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Phil Campbell, Quanika, Sales Director

For security consultants and systems integrators, it’s important to understand the value that customers get from the new generation of streamlined, out of the box solutions instead of a customized mix-and-match approach.

Today, the advantageous business case applies to any end-user that wants all their systems working together in the most efficient way: access control, video, network audio and PA, building systems and services, visitor management and core operational systems.

There are good reasons why proven, ready-test tech combinations are now being offered by alliances between some of the industry’s top suppliers – out of the box solutions from vendors such as Quanika and Axis Communications, with easy availability via a single source and global distributor such as Anixter.

These vendor partnerships are working hand-in-glove to deliver efficient one-stop-shop and packaged solutions that will compete well in any tender.

So, what are the advantages?

Top of the list: there are big cost and efficiency benefits to using best-in-class hardware and software combinations that are designed to integrate seamlessly with each other, and to keep evolving together in the future.

At the proposal and system design stage, rather than having to commission integration or customize systems and worry about all the details of compatibility, you can skip forward a step in the knowledge that – when it comes to the actual implementation – all those technical questions will already have been covered, and that proof of concept (PoC) and System Acceptance Testing (SAT) is part of the offer.

Compatibility glitches are a common cause of project hold-ups, and depending on the suppliers involved it can be frustrating and time consuming to resolve them. Technical support capabilities and delivery standards vary, and whenever a supply chain is made up of multiple vendors, the entire project can be held up by just one that is unresponsive.

As with any chain, it’s weak links that are the problem.

In the worst cases, disputes about whose fault a compatibility problem is – and who is responsible for fixing it – can result in major cost overruns and penalties.

All this might be invisible to the customer initially. They might not notice much of the technical pain of mixing-and-matching if the integration team throws everything at the job and does whatever it takes to deliver the completed project on time.

But the pain doesn’t necessarily stop there – in fact it’s almost guaranteed not too. We’ve seen many examples of compatibility glitches that only arise weeks or even months down the line. Sometimes that happens when a particular function or set of functions is used by the customer for the first time, or when a firmware update for one component or cybersecurity vulnerability of a one device throws up an unexpected problem in the wider system. Again, getting issues fixed can lead to disputes, and the further ‘down the line’ you go, the more likely that is to be the case.   And for the customer this can mean downtime,

All these factors lead to unpredictability, and that makes it more difficult for the yearly maintenance contract to be calculated and increases the complexity of total cost of service (TCS) delivery. By contrast, an out of the box solution with an industry best 5-year hardware warranty is much more predictable.

Cybersecurity is an important consideration. Cyber risks are compounded when integrators customize and network software and hardware to create completely new composite applications or systems. Customers such as the NHS, which operate to higher standards, understand the value of solutions provided by closely collaborating vendors, designed to work together with multi-layered protections,

Finally, looking further to the future, the customer is certain to want to upgrade or modify their solution. That is almost inevitable considering the fast-changing circumstances that most organisations now operate in.

So, scalability and flexibility, the ease with which new devices or additional software can be integrated, are important parts of the overall value proposition and will deliver a far more compelling lower total cost of ownership (TCO).

We’ve seen this demonstrated in the amount of repeat business that our systems integrator partners have got from initial projects – most recently in healthcare, multi-use developments, waste recycling, and various logistics and warehousing applications, including freight forwarding and consumer retail logistics.

In each case that we’ve seen, additional integrations have been added because the initial project was delivered as promised. And once delivered, the customer has loved the simple user interface, 24/7 technical support, and affordable license-free structures.

As a result, they’ve been confident that scaling up and adding to their system will be just as easy and affordable. A modular, building-block approach to system scaling – and a growing ecosystem of technology partner integrations – gives assured value going forward.

Plus, systems integrators can now offer proven end-to-end solutions that are already solving common safety, security, and operational challenges in specific sectors from retail, office space, logistics, healthcare, and manufacturing using ready to go off-the-shelf integrations and seamless technology.

The key to successful project delivery is to avoid technology conflict and complex chains of multiple vendor dependency and responsibility – whether that’s with door controllers, readers, network audio, edge AI analytics, ANPR, or VMS.

Keeping things simple with vendors that offer out of the box packaged solutions offers compelling value at every stage of the project.

Just a year ago, how many of HSBC’s top managers could have imagined they were about to lose their prestigious offices on the 42^nd floor of the landmark Canary Wharf HQ?

Or that they would soon find themselves hot-desking in an open-plan area while their former private domains were converted into client meeting rooms and communal spaces?

But that’s exactly what has been announced as the banking giant pushes forward with plans to cut office space by 40% as part of a post-pandemic shake-up.

It’s just one example of the far-reaching changes to working patterns and premises use that’s happening right across the corporate world.

