having a third party carry out the administration of a building, preventing the user from having their own staff to perform the task."
On the main technological advances, Blieffert Klaus, representative of Bosch, mentioned several trends: "On the one hand, it seeks to simplify management and management, resulting in the aforementioned systems that are managed by a simple browser. On the other hand, there is a need to integrate functions and information from other security systems that are finally part of a comprehensive protection strategy for a property or campus. We already mentioned the concept of video verification, but you can also think about information security, where the same access control system protects access to computers and with it to the critical information of a company. Likewise, the need for access control via facial recognition (through video surveillance systems) can be considered."
Another trend Klaus mentioned has to do with making the network a place with much more power to decrease dependence on controllers. "This is being achieved by reducing the number of readers or access points per controller from 16 to 8 or 4, with the logical continuation of this trend ultimately being that of a direct IP reader over the network."
Meanwhile, Héctor Amavizca explains that other equipment can also be added to complement the system. "The company has a new development: in these remote equipment we can already integrate a DVR with CCTV cameras, in addition for each reader a small interface is required, and each of these can be connected with an optional IP address and thus eliminate the wiring to the panel. Another development implemented is in the functions of the software, a CD is not required for installation, only an IP address, plus it has no cost."
Counteract network downtime
As we mentioned briefly in previous paragraphs, Mauricio Flórez said that one of the solutions to avoid the operation of a remote access control is to have the possibility of accessing several servers.
The opinions of the rest of our guests coincide in the previous statement. For example, the Bosch representative said that "in general the loss of communication via network is prevented by using distributed intelligence systems that do not have to be constantly linked to a central brain, since they have enough "intelligence" of their own to determine access permissions autonomously / standalone. The transactions accumulated during the period of operation detached from the network are then automatically updated to the central system, thus allowing a transparent and continuous management of the system."
De la Vega, on the other hand, proposes another option that is based on keeping in mind the efficiency of the service. "Broadband Internet is increasingly common and relatively easy to access, what is advisable to review is the efficiency of quality of service of the companies that offer it, usually the last mile connection is the key to quality. Most systems are redundant and therefore despite the communication drop, local access decisions can be made with the equipment installed."
Finally, Mariel Aceves, from Ferákmon, believes that there is always a solution to avoid a problem like the one mentioned: "There are different options to alleviate that, one is to have backup telephone lines to transmit the information even if it is very slow, in these cases it will always depend on the product and company that the client hires to carry out the operation in such hostile environments, but there is always a solution."
