With the COVID-19 global pandemic upon us, access control technology has transcended its core intended application as a security tool to include workforce management and compliance. It is no longer a question as to who enters a facility, campus, or worksite, it is a question of whether individuals meet specific new compliance regulations aimed at helping businesses get back on-line and protecting individuals from infection. 

But let us be straight about this, no single device or access control solution is the silver bullet for this new challenge. All the discussion about thermal camera technology is most definitely relevant, but also somewhat misleading. There needs to be a comprehensive system solution operating in the background thermal imaging camera for it to be considered a pragmatic solution being that most facility entrances are not physically manned. 

So, what happens when a thermal camera that has been added to a surveillance system detects an individual with an abnormally high surface skin temperature? Does a guard need to approach the individual before they enter to initiate some other processes, or is the thermal device integrated into a much larger solution with an intelligent back-end that actually dictates one of more actions – like locking the door so the individual cannot enter. Or better yet, by simultaneously identifying the individual, locking the door, deauthorizing their credentials and alerting management. This requires a higher level on systems integration. 

Some physical security solution providers are better poised to meet the immediate needs of businesses and organizations than others. The key differentiator being the ability to deliver open platform end-to-end access control and workforce management system solutions that can be integrated with leading third-party solutions. And that offers multiple forms of contactless credentialing capabilities such as facial recognition, RFID, and remote and/or contactless mobile devices. Only systems with this level of versatility, along with proven performance, reliability, and cost-efficiency, will make the first cut when resellers and users start rethinking their access control needs and evaluating new solutions. 

Fortunately, the Suprema portfolio includes perhaps the most comprehensive offering of access control and workforce management solutions available, including: powerful and highly versatile software platforms; contactless facial recognition, RFID and fingerprint readers; mobile applications; access controllers; and peripherals – all from a single supplier. This guarantees seamless integration in any configuration, reducing system design, installation time, and costs. In addition, Suprema has partnered with over 80 best in breed solutions from leading industry providers for holistic enterprise level security and business intelligence systems. Our recently introduced Suprema G-SDK (Software Development Kit) further enhances the company’s integration capabilities utilizing unique gRPC open source RPC framework to communicate across different platforms in different programming languages. 

For years, guys like me have been fighting to get the attention of both SMB owners and the C-level suite to talk about the contributions, cost-benefits and virtues of a high-performance access control systems and technologies. And now, many of them are now calling me. Welcome to the new world.

Attribute to: Bob Carrino, Sales Director at Suprema America