The HSBC restructuring is one of the most dramatic in the banking and finance sector – it has plans to reduce its global workforce of 235,000 by around 35,000 – but it is far from alone.

Another big UK employer, the Nationwide, recently confirmed it didn’t intend to force staff to return to offices, and a growing list of companies have indicated that hybrid working will play an important part in future operations.

These changes may seem dramatic – and their speed is surprising – but many facilities managers will know that they are really just an acceleration trends that were going to happen anyway.  Particularly since the glory days of the office should have been over once work stopped involving shuffling and processing lots of paper.  Yet while the Adobe PDF was invented in 1993, the domination of large office spaces and campuses grew at pace, perhaps reflecting a market failure and resistance to change.

Today, there are many other reasons why premises use was always going to evolve, including competitive pressure to streamline operations; the disruptive effects of increased connectivity and online commerce; the rise of AI; and the pressing need to operate more sustainably and reduce energy waste.

The pandemic has accelerated all this, and without question it has triggered a step-change in thinking that might not have happened for years.

Without COVID it might just have felt just too radical to let the majority of staff work remotely for much of the week… to stop flying and to hold essential international meetings online instead of in person… or to close those senior managers’ offices on the 42^nd floor!

But technology is not just a disrupter, it’s an enabler.

Today, the facilities managers we are working with are better placed to adapt the systems they use, and operate their premises more flexibly, than at any time previously.

It’s now easy for them to integrate and extend their security and building management technologies. Just one example: the many business that already use AXIS Entry Manager and AXIS Camera Station Secure Entry systems can now extend their systems and add an almost limitless choice of new functions, simply by integrating with Quanika Compact and Quanika Enterprise.

And a synchronization utility tool makes it easy to do.

We’ve all become used to this approach with our smartphones. We no longer have to put up with inconvenience or time wasting when we upgrade because the new phone now does that for us, and makes it simple.

It’s the same with the new generation of integrated solutions. Businesses can upgrade immediately, and extend the functions, features, and services they have available – from fire alarm systems to visitor management, from Microsoft Active Directory integration to elevator controls.

So, the rapid changes in premises use that we are seeing, that might previously have been difficult to manage, have become much simpler. This is good news for facilities and security managers at just the moment when they are dealing with some of the biggest challenges they’ve ever had to face.

And it’s good news for systems integrators too, because they can now offer their customers an affordable and rapid path forward, and demonstrate exciting new value for existing hardware.

Looking ahead, we’re going to see much more of this, as the ability to extend legacy systems and add new value to existing infrastructure becomes something that all businesses will expect.

An important result of the pandemic is that businesses are now taking cybersecurity more seriously, according to the latest report from PWC. Out of 3000 organisations surveyed globally 96% said they are shifting their strategies, with 50% saying that cybersecurity will now be ‘baked in’ to every business decision rather than being an afterthought.

This seems to be an improvement on a similar survey from 2019. Then, PWC found less than half of companies were adequately prepared for a cyber-attack.

One reason for this new emphasis is the boost to digitalisation that has occurred over the last year. Enforced temporary measures such as homeworking are leading to more permanent changes. Now, as they move towards the post-pandemic recovery, organisations are looking for more efficient ways to use both their premises and their security and safety teams.

A new generation of integrated solutions is seen as a key route to digitising processes and delivering new business intelligence. These typically encompass IoT and mobile devices, and more new branch locations. But each one of these can introduce new threats that need to be monitored and responded to.

IoT and edge devices often use insecure protocols that can’t be patched and default passwords that are prone to targeting by malware. Mobile devices can be targeted to introduce malware into the corporate network. And smaller and branch offices may also be home to unpatched devices that can be easily exploited.

These factors not only increase the organisation’s attack surface, but they also create complexity that open up additional cyber risks. When deployed separately, all these elements fragment visibility and reduce control, leaving security teams less well prepared to face new cyber threats, especially for bad actors that will deploy a multi-pronged approach to find the most vulnerable point.

As we have written previously, the new generation of integrated solutions for managing people and premises can play an important role in driving efficiency by standardising and digitizing processes and enabling control room operator and first responders to follow standard operating procedures. Similarly, a unified security management platform makes it easier to deploy, manage and ensure consistent cybersecurity policy enforcement across security systems and devices.

Yet, all parties involved in physical security project implementations – new-build or upgrade – have responsibility for the cyber resilience of the completed system. This means that both systems integrators and customers need to be clear about potential vulnerabilities and the measures required to eliminate them.

Ransomware, distributed-denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, and other privacy and data breaches are increasing and as we have seen this month in the security industry, the potential for large scale and potentially catastrophic incursions is ever present.

If designed, installed, or managed without due attention to cyber risks, physical security and building systems can provide a back door vulnerability into corporate networks.

The respondents to the latest PWC survey are right to want to ‘bake’ cyber protection into each business decision. But that alone is not enough – cyber security needs to be a consideration in every process, project, and daily action too.

This month we have seen how poor management of passwords and administrator logins can leave open back doors into networks. Alongside built-in encryptions and multi-factor authentication, good password hygiene is an essential first line of defence.

Alongside that goes choosing technologies with built-in defences, and solutions that make software and firmware updates automatic. The latest generation of integrated solutions scores highly on both counts and avoids the weaknesses that can build up over time with outdated siloed systems that sit forgotten at the edge of the network.

Meanwhile, one obvious lesson for physical security and FM professionals is that when projects are completed, and when systems are handed over, part of the process needs to be a complete change of any default or temporary passwords used by engineers during installation.

And none of the parties involved can assume that somebody else will be aware of that, or will take responsibility – it needs to be written into the handover process.

That’s the sort of practical change that ‘baking in’ involves.

And by taking comprehensive and collaborative approach together with systems integration enables greater control and efficiency gains across day-to-day operations, while maintaining confidence in cyber security. It also allows granular data to be built up over weeks and months, revealing new insights about how facilities are actually being used and security and safety teams are best utilised. For the first time, security and building systems can provide secure data to feed into truly informed corporate decision making.

As organisations look ahead to re-opening their premises, we are seeing different approaches being suggested by major employers in different sectors.  Some are favouring an increase in homeworking, and others insisting that a large-scale return to the office is now essential.

For example, investment bank Goldman Sachs believes that fostering a “collaborative and innovative” corporate culture relies on employees coming together on site and the company is not alone in the financial sector.

Boss David Solomon told a conference this month that the 90% homeworking pattern of 2020 was an “aberration”. He rejected calls for homeworking to become the new normal.

By contrast, tech companies seem to be more enthusiastic about increased home working, with Microsoft, Facebook and Twitter saying that staff would have the option to work away from offices permanently.

Whether one pattern becomes the new normal – or the picture remains fragmented – the pandemic has accelerated changes in the way all organisations think.

There is a new focus on resilience and efficiency.

We are seeing changes in the way all facilities and workplaces are managed and operated, from office workspaces to retail stores to multi-tenanted buildings and campuses.

Security and facilities managers have begun to modernise the way their systems are configured, with integration bringing together functions that were previously siloed and not delivering maximum value.

This model of seamless integration is now being implemented for customers globally with the result that those old cornerstone security and BMS technologies are being transformed.

For example, traditional access control is becoming part of something much richer and more beneficial: powerful visitor management solutions that reach deep into the organisation – integrating with corporate systems including Microsoft’s Active Directory and Outlook – to give efficiency benefits to every department.

If that sounds complex or expensive, it’s not – or it shouldn’t be.

If done right, it’s more affordable and simpler, because it’s all managed and controlled through a unified interface.

Whereas conventional access control was focused almost entirely on security, and the need to keep unauthorised people out, the new visitor management solutions address multiple needs in a simple and logical way.

For example, they recognise that staff and authorised visitors need to be welcomed into premises more efficiently, without hassle or delay. That welcome needs to include giving them all the services they need before arrival and once they get there, from security QR codes for entry to parking spaces, from updated safety information to network access.

The new approach to integrated visitor management also recognise that organisations need better oversight and more granular data about how all their premises are being used.

That data will be increasingly important in the months and years ahead, as pressure grows to operate facilities more efficiently.

As working patterns change – whether homeworking becomes widespread or not – we’re likely to see much more flexible use of buildings with staff moving between different locations.

We’ve seen this trend accelerating over the last year – in the case of busy health services for example, reallocation of essential personnel has been required at short notice.

Security and building systems have been integrated to support that flexibility.

Away from the health sector, organisations will increasingly be competing attract and retain good people by providing more attractive and well-run facilities.

Integrating security and building systems will be key, and upgrading access control to visitor management is a great place to start.

This approach enables functions to be extended almost without limit, to meet the requirements of every site. For example:

• Enhanced car park management that encompasses ANPR/LPR cameras and AI video analytics, linked to automated signage, can allow faster vehicle access; notifications sent ahead of arrival can include parking space allocation.
• Personalised and on-arrival messaging can guide visitors from their park space to entrances, optimizing people flow.
• ID verification and screening processes can be standardised by organisation and set to match the level of security and risk at each site.
• Using one-time QR codes frictionless entry can be granted to lobbies and reception areas, elevators, specific meeting rooms, and to access guest Wi-Fi or site IT networks and systems for employees and staff.
• Staff and contractors can work more flexibly and securely across multiple locations, to gain access to workspaces and hot desks, book meeting rooms and use resources at different locations.
• The same processes can manage and verify delivery vehicles and their drivers, directing bikes and vans to goods-in rather than receptions and lobbies, or for busier sites, trucks can be directed to holding areas during peak times or specific loading bays, reducing bottlenecks and ensuring secure, smooth and efficient operations.
• Facial recognition intercoms can be deployed at mission-critical site entrances or where users need multi-factor authentication to restrict access to sensitive areas, such as server rooms, or high-risk environments such as machinery and plant rooms.

Thanks to these advances in integration and visitor management technology, today, it’s easier than ever to experiment with new working arrangements and to redesign safe and secure workspaces and make informed decision about future building usage. This allows security and FM teams to not only to enhance the visitor and VIP guest experience but also focus on improving employee satisfaction, engagement, wellbeing, which in turn fosters innovation and increase sales activity to positively impact the bottom. And this is one reason why there’s a shift away from security tech being seen as a grudge purchase, and instead a futureproof investment that benefits entire organisations and their stakeholders.

Phil Campbell, European Sales Director, Quanika

Hospitals are facing the toughest of times, with staff under huge pressure. For over a year now, Quanika has been working behind the scenes with one of the UK’s leading NHS Trusts, collaborating with their IT department and consultants to introduce better access control systems for staff and contractors, to streamline visitor management, and to make more efficient use of facilities.

We have tested, refined, and implemented innovative solutions, and we’re delighted that the solution we’ve created has now been approved as the trust’s standard technology.

Separately, we’ve also been working with one of Ireland’s leading hospitals, and we’re now talking to healthcare providers in other countries too.

What has our work over the last year involved? The Trust wanted a modular solution that could be broken down into sub-systems for flexibility and future extension, all using the same core database, in this case Active Directory, which is standard across the UK’s NHS.

The solution we’ve developed streamlines and automates a number of key management processes: the way staff are directed to different facilities, as schedules change day by day; how they are presented with up to date site-specific ‘housekeeping’ information; how they are allocated parking spaces once they arrive; how they can rapidly gain entry to car parks and buildings, even when they have never been to a particular location before; and how they log on to all the IT networks and systems they need to use wherever they happen to be.

What we’ve come up with is an overarching solution will make life easier for everyone – from temporary staff to senior managers – by removing obstacles and by standardizing access procedures.

A key consideration is that there is a pool of over 4,500 floating staff working at this particular Trust, and they all need to be able to move from location to location depending on changing clinical needs and operational pressures. With this new system they’ll benefit from the same, smooth arrivals process at whichever of the two-hundred-plus hospitals, clinics or local facilities they happen to be working.

Over time, this daily convenience will add up, reducing stress and saving wasted minutes. And while the trust will now have greater oversight and control over its security and building systems, for authorized staff and visitors the barriers to entry will feel less onerous, not more.

With the system’s modular architecture, it will be easy for to add other functions too.

For example, we are already working with partners to develop options for allowing automated access – via secure QR codes sent to authorized users – to items and supplies kept in secure storage areas and lockers. This function could be used by cleaners needing to gain access to the cleaning cupboard (with the same system doubling up as a time and attendance tool for their managers); it could be used by out-patients who need to collect or return medical items; or it could be used by clinicians or support staff, giving efficient access to important equipment – all with the option for improved security and audit trails.

Every time the Trust has given us a new challenge over the last year, we’ve welcomed the opportunity to help. We’ve been grateful to have such a valuable testbed for our solutions, and to be working with some of the best technology partners in the industry, most notably Axis Communications.

Looking ahead, we are now working on an exciting cost and energy reduction solution for the Trust’s data centre, taking a novel approach, which we believe has huge potential across the sector. By integrating thermal cameras, temperature control and HVAC systems – and combining those with our visitor management infrastructure – we can achieve a significant saving on cooling requirements.

The NHS is under huge pressure but even now trusts are thinking ahead. Every saving made on costs will allow resources to be diverted elsewhere. And every reduction in energy waste will help towards achieving vital carbon cutting goals.

With a further multi-billion pound investment allocated by the UK government in October 2020 as part of the health infrastructure plan (HIP) adding 40 additional new hospitals, the challenge will be to spend efficiently. The best innovations solve short term problems but also look towards long term gains.

Delivering seamless systems now simple with one-stop supply from Anixter

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM, 17 DECEMBER 2020 – A landmark global distribution deal between Anixter and Quanika opens a one-stop-shop supply route for major integration projects, making it easy to incorporate best-in-class Axis and Milestone video tech with Quanika’s access control and visitor management software, and it allows off-the-shelf integration with a wide range of third-party systems.

The global distribution deal with Anixter streamlines delivery of major integration projects across private and public sector markets. ICT and security systems integrators can now purchase Quanika software direct from Anixter to integrate a full choice of vendor technologies, ensuring efficient procurement and giving them everything they need for project delivery.

Quanika software meets the security, safety, and operational demands of small to medium businesses through to corporate enterprise, government, and multi-site applications, enabling off-the-shelf integration with a wide range of vendor technologies and systems.

The addition of Quanika software to Anixter’s global product portfolio provides compelling options for systems integrator customers to deliver end-to-end security and safety integrated solutions,” said Phil Campbell, European Sales Director at Quanika.  “With Quanika Enterprise, users are no longer constrained by having only a limited number of cameras and devices. For the first time Quanika allows integrators to scale up AXIS Camera Station VMS to manage larger and multiple sites from a single user interface, while using powerful Milestone XProtect® functionality for facilities and specific channels where it’s needed most.”

Quanika’s solutions have been deployed at high profile sites across Europe, and the company has a growing reputation for being able to adapt its off-the-shelf software quickly, adding new integrations to meet site-specific challenges.

Campbell added that the agreement with Anixter would also help integrators and their customers to adapt to the challenges now facing all organisations.

“Operational efficiency is now more important than ever, and our straightforward approach to corporate-wide systems allows people to work more safely, flexibly and securely in today’s challenging environments,” he said. “We look forward to working with Anixter’s customers to deliver seamless solutions on major projects globally.”

For more information on Quanika solutions go to quanika.com or email info@quanika.com.

—Ends—

Media Contacts

Tara Farley, Quanika PR & Marketing Consultant

+44 (0)7785 707714 or e-mail tara@tmfmarketing.com

About Quanika

Quanika specialises in developing and implementing advanced systems integration projects in both corporate and government settings, delivering on the full promise of integration.  Quanika creates powerful, off-the-shelf solutions for the most efficient management of security, fire, building controls and site-specific business systems and devices.

Headquartered in Belfast, UK, with offices in Dubai and the United States, Quanika provides clients with international delivery, capability, and reach.

For more information on Quanika please go to www.quanika.com email info@quanika.com

or telephone +44 (0)8450 531716

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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/quanika

One thing that we’ve notice changing during 2020 – with all its stresses – is that questions around workspace optimisation have risen up the corporate agenda. When we talk to facilities managers and clients, there is now much more awareness that buildings need to be used as efficiently as possible.

Pressure to reduce property costs is a given, but there are many less obvious reasons why businesses need to optimise their workplaces – less obvious, but equally important. These include enabling innovation, attracting talent, improving employee wellbeing, and benefiting from the many intangibles that flow from creating an enhanced workplace experience.

In a useful report, JLL and Unwork predict that a number long term trends coming together are set to transform the way premises are used. These factors include increases in computing power, the spread of IoT devices, ever more effective connectivity, and the availability of vast amounts of data. The report paints a picture of a new digital ecosystem and, among other things, predicts that workplaces will increasingly need to provide previously unanticipated value.

Integrated systems are already an important tool to enable these improvements, and their role is set to grow.

The rise of agile working

Another trend accelerated over the last year is the rise of agile working. It was forced upon many organisations, with staff suddenly needing to work from home or having to be rapidly redeployed to cope with resourcing pressures. We saw this at its most obvious in the NHS, where we helped Trusts to add new flexibility to their site access and management systems, allowing ‘floating’ teams of clinicians to move more efficiently to wherever they were needed on the front line.

The same agility is being capitalised on by commercial organisations too.

And as we move out of the pandemic it seems likely that environments that offer flexible working spaces will become increasingly popular. They are designed for ways of working particularly suited to this time of change – with new enterprises starting up, and others having to reinvent themselves. Reduced workspace overheads, more productive environments, and greater freedom to adapt are just some of the advantages.

Facilities running more smoothly

All this make it more important than ever to manage facilities efficiently. It’s recognised that when processes don’t run smoothly – when visitors have trouble finding parking spaces, when employees struggle to book meeting rooms or when contract staff can’t access networks – that impacts employee morale and productivity as well as the visitor experience.

The answer? By encompassing advanced visitor management capabilities, security and building occupancy solutions can now drive new efficiencies and tangible competitive advantage.

Yes, implementing agile working spaces requires a shift in mindset, but the step is a clear and logical one. The technology is now available that can capture and analyse data from multiple systems and devices to provide an overview of workspace usage and, importantly, a deeper understanding of workforce behaviour down to team level.

Access control and video data, desk, lighting, and network sensors can all be integrated into futureproof platforms that will allow organisations to track how different departments and teams use space not just each year or month but day-by-day.  And it’s this aggregated data and business intelligence that will help plan fit outs with the right mix of desks and spaces, giving the ability to track efficiency, to make small incremental adjustments or quickly adapt to new operational demands.

Going beyond the minimum

Even a minimal level of integration (such as pulling together access control and surveillance) makes security and safety operations simpler to operate from a single interface and offers clear advantages. Not least it can provide a rapid, practical way forward for even for the most complex, multi-location organisation.

But going beyond this, organisations today can benefit from easy, off-the-shelf integration with dozens of building management systems – from elevator controls, fire detection and parking management to asset tracking – and streamline identity management by exchanging data with Microsoft’s Active Directory and other popular databases.

An easy-to-use, centralised system can reduce the burden of monitoring multiple, siloed tools and ensuring enterprise security from all angles. It can also eliminate the need to deal with repetitive challenges, such as managing and responding to alarms and processing and analysing data from disparate systems.

Integrated solutions also offer remote access capabilities which allow security managers to maintain oversight away from the control room. Single or multiple facilities can be monitored from any location.

With all this in mind, the fresh thinking that many organisations have been doing over the last year may soon prove to be highly beneficial.

Today’s business landscape is changing rapidly. In almost every part of the economy, even sectors which once seemed relatively slow moving and predictable, we are seeing major challenges and disruptions.

Each business faces its own sector-specific pressures: retailers, most obviously, adapting to the challenges of e-commerce, oil giants facing hefty carbon taxes, the education sector shifting to e-learning, healthcare providers treating increasingly aging populations as well as coronavirus patients. And above all this, organisations are being hit by wave after wave powerful global, economic, and technological forces.

Whether it’s the sudden tsunami of the pandemic, the shift towards green energy, extreme weather events, increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks, evolving physical threats, or the steady but inevitable rise of artificial intelligence (AI), businesses are having to get used to the fact that, looking ahead, the only real certainty is a lot more uncertainty.

But this doesn’t have to be bad news. Along with all these challenges come very real opportunities. Change is typically only a real threat for those that can’t, or won’t, adapt. For those that can and will, it can bring major benefits.

Tech savvy organisations know that to evolve and adapt they need to eliminate disparate systems and silos of information, to help them deliver the insights and decision-making power. The same is true when it comes to orchestrating changes to better manage staff and facilities.

Whereas just a few years ago it would have been impractical and unaffordable for many businesses to integrate security systems beyond access control, surveillance and intruder, today they can use the next gen software platforms that make it far more straightforward to connect with an array of security and life safety systems as well as back-office systems and prevalent databases.

And the latest research from Data Bridge Market Research released in June backs this up, forecasting the systems integration market to rise an  estimated value of USD 58.73 billion in 2018 to USD 90.82 billion by 2026, registering a CAGR of 5.6% in the forecast period of 2019-2026.

Enhanced protection and streamlined operations

Even a minimal level of integration, such as pulling together access control and surveillance, makes security and safety operations simpler to operate from a single interface and offers clear advantages and a practical way forward for even for the most complex, multi-location organisation.

But going beyond this, today organisations can benefit from easy, off-the-shelf integration with dozens of building management systems – from elevator controls, fire detection and parking management to asset tracking – and streamline identity management by exchanging data with Microsoft’s Active Directory and other popular databases.

 

An easy-to-use, centralised system can reduce the burden of ensuring enterprise security from all angles and eliminate the need to deal with repetitive challenges, such as managing and responding to alarms and processing and analysing data from disparate systems.

Integrated solutions also offer remote access capabilities which allow security managers to maintain oversight away from the control room. Single or multiple facilities can be monitored from any location, and problems can be addressed as soon as they occur.

Assimilating alarms from multiple systems also gives operators improved ability to visually verify notifications and automatically capture events using video, ensuring critical incidents are never missed. And streamlined reporting gives managers the required intelligence to implement changes quickly. Adopting the latest AI technology will also act as a force multiplier by further enhancing situational awareness by eliminating false positive alarms, speeding up investigations using metadata and automating previously labour-intensive tasks.

As a result, an integrated solution will increase operational efficiency by allowing security teams to detect, verify and respond quickly and effectively with easy coordination and streamlined processes. 

Benefits of end-to-end solutions

Next gen software that comes with off-the-shelf integrations is also helping tackle industry specific challenges. In the hospitality sector, for example, forward-thinking hotels can now integrate their front of house and back of house operations using Oracle’s OPERA to not only improve efficiency – reducing pressure on busy reception desks by automating aspects of check in and housekeeping, for example – but they can offer guests a significantly enhanced experience, with hassle-free arrivals and departures, and more efficient room service. That gives them a competitive advantage.

In healthcare settings, it’s now much easier to divert medical teams and reallocate resources from hospital to hospital, with integrated systems that allow floating staff to work flexibly wherever they are needed. We’re seeing a growing number of examples of this in action, and seeing how the resulting efficiency is helping healthcare providers manage times of peak demand more efficiently. Ultimately, these solutions make life less stressful for individual medical workers too, particularly at times when they are under pressure: making it easier for them to access the right facilities and associated IT systems and networks, even when the location is unfamiliar to them, and cutting down on the effort it takes to get where they are needed.

In sectors from retail, finance, and logistics, to manufacturing, integrators and technology vendors are delivering ever more capable, more flexible solutions. And they are making them applicable to for every type of medium-to-large business, from those that operate standalone large buildings and campuses to those with complex, dispersed, and multi-site estates.

And scalable, flexible, and futureproof solutions can be adapted to meet new requirements and changing priorities – new functions added for example – with minimal expense and disruption. And today it is faster than ever for engineers to develop new integrations using the latest architectures and APIs. This has reduced the time it takes to satisfy customers’ requests for new integrations from months to weeks.  This means that organisations can move as quickly as they need to by upgrading and scaling systems, to pivot operations and stay fully in control.

They both sound good – and they both are – but there’s a big difference between contactless access solutions and frictionless.

‘Contactless’ describes the latest generation of technologies that let authorised users get through a secured entrance without having to physically touch anything. In our newly hygiene-conscious age, these technologies have become more valued, and with good reason.

‘Frictionless’ meanwhile, describes the way the whole process of access control and visitor management is now being streamlined and perfected. Incorporating a huge number of new features and benefits, frictionless systems are taking access control to a whole new level, as we describe below.

Why all the confusion?

A quick glance through what’s currently being written about access control shows that these terms – contactless and frictionless – are at the moment being used rather loosely, and often interchangeably.

We’ve seen new technology and fixes being rushed to market to help users make their premises safer, and to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Manufacturers of touchless readers and access control system vendors have upgraded their offerings to include biometric or QR code access. As a result, the two words (yes, frictionless and contactless) have blurred.

By reacting quickly in the way that it has, the security industry has helped businesses replace pin punch, fingerprint, or palm readers. It has accelerated solutions that eliminate the risk of employees sharing ID badges, and removed the need for reception staff to issue badges every time a new contractor or visitor arrives on site, or whenever somebody loses the one they’ve already been issued with.

Over the last few months, the industry has seen a flurry of new biometric readers come to market from established players as well as start-ups. These include those that read QR codes and allow employees easy access by leveraging the ubiquity of smartphones, as well as sophisticated and more secure facial recognition offerings.

And switching out readers for touchless options – combined with installing doors that use motion detection to automatically open without anyone needing to touch a grubby handle, or on a surface where unwashed hands have been –  gives site operators a quick way to upgrade to contactless entry into their facilities.

Genuine frictionless is more impressive and efficient

But genuine frictionless access is something altogether more impressive, providing a new level of control and efficiency by integrating seamlessly with wider site management and corporate systems.

Organisations that go frictionless are as much concerned with the employee and visitor experience as they are with security. They want more flexible operations too, with the ability to adapt to rapidly changing building use requirements, to reallocate staff to new locations, to allow people to work in less rigid ways by enabling rapid access to premises and networks on a case by case, day by day basis, as priorities change.

Not long ago, to do all that would have been a logistical nightmare, and to do it securely would have been impossible. But not any longer.

True frictionless solutions today provide authorised site users (employees, contractors, visitors) with the easiest ways to move into, and around premises using authorisations and pre-arrival instructions emailed to them automatically in advance.

And the same true frictionless solutions give security controllers a new level of oversight and real time control over who is on site, where they are and what facilities their authorisations permit them to use. Integration with video surveillance systems, and best-in-class door-entry infrastructure such as AXIS Camera Station, allows easy visual verification of transactions and events at every door.

Off-the-shelf integration with the widest range of technologies and vendor brands also now means that users can design the most powerful and capable solutions around their specific site (or multiple site) requirements.

If you want a higher level of situational awareness and control, you can integrate a facial recognition solution making use of the latest advances in artificial intelligence.

If you want to improve your site cybersecurity defences, you can tie network access into your physical access infrastructure, so that only authorised users can log on at certain locations, and for predetermined times.

And visitors can be assured a hassle-free experience from the moment they arrive on site. Car park admission can be automated with ANPR/LPR, and a new generation of contactless access kiosks can allow rapid entry to a building without the need to queue or speak to a receptionist. If a member of staff is required to host a visit, they will be automatically notified – in fact, that can have happened the moment the visitor drove into the car park.

Mobile applications using Bluetooth, for example, can allow authorised users to pass through a secured entrance simply by having their phone in their pocket. Near-field communications (NFC) transponders can enable simple tap-and-go access. Or frictionless solutions with multi-factor authentication can be implemented to ensure the necessary higher level of security

Whatever system you put in place, it’s the fact that authorisations can automatically sent in advance, and centrally updated as a result of integration with systems such as Outlook, that make these truly frictionless solutions.

In fact, there’s no limit to what a true frictionless access and visitor management solution will allow you to do – up to, and including, contact tracing and granular site activity audits – it’s up to you.

The point is to understand the difference.

Software solutions ‘off-the-shelf’ will give advantage to IT and security integrators

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, 12 OCTOBER 2020 – IT and security systems integrators across the Middle East and Africa can now deliver more efficient, off-the-shelf integration of complete corporate systems – including access control, visitor management, security and building management – following a distribution agreement between Quanika and NIT, an Ingram Micro Company.

Quanika’s modular, ready-made approach is designed to make integration straightforward, even for the most complex, multi-site projects, enabling organisations to adapt their on-site operations quickly to meet rapidly changing circumstances, and run them efficiently from a single interface.

The company works with systems integrators, consultants, and end-user enterprises globally to leverage seamless integration with Axis Communications’ A1001 and A1601 controllers for unlimited doors and users, network cameras and audio devices. Quanika also allows integrators to scale up AXIS Camera Station VMS to encompass more cameras and cover multiple sites as well as giving them the extensibility choice of Milestone’s powerful XProtect® for video management.

Quanika’s portfolio of solutions is designed to eliminate the inefficiencies of siloed solutions to enable more productive connections between people, physical infrastructure, and corporate systems.

Quanika Compact is a practical and affordable choice for small-to-medium applications in healthcare, retail, manufacturing, logistics and similar locations, giving users the ability to tie together and flexibly manage multiple sites. Quanika Enterprise is designed for larger scale facilities and corporate enterprises, including multi-purpose buildings, hotels, transportation hubs, hospitals, and universities, giving organisations complete control and situational awareness across their entire estates globally.

The Quanika VisitorPoint visitor management solution streamlines and automates operations. Delivering a frictionless and contactless experience, Quanika VisitorPoint is becoming essential during the COVID-era to minimise interaction and risks to frontline staff and reduce contact with doors and surfaces, while acting as a force multiplier for the efficient management, control and tracking of visitors and contractors access and movements throughout facilities.

As well as providing new technology application routes for security systems integrators, the distribution agreement opens up extensive project options for NIT’s customer base of IT systems integrators, allowing them to deliver modular, commerical off-the-shelf (COTS) security and safety solutions with an extensive choice of third-party systems – everything from intruder alarms, fire, and building management systems to individual, operations-specific business management databases, systems, or devices.

Welcoming the deal, Bassel Al Fakir, Managing Director NIT, an Ingram Micro Company, said that Quanika’s solutions are expected to make it easier for NIT customers to deliver solutions with a single, intuitive, security and safety management interface.

“NIT’s distribution agreement with Quanika will provide major opportunities for ICT integrators and consultants across the Middle East and Africa,” he said. “Our customers will be able to use Quanika’s off-the-shelf solutions and 24/7 support to integrate best-in-class technologies and deliver new levels of insight and control.”

Quanika Managing Director, Leo Cook, said the agreement would also help integrators and their customers improve operational efficiency and meet the unprecedented challenges now facing them.

“It’s never been more important for organisations to be able to manage their operations efficiently, and to let their people to work safely, flexibly and securely,” he said. “Quanika is already helping customers globally to meet today’s rapidly evolving challenges. We are helping organisations to pivot their operations, including managing their people and networks more efficiently, and improving the way they use their buildings. We now look forward to working with NIT customers across the region to deliver seamless, advanced solutions here.”

For more information on Quanika solutions go to quanika.com or email info@quanika.com.

—Ends—

Media Contacts

Tara Farley, Quanika PR & Marketing Consultant

+44 (0)7785 707714 or e-mail tara@tmfmarketing.com

About Quanika

Quanika specialises in developing and implementing advanced systems integration projects in both corporate and government settings, delivering on the full promise of integration.  Quanika creates powerful, off-the-shelf solutions for the most efficient management of security, fire, building controls and site-specific business systems and devices.

Headquartered in Belfast, UK and with offices in Dubai and the United States, Quanika provides clients with international delivery, capability, and reach.

For more information on Quanika please go to www.quanika.com email info@quanika.com

or international telephone +44 (0)8450 531716

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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/quanika

About Ingram Micro Inc.
Ingram Micro helps businesses Realize the Promise of Technology™. It delivers a full spectrum of global technology and supply chain services to businesses around the world. Deep expertise in technology solutions, mobility, cloud, and supply chain solutions enables its business partners to operate efficiently and successfully in the markets they serve. Unrivalled agility, deep market insights and the trust and dependability that come from decades of proven relationships, set Ingram Micro apart and ahead.

More at https://www.nit.ae/